Incumbent Rep. Jones, Challenger Osborne Vow Accountability in District 65 | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: Sam A. Hieb is a contributor to Carolina Journal.

Conservative Jones switched from unaffiliated to Republican after upset win in 2010

    RALEIGH     Both candidates in the N.C. House of Representatives District 65 race have one thing in common: They're tired of politicians not keeping their promises to constituents.

    Voters "want government leaders to be honest with them. Quite honestly, we're living a lie with the economy and the debt," said Rep. Bert Jones, R-Rockingham, the District 65 incumbent. "They're just tired of politicians making promises they can't keep."

    Jones' Democratic opponent in the District 65 race, Reidsville psychologist and Rockingham County Democratic Party Chairman William Osborne, said the "half-truths from politicians" prompted him to run for public office.

    "If you're going to complain, then have the guts to stand up and run for something," Osborne said.

    But that's pretty much where the similarities end between the candidates vying for the seat in what has been described as a "swing seat" by the N.C. FreeEnterprise Foundation. Jones, who was elected in 2010 as an unaffiliated candidate and subsequently became a Republican, is known for his strong conservative values.

    On his Web site, Jones stresses the "need to conserve those values and principles that have made our country great ... principles like liberty, freedom, work ethic, capitalism, and citizens' rights."

    In a phone interview, Jones said that while the Republican majority in the General Assembly made great strides during the past two years, there was still much work to be done.

    "We still have a lot to do in order to get our state's house in good fiscal order," Jones said. "The budget and deficit problems have not gone away. I think we've got a lot left to do."

    Jones added that when he talks to residents of Rockingham County -- which makes up the bulk of District 65 -- the main issue they address is the state's business and regulatory climate.

    "We need to make sure our regulatory system is competitive with other states. That's one of the things we've heard businesses loud and clear during the past two years," Jones said. "The question is do we go back to where we were before -- raising taxes and spending? People are finally seeing that more taxes and spending are not the answer."

    Osborne agrees the economy is the main issue, especially in Rockingham County, which has suffered greatly over the last decade as its industrial base has gone into decline. But Osborne believes in more of a bottom-up approach to reviving the economy.

    "You've got to have the labor force to support the business that's coming," Osborne told Carolina Journal. "One of the biggest issues we're facing is most of our young people graduate from high school and college, leave the county and never come back. We've got to reverse that trend for obvious reasons."

    Osborne said a strong community college system was the best way to build a labor force for businesses looking to locate in Rockingham County.

    Osborne also is a strong proponent of moving vocational training back into the high schools.

    "Not everybody's going to college. It's just not going to happen," he said. "This economy cannot support people with no skills."

    The candidates have differing views on a voter ID bill, which could be taken up during the new session.

    Jones believes North Carolina needs a voter ID law "to protect the integrity of the voting system.

    "I think all the arguments against it are basically an effort to undermine the system," he said.

    Osborne describes support for a voter ID law as "a solution in search of a problem," adding "there's simply no evidence that voter ID is enough of a problem to justify the extreme expense to implement it."

    Another issue on which the candidates sharply disagree is women's rights. Much has been made during the presidential campaign about Republicans' so-called "war on women."

    While Osborne did not use that terminology, he did say that conservatives are unsupportive of women's rights.

    "We seem to be moving into a system where women are second-class citizens," he said. "I think conservatives are sticking their noses way too far into people's privacy."

    When asked about abortion, Osborne cited the fact that it is the law of the land.

    "I don't think anybody is in favor of abortion. I don't know anybody who supports it. But by the same token I don't know that it's up to a group of men to decide women's rights," he said.

    Jones -- who says on his website that he "supports the God-given right to life for all, including the preborn child," disagrees that conservatives are seeking to make women so-called "second-class citizens."

    On the contrary, Jones believes that most women's views line up with conservative values, citing the overwhelming approval of Amendment One during the May primary.

    "The argument doesn't hold water. I guess they think if they say something often enough that makes it true," Jones said. "Most women share the same concerns that men do. Most women voted for Amendment One. Most people do not favor taxpayer-funded abortion."

    Jones' 2010 victory against then-incumbent Democratic Rep. Nelson Cole may have been the biggest upset of that election cycle in the General Assembly.