I am convinced it is time for positive change in N.C. and a new representative for our District 77! Our current representative has been in office for over 30 years, and under her leadership, our hard-working citizens suffer from lack of affordable health care, child care and, when our jobs vanish, the ability to earn money and pay our bills. When people cannot work, they do not have the ability to pay their bills or contribute to growing the economy and all of us are negatively affected economically.

Our current representative has not voted for the betterment of her constituents in Davie and Rowan counties. Her votes to deny the expansion of Medicaid directly hurt our health care and economic well-being. The inaction by our General Assembly to expand Medicaid to working citizens in N.C. has resulted in needless deaths, diabetics going without medication, women lacking mammogram screenings for breast cancer and a loss of a 67,000 jobs that could have been created in our state to provide health care services.

Many employers have avoided paying for health insurance by restricting hours worked by many employees, making it necessary to work more than one job just to pay bills. I know from experience that working more than one job makes it almost impossible to have quality family time and the stress from that contributes to disease. Quality family time is critically important in the development of children and our future well-being.

Hard-working families deserve access to affordable health care! The federal government made it easy to pay for Medicaid expansion for people in all 50 states, but our N.C. General Assembly refused to allow tax-paying North Carolinians to benefit from this health care expansion! Vice President Mike Pence expanded Medicaid for the residents of Indiana while he was governor in 2015. Aren’t our working North Carolinians worthy of a benefit that allows us to afford health care?

Please read more about Keith Townsend, the 2020 candidate wanting to represent us in the N.C. House District 77. After researching our incumbent’s overall voting record and looking at the actual needs of Rowan and Davie counties, I’m voting for Keith Townsend.

Mr. Townsend is a retired teacher from western Rowan County. He is knowledgeable, puts people before politics and will work to represent us in Raleigh. Keith Townsend understands both the economic and health benefits for expanding Medicaid and wants to help hard working families in N.C. It is time for a positive change in the N.C House of Representatives, and time to give Keith Townsend a chance to work to make life better for us in NC!

— Bonnie Clark

Harmony