SALISBURY —In a crowded field of 17 Republicans, 13th District candidate Kay Daly says she’s running for Congress because the state of America’s government is on a steady downhill slope.

Daly, 49, has worked in politics for much of her life. She has served as an aide to multiple U.S. Senators and as the communications director for the N.C. Republican Party. Before federal judges struck down North Carolina’s congressional map, Daly’s focus was on running for the 2nd Congressional District, a seat currently held by Republican Rep. Renee Ellmers.

After redistricting, North Carolina’s congressional map no longer placed Daly in the 2nd District. Daly says she decided to run for the 13th District at the urging of supporters.

“I agreed to run in the newly created, open 13th District because of the enormous number of party leaders and supporters who insisted that, unless I ran, the district would fall to some mushy moderate Republican in name only like Ellmers, and I could not let that happen,” Daly said.

Daly moved from Pinehurst to Mooresville to pursue the 13th District seat. However, candidates aren’t required to live in the particular district to file to run in the race.

In the field of 17 Republicans, Daly says she’s the only one talking about the Republican Party’s “gutless leadership,” which she called the “single greatest single issue” facing America.

“I can assure you that many elected officials in Washington and many of their staff care far more about their position than they do about their mission,” Daly said. “They make decisions based on what they believe to be most politically expedient, rather than what is best and what is moral. They are always telling the voters that they are conservatives too, but that we need to wait until tomorrow for anything controversial. And, tomorrow never comes.”

Despite Daly’s claim, multiple candidates in the GOP 13th District race have expressed similar concerns about Republican Party leadership in Washington, D.C.

Daly also mentioned House Bill 2 as part of an answer to a question about how she’s different than the rest of the field. She said House Bill 2 was the first time Republicans stood up to “liberal cities in North Carolina.” If she was a member of Congress currently, Daly said she would have tried to force floor votes on impeaching the U.S. Attorney General, Secretary of Education and chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission because of the federal government’s stance on House Bill 2.

She is a proponent of abolishing the Department of Education, a popular proposal in the Republican 13th District race.

Daly said Common Core has “done a lot to brainwash (children) with even more political correctness and liberal indoctrination.”

“Instead of abolishing or at least gutting the department, the gutless and feckless Republicans in Congress have made the department bigger and its educrats more dangerous,” she said.

When asked about specific issues, Daly said she will enter Congress with the assumption that military force in the Middle East will be needed to stop the Islamic State. Daly said she was unavailable for a phone interview and sent all of her responses via email.

“One thing is very clear: Muslim extremists are a different breed of mindless, robotic nut-job, with a demonstrated willingness to attack non-combatants and behave in the most monstrous and depraved of ways,” she said.

When asked about the Affordable Care Act, Daly said it should have been defunded in 2010. She listed a number of things as positive steps to improving health care, including: allowing veterans to receive health care at private provider and decoupling health insurance from employment.

Daly said the American government has “crippled our children with debt” and helped provide weapons to the “radical Muslim world.”

She said America does not have another generation to save the country. The country must start trying to save itself now, and Daly said she must do her part, so she can tell her children that she tried.

Daly will face off against 17 other Republicans on June 7 in the party primary. The candidate with the largest number of votes will advance to the general election in November against one of five Democrats.

Contact reporter Josh Bergeron at 704-797-4246.