GOP candidates file first
A trio of Republican General Assembly candidates kicked off filing at the Alamance County Board of Elections on Monday.
District 64 Rep. and former Commissioner Vice Chairman Dan Ingle was the first to file at noon. Following Ingle were District 63 state House challenger Roger Parker and Rick Gunn, who’s making a second bid for the District 24 state Senate seat Democrat Tony Foriest holds.
Ingle, who was appointed to fill the District 64 seat after Rep. Cary Allred resigned in June, said he plans to run an expanded version of his previous successful campaigns for county commissioner. “I’m not going to change a thing,” he said.
Ingle said he wanted to file early because he has a lot of energy and wanted to get started.
In 2008, Gunn waged a strong campaign against Foriest, but lost by about 5 percentage points in a race that turned nasty. This time around, Gunn said he will focus more on offering solutions than pointing out differences between him and Foriest.
“I think what the folks of Alamance and Caswell County want is us to talk about issues and solutions, and I am going to focus my campaign on talking about issues, but more importantly, providing solutions,” Gunn said.
Races in 2008 turned negative from “top to bottom,” Gunn said. “The tone in general … for every race was way too negative” and “nobody really knew what one’s message was.”
Documenting her husband’s filing was “official campaign photographer” Gayle Gunn.
A former member of the Alamance-Burlington Board of Education, Gunn said she would rather work behind the scenes on her husband’s behalf than run for office.
Parker, who’s challenging for the seat that Democrat Alice Bordsen holds, said he will wage a grassroots effort and try to “win on substance” as part of his first campaign. “I’m running because I just think we need a conservative voice in my district in Raleigh,” he said.
Clerk of Superior Court Hunt Johnson, commissioner hopeful Brandon Black, and school board candidate Tony Rose signed up for their first try at elective office within the first hour of filing. Two of the three have political experience. Johnson is the former chairman of the county Democratic Party. Black, a 30-year-old Libertarian, worked on behalf of 2008 Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Mike Munger, among others.
