Comments by Van Zant | Eastern NC Now

T be T: Speaking of a hoot, "I know you do not ..., ..., ... ."

No, you do not know anything. You do what you always do - make up a false narrative.

Commented: Friday, March 20th, 2026 @ 5:06 am By: Van Zant

Someone tell me if what I have been told is right. In the local Republican Executive Committee meetings (when they have one) the Chairman sometimes asks for a report from the County Commission. Doesn't she always ask for that report from Frankie Waters or Randy Walker and never from Commissioner Deatherage, Dunn or Richardson? Coincidence or indicator?

Commented: Tuesday, March 17th, 2026 @ 8:33 pm By: Van Zant

Stan: Yes, I believe you are stating the obvious, even though it is not obvious to a lot of people in the general public. The local Republican Party is bizarro world.

You're right. This corrupt party organization did everything but get the vote out for Republicans. The only thing these disparate factions come together on is their opposition to most conservatives - the exception seems to be Kidwell. The big mystery with Kidwell is his conservatism in Raleigh weighted against his alliance with those working against conservatives at home. That strategy did not work for him in this primary with a well-funded challenger.

Excluding most conservatives is a very bad strategy for building the party. These stupid strategies create a blissful environment for the liberals coming over from the Democrat Party looking for an election platform to operate from. They are the group benefiting most from this local party run by morons and crooks.

Commented: Monday, March 16th, 2026 @ 8:36 pm By: Van Zant

CT: The Republican Party could have been a positive factor in dealing with the liberal Democrat opportunists that have infiltrated the Republican Party. Instead, they have warmly embraced the opportunists and been outright hostile to the conservatives, except for Kidwell.

If the party is not going to lead, or if they are determined to lead badly, then they need to go away. I know several Republican public officials that have as little to do with them as possible.

Commented: Friday, March 13th, 2026 @ 8:46 pm By: Van Zant

A kindergarten mental case judge would have dismissed this action, too. This legal attempt by Chairman Garris is one of the looniest things I have ever heard of. Are there any bounds to the lengths these scoundrels will go to in order to avoid any consequences for their unethical behaviors in a real meeting of the executive committee?

Fruit Loop Garris and her zombie goon followers need to answer the 12 questions presented here to the totally in the dark and left out executive committee. At this time this mess has reached a point where the general population of Beaufort County Republicans need to hear those answers also. This "leadership" has lost credibility with any thinking Republican. It is past time to come clean.

Two more questions need an answer at this time:
1. Who are the members of the unauthorized Victory Sub-Committee that has illegally taken over executive committee duties?
2. Is Kidwell still on board with all this unethical nonsense?

This episode needs to come to an end other than being swept under the rug.

Commented: Tuesday, March 10th, 2026 @ 4:46 pm By: Van Zant

CV: Question about your school board assessment. When you broke down the conservative, liberal and swing vote categories I certainly agree about who the four conservatives are: Rader, Hickman, S. Davis, and Shreve. I get a little fuzzy with the rest although the liberals are without a doubt led by Mrs. Walker and Mrs. Booth. I think Williams is a swing vote, but I'm not sure what category to place Allen and Hudson. Which one do you consider the liberal and which one the swing?

For obvious reason the two new primary winners appear to be coming from the left.

In the county commission race Deatherage is the only proven conservative. His record speaks for itself. I'm hopeful about Woolard. Edwards has some red flags for conservatives. He needs to better explain his economic development comments. We've seen this movie before and already know how it ends for taxpaying residents.

I guess we'll have to see about the state house situation. We had better keep our eyes open on that start to finish.

In the congressional primary we are once again the victims of too many candidates in a 30 percent threshold race. Damn.

Commented: Sunday, March 8th, 2026 @ 9:29 am By: Van Zant

RMB: The Beaufort County GOP not only did nothing about the county commission frauds they embraced them. Furthermore, they took every opportunity to shun the actual conservative Republicans, not only on the county commission but also in other positions. The local GOP is not looking after party interests. Rather they are operating as an exclusive club of opportunistic insiders. They do not work for the benefit of Beaufort County or for the benefit of Republican Party principles. They do way more harm than good.

Commented: Thursday, March 5th, 2026 @ 9:32 am By: Van Zant

piratefan: According to my sources the Walkers are establishing quite a pattern of recruiting candidates for and campaigning in other school districts than their own. They are inviting retaliation and it would be warranted.

Commented: Thursday, March 5th, 2026 @ 6:05 am By: Van Zant

It's odd that Garris and her illegal in the shadows committee pretending to be the Beaufort County Republican Party Executive Committee are accusing a private political club of pretending to be the local GOP. This criminal element is accusing others of doing what they are doing. There has got to be some controlling authority in the state GOP or in the state Board of Elections to shut down this criminal enterprise. This is massive fraud on so many levels.

Commented: Sunday, February 22nd, 2026 @ 7:50 pm By: Van Zant

Stan Deatherage is the proven conservative in the commission race. Over the years he has operated honestly and transparently. Not many in Beaufort County politics can say that. If Deatherage can be re-elected and one more like him gets through the commission election, Beaufort County can enter a new day in governance. A better day.

Commented: Saturday, February 21st, 2026 @ 6:41 am By: Van Zant

Stan: That seems to be about it. They are telling some whopper lies trying to evade any consequences for their corrupt actions. They have no regard for the people they are hurting along the way. I imagine they are going to do even more bizarre and harmful things to people if there is no intervention very soon.

Commented: Tuesday, February 17th, 2026 @ 5:21 am By: Van Zant

The only people disrupting these meetings are Garris and her devotees. The ones she is claiming to be disruptive are only politely trying to have a legal meeting. Having a real meeting is the last thing Garris and her zombies want, because they have been operating illegally and have essentially been caught. They are performing acrobatics in order to keep this out of any official record in an attempt to wiggle out of this tight spot they have put themselves in. Their arrogance knows no bounds.

In the meantime, Garris and the illegal shadow committee are unilaterally making decisions to exclude and harm conservatives. The people that have hijacked the Beaufort County Republican Party are essentially acting as outlaws at this point in time. Some external controlling authority needs to come and review this sorry situation.

Commented: Tuesday, February 17th, 2026 @ 2:51 am By: Van Zant

One thing that is not followed AT All by these present-day leaders of the Beaufort County Republican Party is the Republican Party Plan of organization. Some higher level of the party needs to come down and fix this. The people here are not capable of doing it. As things are, the party will not survive this.

Commented: Sunday, February 15th, 2026 @ 4:18 pm By: Van Zant

Ms. Garris is in total violation of the party rules. She unilaterally expels members she does not like at will. She conducts business without the advice and consent of the Executive Committee. She has formed an illegal secret committee that the Executive Committee hears no report from and does not even know who they are. She and her fellow criminal treasurer are spending unauthorized party money on unauthorized projects. The majority of the actual Executive Committee are made up of a mixture of low character people and outright morons. Almost half of the committee seems to be made up of good people that are being kept from doing business by the others. The leadership thugs will not even hear them at meetings. The party has hit rock bottom.

It is unbelievable that there are not enough people of character to right the ship in Beaufort County. It is equally unbelievable that district and state levels of the party are allowing this lawlessness to tar the reputation and credibility of the GOP. This is so bad it has become necessary for other state entities to step in.

To restore anything of value they must:
1. Stop rewriting party rules.
2. Stop illegally and unilaterally expelling members.
3. Stop illegal closed sessions to cover up their crimes.
4. Disclose the roster created at the last convention and explain how it has been destroyed.
5. Disclose the members of the Victory Committee and entertain a report from them to the Executive Committee.
6. Explain their illegal actions and spending during the municipal elections.
7. Take responsibility for individuals using the weight of the local GOP and the local GOP Woman's organization in their local activities including social media. These individuals should only have the authority to use the weight of their individual names and not the actual organizations.
This is only a sampling of the crimes these thugs have committed using the name of the Beaufort County Republican Party. It is also clear the leadership will not deal with any of this.

The things these people are hiding need to have the light of day shined on them. Candidates with their fingerprints on any of this should not be supported by grassroots Republicans. This is a very bad organization.

Commented: Friday, February 13th, 2026 @ 9:49 pm By: Van Zant

SD: We have to wonder. Case in point: I heard you were at the forum at the community college. I heard you did well. I haven't seen any coverage of it with you in it. They have their featured personalities that they push and then others of various categories. Some are ignored. They say they are non-partisan in the primaries. BS. How these hypocrites charge others with disloyalty (illegally) is beyond me. There are paragraphs of examples. These folks don't have the character to be in the positions they are in.

Also, being a conservative in line with the Republican Party Platform automatically puts you at odds with these people. They brag about being "true Republican" but when you get them alone, many of them will candidly admit they lean liberal. So much for honesty and transparency with the public.

Commented: Wednesday, February 11th, 2026 @ 4:51 pm By: Van Zant

Thank God for the Beaufort County Conservative Club. As long as the Beaufort County Republican Party operates like the most unethical version of GOP Establishment insiders there will be a need for the Conservative Club. Even if the GOPe started operating under their own rules and became less corrupt, an entity such as the Conservative Club could be a real asset as a partner. I can't see that happening though. The Beaufort County GOPe is just too soulless and rotten.

Commented: Tuesday, February 10th, 2026 @ 6:29 am By: Van Zant

Just to add: In North Carolina, the Open Meetings Law requires that meetings of public bodies, including political party committees, to be conducted openly to ensure transparency. Exceptions are very specific: The only exceptions to this are generally related to personnel matters and very specified examples listed in the statutes. Pertaining to political meetings only internal campaign strategy and situations when political committees are working in conjunction with official bodies on situations such as filling vacancies. There is NO exception for general business or anything outside of the very specific things listed.

So, what are these people trying to hide? I would wager they are working very hard to hide the crimes that have been exposed by the articles on this site and by the long list of victims that are protesting the wrongs that have been wrought on them.

This sorry situation is a textbook example of why transparency is so important and why honesty and virtue are things to look for in our leaders.

Commented: Wednesday, February 4th, 2026 @ 9:30 am By: Van Zant