By Steve Huffman
Salisbury Post
Rep. Lorene Coates (D-Rowan) is planning to run for re-election to the 77th N.C. House District seat that she’s held since 2000.
“I still have some things I need to work on,” Coates said Friday. “I want to continue working to improve our roads and our school system. I’ve got plenty to do.”She said she plans to file as soon as the filing period opens Feb. 11.
“I consider it a real honor to be a voice for Rowan County in Raleigh and I hope the people will send me back to represent them again this November,” Coates said. “I made a simple promise when I first ran for office and I’ve done my best to make sure I’ve kept that promise.”
Coates is a member of the 21st Century Transportation Committee and the House Select Committee on a Comprehensive Rail Service Plan for North Carolina.
Her permanent committees in the House are Agriculture, Alcoholic Beverage Control, Appropriations, Homeland Security, and Military, and Veterans Affairs. Coates chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and is the Vice Chairman of the Transportation and Public Utilities Committees.
Coates said she’s working to support farmland preservation and noted that funds for such were added to the state budget last year for the first time ever.
“Most of us don’t want to see a strip mall on every corner,” Coates said.
She said she’s also worked hard to secure additional funding for the N.C. Transportation Museum in Spencer. Coates said she played a significant role in the State Historic Site recently receiving a $2.1-million state grant to be used for a new roof for the facility’s powerhouse.
She said it’s a rare occasion when she doesn’t go out to eat and find herself greeted by any number of her friends and neighbors.
Coates said she welcomes such greetings.
“I work to get money for things that affect the local people,” she said. “I think I’m a people’s representative. That’s the way I want it to be.”
Coates won her last two elections in 2004 and 2006 with more than 60 percent of the vote. As of the latest campaign finance reports filed with the N.C. Board of Elections, Coates had cash on hand of $35,758.49 as of the end of 2007.
“I’m so pleased to have the help of so many good folks here at home,” she said. “I’m really proud that I have Democrats, Republicans and independent voters who all support my campaign.”
Dr. Ada Fisher, a former member of the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education who has run for both the 12th Congressional District seat and the U.S. Senate seat held by Elizabeth Dole, has announced that she also plans to seek the 77th N.C. House District seat.
Contact Steve Huffman at 704-797-4222 or shuffman@salisburypost.com.