Bill Cook Refutes the Desperate Allegations of Challenger Jerry Evans | Eastern North Carolina Now

   Publisher's Note: Much of this piece with NC House Rep. Bill Cook is a conversation with him to specifically refute unfounded allegations by his opponent Realtor Jerry Evans. The rest of it is my rant of pure truth - accept it or reject it. It is your choice.

   NC House Rep. Bill Cook is running for NC Senate, District 1, since his NC House District was redistricted into extinction. Demonstrably, Bill was not protected by his party's caucus in redistricting, so is electing to run in the only political race where he could still represent all of Beaufort County, as he did in the former NC House District 3 - the NC Senate, District 1 race.

   It has been rumored that Bill found himself in a primary with former Democrat-politician-turned-Republican-politician Realtor Jerry Evans because the Republican Party House Caucus wanted someone to run for the redistricted NC House, District 6 seat that would be within their ability to control. Rather than consider established Conservative politicians here in Beaufort County, they felt compelled to recruit lifetime liberal Democrat Arthur Williams to run as a converted conservative Republican, now that Arthur is well into his sixties, and has recently had a political awakening. This political epiphany is usually reserved by younger men, but obviously Arthur is somewhat of a "late-bloomer" in this regard.

   Now, this is where the thread of this tale unravels completely: Democrat Arthur Williams found himself in a Republican primary contest with Democrat Jerry Evans, and promises made by the Republican Caucus needed to be kept to their Democrat comrades to complete their unprincipled scheme.

   What were these unprincipled heavy-handed Republican leaders in Raleigh to do?

   It is further rumored that that it order to placate their "best boy" Arthur Williams, the Republican hierarchy offered Jerry Evans their assistance in NC Senate, District 1 seat, even though NC Rep. Bill Cook had already announced that he would seek that seat, formerly held by Democrat icon Marc Basnight until his retirement, and presently occupied by Stan White of Dare County.

   It does appear that Beaufort County's Bill Cook may be somewhat of an outsider to the Republican cabal in Raleigh, which in turn speaks well of Bill Cook's principled ways, comparatively in keeping, to those of the Republican leadership.

   In so many words, Realtor Jerry Evans may just be the perfect rube for their purpose of practicing their brand of political hegemony here in eastern North Carolina.

   When Democrat Jerry Evans ran for Beaufort County Commissioner, he began his campaign by espousing that we needed to remake Beaufort County into a better economic environment for the purveyors of real estate. Once the financial solvency became an issue, he quickly moved his position to the of the "lone bid process" to sell, lease, or just give away Beaufort County Hospital. Understanding how free markets work, the "lone bid process" was understandably the "give away" plan favored by the special interest groups, whose political contributions, remarkably, found their way into Candidate Jerry Evans campaign chest. That special interest debacle cost Beaufort County taxpayers a minimum of 54,000,000.00.

   Now that's the real truth, all commentary to the contrary is patently false.

   And this is why I support Bill Cook. Simply, he is honest, even to the point of possibly irritating others, who see the world in an opposing light of half, and, or inconvenient truths. These honest politicians are few, but, there does exist a contingency of us. As a low level local politician (county commissioner), I have existed for 16 years as an honest man, when often, all about me is false, furthered by the self-interested, who will project their dishonest intentions upon the character of other - better men than they. This insight, from occupational practice, affords me the benefit of being a rather shrewd judge of political character, and yes, I am given great cause to wince in total disbelief at the words and deeds of others.

   Now political neophyte, unsuccessful Democrat county commissioner candidate, Realtor Jerry Evans wants to grow up to be a Republican North Carolina Senator - one of 50 from across this Old North State. While some may wax incredulous from this presumptive quality of him actually feeling qualified to do so, I generally don't don't have an intellectual problem with untried, untrue political neophytes, unless they exhibit behavior alien to the qualities of a proper candidate - one that is honest with himself and his future constituents.

   Bill Cook had no political experience when he ran for NC House against incumbent Arthur Williams, and yes, I did wince a bit as Bill would stumble through one of his first speeches, and then at the end, he would call out to the crowd, "What's my name?" And a smattering of his friends would call back, "Bill Cook." Yes, I did think to myself, "not a Snowball's chance in Hell" does Bill Cook have to win this election.

   But things changed. Bill Cook, who did not have a primary because everyone knew that the Democrat incumbent, Arthur Williams, would win unless a name entity made the effort in opposition, worked tirelessly by introducing himself to strangers (you see, Bill is not from around here), putting up large signs in good locations (where permission would have to be granted), and working on his speeches.

   Later that Summer of 2010, when Bill Cook would finish one of his much improved speeches, and call out to the crowd, "What's my name?" And a much larger collection of folks would call back in unison "BILL COOK!" I began to believe Bill had a chance, a fighting chance.

   Unlike an Arthur Williams, or a Jerry Evans, for that matter, who have proven that they would trade their principles for campaign donations, which is the way people of means, in Beaufort County, have historically preferred their representatives, and have thus traditionally allocated their campaign donations, Bill Cook just works hard at getting elected. Once elected, he worked hard at his job, and moreover, he has remained committed to his honest approach to working as the people's representative in the NC House of North Carolina's General Assembly.

   In a relative sense, Bill Cook is simply Beaufort County's version of "Mr. Smith goes to Washington," and I dig that immensely. Mr. Cook goes to Raleigh - has a ring to, don't you think? Is there it any wonder why honest men, like Bill Cook, become outsiders with the power elite?

   By contrast, Jerry Evans is an insider, and he has proven that he will say or do whatever it takes to stay there. The phrase "meat puppet" comes to mind, and that is okay if the "meat puppet" is a Democrat - I can understand that, I'll buy into that proposition. I just will not tolerate that from a Republican. Maybe that is why, like Bill Cook, I am a bit of an outsider too. I say exactly what I know to be true.
Bill Cook (right) engages Stanhope Deatherage (left) on what is true about Bill Cook: Above     photo by Stan Deatherage

   In accordance with his nature, Candidate and Realtor Jerry Evans has recently expressed some fantastically outrageous commentary on the untrue nature of the known Bill Cook, and Bill Cook, and people such as myself, who have a nature of embracing the truth rather than the convenience of lies, have taken issue with those comments.

   Here below are comments made by an honest politician against the accusations of a proven dishonest one, and while I do not know all of the accusations, Bill Cook has supplied the answers that are as true as Bill holds himself out to be.

Let's make this abundantly clear:
     by NC House Rep. Bill Cook

    1. Representative Bill Cook sponsored or co-sponsored about 145 bills last year. However Evans said on the TV Henry Hinton forum that Bill had only sponsored one bill.

    2. Evans accused Representative Bill Cook of voting for ObamaCare on the TV Henry Hinton forum show and his mailer because he voted for HB 115 which is a bill to carry out the federal mandate to North Carolina to set up insurance exchanges. North Carolina has no choice as to whether the insurance exchanges are created or not, the only question is whether North Carolina folks do it or federal folks. All but 3 Republicans voted for this bill, so that North Carolina folks would be in charge of these exchanges. If Evans is saying that I voted for ObamaCare with this vote, then he is saying that all but 3 of the Republicans in the House (65) are for ObamaCare. Clearly this is not the case.

   3. Representative Bill Cook voted for HB 2 which is a bill requiring North Carolina to stop ObamaCare in the courts. He has been rated the 4th most conservative member of the House. In light of these facts, can Evans still maintain that Bill supports ObamaCare?

   4. Evans left the Republican Party to run for office as a Democrat in 2010 and then left the Democrat Party in 2011 to run against Representative Cook. Evans is a political opportunist with no principals.

   5. I co-sponsored HB 810 because the lenders testified that if they did not get an increase in the interest rates they could no longer make these small loans.
Bill Cook (right) makes a salient point to Stanhope Deatherage (left) on what is important in North Carolina: Above.     photo by Stan Deatherage

   How the Effectiveness Rankings Are Done:

    The Center's effectiveness rankings are based on surveys completed by the legislators themselves, by registered lobbyists who are based in North Carolina and who regularly work in the General Assembly, and by capital news reporters. These three groups are asked to rate each legislator's effectiveness on the basis of participation in committee work, skill at guiding bills through committee and in floor debates, and general knowledge or expertise in special fields. The survey respondents also are asked to consider the respect legislators command from their peers, his or her ethics, the political power they hold (by virtue of office, longevity, or personal skills), their ability to sway the opinions of fellow legislators, and their aptitude for the overall legislative process.

    This year's rankings mark the 18th time the Center has undertaken this comprehensive survey. The first edition evaluated the performance of the 1977-78 General Assembly. The response rate to the survey continues to be very high. Sixty-three of the 120 House members (53 percent) responded to the Center's survey, as did 24 (49 percent) of the 49 Senators (Sen. James Forrester, R-Gaston, died in October 2011), 144 of the 407 registered lobbyists who regularly work in the legislature and are based in North Carolina (35 percent), and 6 of 22 capital news correspondents (27 percent) - all well above accepted standards of statistical validity. The overall response rate was 40 percent.


Here are some of my thoughts on this scoring:

    First it is not only the legislators grading themselves but it is also the registered lobbyists and the capitol news correspondents. We know that neither lobbyists nor news correspondents are ever biased and are always impartial! (NOT) I feel that the inclusion of lobbyists and reporters makes this an invalid survey with regard to effectiveness and relegates any results as subjective.

    Second the statistics cannot be representative of the Legislature as only 53 percent of the Legislature answered the survey. That means that 47 percent of the Legislature is not represented due to any response. So how can you get a true grade if there is a 47 percent information deficit? The Senate was even worse with a 51 percent information deficit. I am not a statistical sleuth but in my opinion the lack of participation by the Legislature and the Senate should make the survey invalid. That means that the weighted scores are from lobbyists and reporters! I don't remember casting any votes for them at the ballot box.

    What is important to me is that you introduced/co-sponsored nearly 150 pieces of legislation in last years session. That is far more than your predecessor did. I am sure that you had to grit your teeth on a few of them such as HB 115 that had to pass to enable the State to participate in the Federal mandate of Obamacare in the event that the Supreme Court did not reject the law as Un-Constitutional. There could be some others that were not palatable for you either. But there is only one perfect being and neither of us qualifies for that title.

   I am extremely proud of my record in my first year and I welcome an opportunity to debate and defend what I did, but in fairness I think Mr. Evans should be honest when he tries to speak about my record.
Stanhope Deatherage (left) makes the right choice on who can best lead North Carolina forward by their good work in the NC General Assembly: Above.     photo by Stan Deatherage

    Furthermore, what good does it serve the people back home in Beaufort County to elect unprincipled Republicans? Where is the moral courage to effect feel change? Where is the principled outrage in knowing the difference between right and so much wrong?

   I'll leave you to debate your inner demons, or just "click your collective tongues" in abject disapproval of my well considered positions, while others may well agree with my principled position in supporting good men to do good work. In the end it is all about integrity. To have state government, built on integrity, you must first elect men of integrity, and moreover, we must first be a people, an electorate, of integrity.

   One of the greatest truths in America, about the essence of Americans is this - "we get the government we deserve." What kind of representative government do you deserve in this republic, and what are you prepared to do to effect a good, responsible government?

   Think about it. It's your choice, it is your government, and you deserve what becomes of it.
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