My Turn, Geoffrey Hoy: Dangers to democracy
Published 12:00 am Sunday, October 30, 2022
By Geoffrey Hoy
The first and most basic issue on the ballot this election is Democracy. The idea that the candidate with the most votes wins. Votes count. Add them up and the highest total wins.
Two candidates for national office, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ted Budd and Representative candidate Dan Bishop, somehow believed that the 2020 total for Mr. Trump of 74.2 million was greater than 81.3 million for Mr. Biden. And that the Electoral College vote of 232 for Trump was somehow greater than 306 for Biden. They voted to not certify the presidential election results!
I am very disturbed that they voted to overthrow the will of 81 million voters and the vote of the Electoral College. This is dangerous to democracy.
We know that when the Tar Heels score 81 points and the Blue Devils 74, North Carolina beat Duke. Budd and Bishop do not seem to know their basic mathematics.
I urge your vote for Senate candidate Cheri Beasley and Representative candidate Scott Huffman. They are both Democrats who believe in democracy, small d, and the person with the most votes wins.
The second most important issue on the ballot of extreme importance is the right of women to make their own decisions about their reproductive health and economic security. I trust women to know what is best for their lives. It makes no sense to proclaim liberty and take away the freedom of choice. For 50 years Roe v. Wade provided the framework and time line to protect women’s health and decision making.
Consideration must be given for problem pregnancies. Now we are in danger of having politicians (mostly men) control the most intimate and difficult decision a woman can make. Let’s leave it to the wisdom of women to make these decisions along with their doctors and those whom they love and respect.
Vote Beasley, Huffman and Tangela Morgan for N.C. Senate and protect women’s right to choose.
In last Sunday’s My Turn column, my friend and counterpart, the chair of the Rowan County Republican Party, Elaine Hewitt listed numerous policy issues that separate our two parties today. I long for the day when we can sit down together as Democrats and Republicans to discuss how and why we differ as people and then have some civil dialogue regarding policy issues and the data they are based on. Rowan County needs this and our country could use us as an example of civility in public life.
Yes, I urge all readers of this column to vote for Democrats up and down the ballot including all the candidates: from judges to school board members, because I believe we stand for the common good of all people. but most of all I urge you to vote and respect the results.
Geoffrey Hoy is chair of the Rowan County Democratic Party.