Rep. Pricey Harrison will be in Washington, D.C., Tuesday to talk about coal ash.
Harrison (D-Guilford) is one of about two dozen advocates from around the country who will be there to lobby Congress to regulate coal ash, she said.
Harrison will be on a panel that will update Senate and Congressional staff members about movements around the country.
The trip comes as the North Carolina General Assembly passed coal ash regulation that leaders consider a model for the nation. Harrison voted against the House bill, but she says she’ll be applauding the effort in D.C.
“I’m OK about going up there and talking about it in a way that compliments the effort because it is very comprehensive,” Harrison said. “It goes further than what we had.”
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‘Heels on the ground’
A New York Times piece last week on the importance of single women to Democratic candidates this election highlights North Carolina’s U.S. Senate race.
“Nowhere is the courtship of unmarried women as intense as in North Carolina, where Senator Kay Hagan , a Democrat struggling for a second term, recently has shown gains even in a Republican poll,” the paper reported. “Midway through a recent Saturday of campaigning, she described her mobilization strategy: ‘Heels on the ground.’”
The piece goes on to say that Democrats hoping to hold on to the Senate are leaning on the voting records of Republicans since they took power in places like the N.C. General Assembly to show that policy issues women care about are under attack.
Conservative political pundits are already mocking the young, unmarried female demographic as “The Beyonce Vote” (you know, “All The Single Ladies ...”). But the Hagan campaign is leaning heavily on opponent Thom Tillis ’ record on so-called women’s issues.
Whether the strategy will work remains to be seen. But two recent polls — by the left-leaning Public Policy Polling and the right-leaning Civitas Institute — show that Tillis, speaker of the N.C. House, does already seem to have a problem with female voters.
Public Policy Polling has Hagan leading Tillis among women 39 percent to 29 percent.
Civitas has the gap at 46 percent to 33 percent. And among female voters under 45, Hagan leads Tillis by 25 percentage points in the Civitas poll.
Voters on the move
If you moved before June 15, go to your new precinct if you’re voting in the runoff for the 6th District Republican nomination, Guilford County elections director Charlie Collicutt said.
On the ballot July 15: Rockingham County District Attorney Phil Berger Jr. of Eden and former minister Mark Walker of Greensboro.
The runoff will decide which Republican will head to the Nov. 4 general election against Democrat Laura Fjeld of Orange County.
If you’ve moved, make sure you’re still voting in the 6th District. If your new residence is in the 12th District — well, no cigar. You can’t vote in the second primary, or runoff.
“We’re really talking about people who have moved in a very small window,” Collicutt said. “It’s not going to affect a lot of people, theoretically.”
So who can vote?
- Registered Republicans
- Unaffiliated voters who either voted in the Republican primary or did not vote in May
If you didn’t register before the May 6 primary, then it’s too late for the runoff. But you can still register to vote in the November general election.
— Staff Writers Marquita Brown, Joe Killian, Amanda Lehmert and Kelly Poe contributed.
