Carolina Journal Radio No. 807: Voters to decide future of N.C. General Assembly

From Cherokee to current attack from the largest city to the smallest town and from the statehouse into the schoolhouse Carolina Journal radio your weekly news magazine discussing North Carolina's most public policy events and issues welcome the Carolina Journal radio I beach Coke.

I during the next hour, Donna Martinez and I will explore some major issues affecting our state. This week's edition of Carolina Journal radio was brought to you by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina working every day to transform the health system for North Carolinians. More information available at today. We.com. Most of us believe we have pretty good character, a wake forest philosophy professor says were probably wrong.

The Y hurricane Florence did hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to North Carolina roads state transportation secretary offers an assessment as the debate over climate change continues. How can you separate fact from myth, North Carolina's scientist will help identify key facts and three North Carolina congressional races are attracting significant attention. You'll learn which ones those topics are just ahead. First, Donna Martinez joins us with the Carolina Journal headline in just days. We will know the direction North Carolina voters have chosen for the state through their votes for the North Carolina Gen. assembly. All 120 seats in the North Carolina house and all 50 seats in the North Carolina Senate are up for grabs our next guest closely follows the actions of state lawmakers and she says that there is a lot at stake for every North Carolina household and business Becky gray frequent guest here it Carolina Journal radio. She is senior vice president at the John Locke foundation Becky welcome back. Thank you Donna. So is it fair to characterize it this way that the vote next week will really be a verdict on the policies of the Republicans who been in control of the legislature for number of years now. In terms of how they've approached fiscally conservative decisions about spending and taxation. I certainly hope so. That's number one on voters minds as they go in as we then in the next couple weeks. We begin to analyze the results of what's can happen this coming wake up.I absolutely hope it is and it certainly should be a real valuation of what this general assembly has done. We have the lowest unemployment rate in decades. Our economy is booming. North Carolina is a model for the rest of the country. We had transformational tax reforms, where 98% of North Carolinians are paying lower taxes. What I can't figure out is who were those other two ways transformational reforms that we had on healthcare is moving in the right better direction on what we know what will happen if the left gets back in charge because they told us this general assembly set aside $2 billion in savings for a rainy day and boy did we have a rainy day and needed that money they were ridiculed they were on Democrats during the debate on that said, we ought not be putting that money aside, that's foolish. We ought not have savings of that magnitude. But boy were we glad that we had it on again healthcare. You know what we saying we saw this just in the last session. There were bills proposed that would offer more options in health insurance so that you could purchase a plan that best fit your families knee on the other hand, we had a bill that was introduced by Democrats that would have implemented single-payer healthcare insurance in North Carolina when Roy Cooper proposed his budget this past year, he proposed rolling back the tax cuts he proposed billions of dollars in additional taxes on North Carolina families said this isn't something that we can just say well maybe if things take a turn in the other direction.

Things may go this way is exactly where they're going to go because they have told us this is what they're going to do increasing entitlement programs that something that doesn't get a lot of attention, but because of this general assembly in the last eight years has really gotten Medicaid better managed and under control. We had before was a want to write a runaway train that since it was an entitlement program it's sucked up all of the energy and all of the decisions that were made in the budget but because of really tough decisions in getting Medicaid better managed. We have more budget predictability.

Now there's more money to spend for teachers. There's more money to pay for education, more money to pay for rides.

So when we talk about you know is this a turning point, depending on what how the election turns out. On Tuesday I would argue that, you know, it is clear which direction the state will be going and we same what we've gotten under Republican leadership, lower taxes due or regulation better managed government better investments in education and infrastructure. We saw we had under Democrats and hundred and 40 years and they have told us what they're going to do if they take control Becky.

What you're really talking about. I think it's a very different outlook on the role of state government, and as a relates to a family, a single person, anyone who is living and working in North Carolina said that the choice that people have to make about what do you want the relationship to be how much do you want government involved in your life a little. A lot. You have a clear choice, absolutely. And you know what we believe in and listeners who keep up with our work block foundation and if if you don't, you certainly should. You know we are huge proponents for personal responsibility and individuals having the right and the privilege to decide how they spend their money and what they do and how they prioritize needs for their families if they choose to start a business the way that they can do that.

You know the other direction that we have is much more government control everything so it really is a real turning point in North Carolina for the past few years. We know that the conservatives and the Republicans have been in charge of both houses of the Gen. assembly, the Democratic-controlled things have for a very long time prior to about 2010, but there is a very concerted effort by the Democrats to turn out there voters. They want power back in the state legislature if they prevail, Becky.

How would you see that this would affect the relationship between the legislature which makes the laws and the governor's office because Roy Cooper is a Democrat. So would you expect a lot more things to be for them to be working together versus working at odds with that's a great question what we've seen with this governor Roy Cooper is before he was even installed as the governor he was filing lawsuits against the general summary said this is been a governor for the two years that he is been in empower help equip governor's office has not been willing to work with the general assembly at all.

Now if the Democrats take over one or both the House and the Senate, or if they just lose the supermajority is probably the more likely scenario that were hearing from Polson and thanks and you just briefly explain the super majority what that means in terms of being able to override installed super majority in both the House and the Senate, which means that as governor Cooper vetoes bills about the way he's vetoed more bills than any other governor is what he veto bills. Guess we know the answer to that is well with the supermajority they are able to override his veto which requires a supermajority of 3/5 vote in the general assembly so a little bit of an exercise in futility.

When the Gov. vetoes bills the general assembly has just been able to override that if they lose that supermajority then becomes much more difficult to override his veto. The other thing Donna that I've noticed is in this just hyper partisan environment that were in now if you look back to when Beverly perdue was the Democrat governor and Republicans controlled the Gen. assembly did not have a supermajority in the house.

There were enough moderate Democrats common sense Democrats like the column who would evaluate the proposals and issues that the Republican-led Gen. assembly was doing and often would vote with the Republicans on that what we really see in this hyper partisan environment that we have a few and fewer of those kind of middle-of-the-road folks going on on both sides of the out to be honest with you, but what I would anticipate is if we get into a situation where one of the legislative bodies does not have the supermajority is going to be much more difficult to find those moderate middle-of-the-road Democrats that would agree with Republicans on many of the initiatives that, so again, this is exactly what the Democrats are trying to do is to a road that supermajority.

Republicans, on the other hand are doing everything they can to hold onto it so it's gonna make this these results on Tuesday and of course will be analyzing that talking about it afterwards.

What it actually means as they move into a special session in November and then of course the next long session that begins in January 2019. It's can be a fascinating election for sure. And, of course, Becky will have you back after the election, analyze exactly what voters decide on Tuesday. Becky Gray is senior vice president for the John Locke foundation working folks follow you on twitter. I am at at Becky Gray it's BEC KI GR a Y great. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Donna, David is much more Carolina general radio. The company just a moment.

This week's edition of Carolina general radio was brought to you by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina working every day to transform health system from North Carolinians. More information available today.

We.com Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, friends, rivals, great American presidents.

Their ideas still have great value today. You could hear those ideas.

Monday, November 5. It's a special living history event in Raleigh. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams come to life in a debate on the future of the United States of America. Taxes prayed for the threats Jefferson and Adams dealt with them all though how shelter differences before a live audience.

You could join them. It's living history. Monday, November 5 at 7 PM at the North Carolina Museum of natural sciences in Raleigh. Tickets are $10, five dollars for students like tickets online@johnlocke.org that's John Locke with an E.org or call 1866 jail left info.

Welcome back to Carolina general radio hi Mitch coca, most of us consider ourselves to be fundamentally good people. Is that true pack we tell what we do to make ourselves better. Our next guest will help start a conversation about those questions. Christian Miller is AC read Prof. of philosophy at Wake Forest University is also the author of the book, the character gap. How good are we recently shared themes from his work with the John Locke foundation's Shaftesbury society. Welcome to the program picks much from you, so you really look at this issue from the aspect of character and the character that we have and I assume that this is something the people don't spend a whole lot of time reflecting on just what sort of character they have. Maybe not in those terms, but I think it really matters in people's lives so concept of character may be more an academic concept or term is more from the past but I think when we think about examples of character, and character traits. It's very real world is very much part of a lived experience when we think of honesty.

For example, matters to us whether our friends or family or leaders in society are honest or dishonest. I could have terrible consequences or we think of other examples like justice or courage, bravery and heroism. These are examples of character traits parts of people's character if they have them, which I think we all want to have you aspire to having every don't have them that I can have for us is that again really negative consequences.

So character is very much a part of our way of thinking. Even if we don't use the term character lives. Most of us probably look at ourselves and we were asked would say you have a pretty good character. Your book in your research suggests that the reality might not match the perception that correct.

So when you survey people in the sum to read between 1 to 5 with five being really high character, one below character.

Time and again the readers about 4 to 5.

Some people think that there are above average in their character. This not just United States is been replicated across the world. Well are they right about that and am I right about my own beliefs are different ways to assess the internal probe deeper we can look at history with little religious texts. My preferred approach that was a look of psychological research. What happens when you actually put people in real-world situations where they have an opportunity to cheat or not she's still an obstacle modernized line harm or not even kill or not kill their studies that have been done for the last 50 years which probe people's character. These moral respects, where they find well is thus a long conversation we could get into some other time. But the upshot of what I interpret those studies say is this remix character and there is some good news there are some positive aspects of our character. For example, when helping others and feeling empathy for their suffering.

But the other hand, there are some really disturbing sites are character of most people's character is such that we will not help in a group emergency. That means when there's emergency happening and other people are doing everything were very unlikely to do so as well.

Just example, the good side of our character also example of about such a character. The overall picture I think is very much one of them expect the example that's often mentioned is someone in the crowd cries for help in and no one helps right so this goes back to a psychologist call the group of friends so if you see someone in an emergency. You're by yourself. You're very likely to help a person, but if you're in a group where no one else is doing anything to help the same emergencies happening you're very likely not help yourself. This goes back to's research in the 1960s for the bystander effect where if you brought a participant into a room part of a study they were told to fill the survey met another random person comes in, told fill the survey to be a work of the survey don't know each other. The person who was in charge gave you the surveys went into the next room. After little time goes on here crash fillings some is going on and it limits the space persons are screaming in pain. My leg, my leg get this thing off me that hurts terribly. What would you do well Mech I think you would say I would do something to help. I would call out so don't elect from a truck of the person. What really matters what that other person is doing or not doing turns out that another person with you in the room doesn't help is extremely unlikely to help effect in the study, only 7% 70% 7% of participants did anything to help the stranger in the next room when another group was alone when each person was alone, 70%, helped, but in a group only 7%. That is the voice of Dr. Christian Miller.

He's a professor of philosophy at Wake Forest University. It also the author of the book, the character gap. How good are we and what it turned that title. If your title is the character gap that seems to suggest that there is some distance between the character we ought to have her think we have in the character we actually have this right so that title is framed exactly those terms. There is, on the one hand, the character we actually have we been spending some time talking about I let a mix character, some good some bad. When there's a character we often that's of virtuous guarantor character were we have virtues like honesty encouraged temperance, justice, fortitude, gratitude like the idea of the gap is that there is a significant difference between the two.

In most people's lives in everyone's life. We have examples of heroes and moral science, and the like. We can talk about Confucius. We talk by Jesus. We can talk about Abraham Lincoln in the light and examples like that but those are tend to be outliers. Exceptions for most of us, according to my interpretation of the psychological research versus L reaction are, how should be. Are there ways to help shrink the gap, either overall or for us individually.

I hope so to be rather pessimistic of the depressing news about others is gap and soap so I know were stuck with that. But the good news now is that there are strategies for overcoming the gap but not ones that are quick fixes, so there's no magic bullet or magic pill you can take more anything that's going to give you an overnight fix from going remix character to virtuous character but me give a couple ideas of something that over the long run to make a difference one is looking to moral heroes and saints as role models so it have been big exemplars for us to follow. Look up to Abraham Lincoln with respect to his honesty. If I want to become a more honest person myself, I can use them as a basis for someone to emulate my another example has to do with learning more about just who we are in the first place, getting the word out to people about how they tend to be in the ways they might not even recognize. So when you educate people about the impact of groups on helping people first bar surprise. I didn't realize this before. But secondly, they are more aware of it and in the future in combat. It can work against it. The next time they're in a group, they might say what I remember that this research I learned about this as well. Really there's no good reason for me to not help is of the person. Just because someone else is doing it isn't doing anything, and I shouldn't really help so that both the third and final one I mentioned in our time together is is this more reminders. So often we get sidetracked on to other things in our lives we get caught up in our own self-interest were to come up in this latest sales on Black Friday. We got caught up in the new car we need to have so our self-interest tends to sometimes push out more considerations push them to the side what's right and what's wrong. More reminders can be an important part of bringing back to our attention was really important.

So those could be things that my wrist bands that could be notes that you leave yourself or text messages that could be a reading that you start your day with researchers found that if you get your perspective back onto its root, most moral in saline of most most more important I can help you steer a better course throughout your life more virtuous course of three suggestions moral exemplars and role models more reminders and getting the word out. Learning more about how counteraction works.

What's very interesting topic.

If you'd like to learn more.

You could read the book. It is titled the character gap.

How good are we. Its author is Dr. Christian Miller AC Reed Prof. of philosophy at Wake Forest University. Thanks so much for a lot more on Carolina journal radio just a moment. Did you know you can now advance freedom and free markets just by shopping with Amazon it's true online shopping is now a great way to support the John Locke foundation just shot using the Amazon smile program and designate as the foundation to receive a portion of your purchase amount that's right you shop and Amazon donates money to ask the John Locke foundation. So here's how it works lot onto smile.amazon.com Amazon smile. It's the same Amazon you know same products same prices is much better.

Amazon donates .5% of the price of your eligible purchases to pass the John Locke foundation to try to be sure to designate the Locke foundation is a nonprofit, you want to support. It's that easy. So now not only will you enjoy what you buy will also support freedom.

Don't forget lot onto smile.amazon.com today by something nice and help defend freedom. Support the John Locke foundation, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, friends, rivals, great American presidents. Their ideas still have great value today. You could hear those ideas. Monday, November 5. It's a special living history event in Raleigh. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams come to life in a debate on the future of the United States of America.

Taxes, trade, foreign threats, Jefferson and Adams dealt with them all though how shelter differences before a live audience.

You could join them. It's living history. Monday, November 5 at 7 PM at the North Carolina Museum of natural sciences in Raleigh.

Tickets are $10, five dollars for students like tickets online@johnlock.org that's John Locke with any.org or call 1866 jail left info if you have freedom we got great news to share with you now. You can find the latest news, views, and research from conservative groups across North Carolina all in one place North Carolina conservative.com it's one stop shopping for North Carolina's freedom movement and North Carolina conservative.com.

You'll find links to John Locke foundation blogs on the days news Carolina journal.com reporting and quick takes Carolina journal radio interviews TV interviews featuring CJ reporters and Locke foundation analysts, opinion pieces and reports on higher education from the James Dean Martin Center for academic renewal, commentary and polling data from the scimitar's Institute and news and views from the North Carolina family policy Council. That's right, all in one place North Carolina conservative.com that's North Carolina spelled out conservative.com North Carolina conservative.com. Try it today.

This week's edition of Carolina journal radio was brought to you by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina working every day to transform the health system from North Carolinians. More information available at today. We.com will go back Carolina journal radio amateur coca among hurricane Florence's most significant impacts damage to North Carolina's transportation system for transportation Sec. Jim Trogdon recently updated lawmakers just the the you know the massive amounts of impact across our state was somewhat different, so all the way from Ocracoke all and will resolve extensive damage down to Wilmington Brunswick County all the way out to Charlotte in the West all the way up to Ash and Haywood and Watauga County's what we've seen damage in all of those locations. There was about eight estimated 8 trillion gallons of rain that fell Florence would've filled Jordan like 536 times a significant amount of rain. If you want to compare it to poor population. If you look at our current population of 10.27 million that would be like we just gave each North Carolinians 779,000 gallons of water. How did Florence affect roads in total we had 2500 rows close that at any time. That was about 1700 peak at one time and then today were down to a little less than 130 want to believe it's 127 actually. And as you know we had two major interstates closed in multiple locations. Most of the roads of reopened but there's still work left to do. The state DOT had identified about 3100 sites that need some repair work will focus moving forward is going to be on the debris removal both the woody debris construction and demolition debris were moving forward with that cleanup and will be doing it as rapidly as possible. We are also focused on doing those long-term repairs. Of those 3100 sites. Most of them will be done within the first 30 to 60 days and then the remainder of the longer-term ones will take slightly longer than that.

Equally important to is how we do things to mitigate future damage. We are very concerned with flooding of the interstate and closing of interstates and future storms that you know there's just certain things we can't stop them a few drying storms are going crazy flooding and flooding is going to close roads, but we believe there are some things that we can do in the longer-term. To make sure that in the future on 95 and 40 art as susceptible as they are today. As of today are estimates on total cost of repair.

It will be a 266 million. We anticipate a 90% reimbursement on federal highway 70% on FEMA. We had to supply that we will have at least a 66 million on state needs. Performance recovery and those numbers are bound to grow. That's Jim Trogdon, North Carolina, Sec. of transportation will return with more Carolina journal radio with a moment commitment to truth and transparency in government. That is the mission of Carolina journal and we are proud to deliver and now proud to tell you the North Carolina press Association has honored to members of our team with awards reporting and writing, that's right, we really do deliver award-winning journalism we shine the light on government spending, reveal the truth about boondoggles and dig deep into programs paid for with your tax money. We keep you in the know in a way other media outlets don't in our reach and influence are growing all of our outlets. We reach more than 1 million N. Carolinians each month so make sure you're one of them.

Our monthly print edition arrives in your mailbox every month.

Our online daily news site Carolina journal.com has fresh stories, opinion pieces, and more.

The award-winning Carolina journal team I reporters make government accountable to you. Call 1866 jail FINFO for your free subscription, welcome back. Carolina journal radio amateur coca. It's hard to read, watch or listen to the news regularly without hearing about the danger of global warming or climate change, but our next guest offers an alternative viewpoint on this topic. Dr. Bill Lynch is a fellow at the Institute of electrical and electronic engineers and he's been looking into this issue for a long time. Welcome to the program like you so you approach this basically by looking at the the compound that's at the heart of this debate, carbon dioxide or CO2 and looking at the way that CO2 actually operates tell us that CO2 is a perfect absorber for the infrared. The earth has to release every time it's releasing energy gets sunlight comes in hell for every watt that comes in a lot of our luck comes in has to be released in that same 24 hour. If you have a equilibrium so CO2 is very vulnerable to this radiation coming off from the earth. And so that's where a lot of the blanket comes. So it's very important, but when you're offs when it's all said and done and you look at how much of the final blanket which is part of the energy that comes into the office like a mini son. The sons there and I get a blank IT'S harder because you got all the many son and what CO2 is only producing 25% of that and yet all the plots are you we move CO2 up. Look what happens while CO2 is only playing paying 25% of the final contribution in today's conditions it's only 25%, so I know that and I started trying to look at was whether CO2 really was more vulnerable. He used here that it sets up chain reactions.

That's what they did in the 90s there were chain reactions and everything was going to call What could they possibly be will or are no chain reactions are recurrent when CO2 warms the temperature warm by little bit you at some CO2. You had a liver temperature. It doesn't do anything to pull the rest of the universe. It just raises the temperature when it raises the temperature all the other absorbers. Let's say that 75% take advantage of those extra photons that are coming off because a little bit of extra temperature. They absorb more they absorb on the blanket goes. So the blanket goes up. Life X amount 25% of it is to CO2 and CO2. You could say is a cause but you know if the other elements you added more. The other elements you have the same effect if you added more water. It would raise the temperature and then you blame water for a safe whole thing so it's it's a very simple molecule. It's very sensitive to absorption. It's like a piano string that you ways that you eat the 24 is the is the radiation that's coming often now piano string really likes it so CO2 is very sensitive, very resonant with some sort works is making the it's making climate warmer, but it's not as drastic as people with some people would say and so that those who say that the higher levels of CO2 are guaranteeing all kinds of problems in our future or overstating what CO2 can do absolutely make because nature does not allow that to happen and affect nature prevents calamities from happening okay at it this way, the total amount of energy that mankind is creating for its own effort through its own machinery carbon whatever is 1/100 of a percent of the energy we get from the sun and the sun is spent thing spending 10% of that energy just work up a ruckus in the tropics, making all that water. Pour up into the crown above the tropics so Microsoft is its that's 10% of the suns energy is doing that and we are putting out.

If we flight everything we had with got .01% of the suns energy so does the sun and then there's the energy and the rotation of the earth is laudable. The factor so so CO2 contributes a small amount of temperature, but there's no way you can see it because the runaway they save +2° +3° Villa temperature changes by plus or -10 to 15°C every day on and on and around the world changes. Plus minus say 40°C, nothing runs away nature when it's disturbed always comes back from equilibrium what the perfect example of this is when you have a lightning strike is a problem up there that you got 8000 V between here and then the best way to resolve it is so you have this lightning bolt problem was solved know so not mean it doesn't care about our stuff. Nature doesn't care about our self and solves its own problem were speaking with Bill Lynch and it sounds as if perhaps that the people who are making a big deal about CO2 and rising levels of CO2 are focusing a lot on these climate models and less on how the actual material, carbon dioxide works is that a fair way to say I know I went said, I think the physicists are all to climatologist physicists are all doing their job.

It's just that the papers that get selected and get chosen and get publicized are in that band that are on the outer fringe of possibility probability but not likelihood and so on, giving example right now the, the IPCC has reduced its claims me back up a bit in the 90s. They used to say that you raise the CO2 by hundred parts per million. The temperature go up by 1°C that's what really made me know that something was wrong because by 250 ppm, all the really sensitive parts of the spectrum have been sucked up by CO2 molecules already put more CO2 while you do is get the that absorption closer to the earth it's it's going to absorb it all just absorbs it all affect those at those frequencies so they said it was every hundred parts per million would raise up I want to be. I know that we didn't make any sense and anyway papers came out then that that wasn't correct and I actually made my own logarithm plot little lot longer than Padres log 10 of CO2 and I figured it out and cite nowhere near linear.

It's it doesn't want to keep going out but other scientists figured that out and I noticed that suddenly the IPCC change their reports to be more correct. They had a log to model and there was when which they said well if you were a CO2 and double it. The temperature is going to go up by for I think early as I said 2 1/2 to 5 of 1/2° centigrade now they're saying to the floor so that pulling the number down so 2°C is a lot lower than foreign half degrees centigrade, I'll tell you that. But looks like the real model that other people are getting what I understand besides me is like 1°C jump for every doubling. That's not a serious problem for know in the next hundred years are likely to get another 1°C in the brief time that we have left some people are going to hear us and say well it's a lot of science little bit more that I that I understand for you. What's the bottom line about what people should know about what CO2 does well. CO2 does one employment planner it's extra any extra energy you put in the planet every year at the sun raised its its output that was getting to the earth by .01% .01% a year. It would have an effect on climate that small amount of extra energy gift to us. He did every year. It would raise the temperature so it is doing that, it does raise the temperature but when I say it's going have a runaway. That's the that's the problem that the most when I call it fear: belief where you have a fear and it turns into a belief you make it now becomes a gospel what's an interesting topic. Of course one that's always in the news climate change, global warming, whatever you want to call it.

We been chatting with Bill Lynch. Thanks much for joining us.

Thank you love North Carolina journal radio just a moment. This week's edition of Carolina journal radio is brought to you by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina working every day to transform the health system from North Carolinians.

More information available at today. We.com Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, friends, rivals, great American presidents. Their ideas still have great value today. You can hear those ideas. Monday, November 5.

It's a special living history event in Raleigh. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams come to life in a debate on the future of the United States of America. Taxes, trade, foreign threats, Jefferson and Adams dealt with them all though has shelter differences before a live audience.

You could join them. It's living history. Monday, November 5 at 7 PM at the North Carolina Museum of natural sciences in Raleigh.

Tickets are $10, five dollars for students like tickets online@johnlocke.org that's John Locke with any.org or call 1866 JL left info. Welcome back to Carolina journal radio and Anna Martinez all of North Carolina's 13 US congressional seats are now on Tuesday's election ballot right now. Republicans hold a 10 of those seats Democrats. Three of the seats, but Democrats hope that they will pick up a seat or two here in North Carolina. All of that part of the national Democratic Party's effort to take control of the United States House of Representatives three North Carolina congressional races are particularly competitive really interesting and our friends at Carolina journal have been reporting on these races. Carolina journals editor-in-chief Rick Henderson joins us now to take a look at these particular races.

Rick welcome back. Thank you. These three races in terms of polling are all pretty much too close to call you there. Although the margin of error.

Right now it what's been interesting about all three of them is that depending on the polling was done, the candidates, the leader has switched back and forth. You've seen some cases in which Democrat is been caught toward the outer range of above the margin of error, and then Republican would flip and take the lead in this race and so these are very very close.

They are also the candidates seem to be playing largely from the same playbook with one notable exception. And so it's a it's interesting that this is being made. All of these are federal offices to be sure, these are largely being made into national elections in the local election snatch the three seats. I have a Republican incumbent Bynum with the Democratic challenger and one has a libertarian challenger is well one of the seats is actually open and talk about that seat first.

That's district 9 where Republican Mark Harris is running against Democrat Dan McCready. That's an open seat because Mr. Harris defeated the incumbent Rob Wright and Robert Pittenger while feeder the primary was considered to be vulnerable also because he had some issue ethical issues and things like that which he denied were problems with still some of the lingering cloud over him and Mark Harris has run for office before statewide.

He ran the Senate race in it into Pakistan Tillis in the program primaries did very well didn't didn't prevail, but has a lot of name recognition and is actually doing a lot better. The people would have expected in that particular district because Dan McCready is running sort of a centrist Democrat, pro-business Democrat.

There is a Republican for McCready organization that's active in that district which is in the Charlotte area roughly. But Mark Harris is done really well and he in the most recent polling he's been in the lead in some of those poles and so he's doing well.

I think his name recognition is helpful. The fact that he's a well-known pastor of we saw this sort of thing with those six district couple terms back with Mark Walker who had yard signs everywhere. Even though he was not considered to be a strong candidate necessarily got one was a surprising one. The primary to the general election. You may see the same sort of thing with the with Rev. Harris. Interesting that the national Democrats really think they've got a premier candidate by Dan McCready.

They think he might be a model for flipping some seats yes that's right. And so this is the race that I think they're killing all their banking on taking this one of the fact that Mark Harris is doing so well.

Must have the Democrats flummoxed to some extent. Let's move on then to the district to competition and this is one that is that wake County in a little bit east it's that part of Johnston County Nash County, Franklin and Harnack County Republican incumbent is George holding the Democratic challenger is Linda Coleman and libertarian in this race as well.

Jeff management I believe his name is tells about the dynamics. There interesting race in because it is so much as George holding is your classic workhorse not show horse and Linda: it doesn't have a personality either for so you have two candidates who are not going to exactly deliver stem why next 3 inches on the on the campaign trail, but George holding took the seat in the 2016 election as after of the redistricting took place, who formerly served in the 13th congressional district and is now moved over the second knocked out Renée Elmer's took the seat and hit is running very much on a traditional Republican stances stances on issues of taxes and regulations. He's very strong with immigration enforcement and so there he stands with Pres. Trump. He is taken. He's criticized Pres. Trump for both his demeanor on the kick out in the White House also for his dental trade and so that's that that's one workplace restorative separated himself from the president when the cold is running a very standard Democratic race in which she says healthcare is the most important issue healthcare healthcare healthcare.

When asked in a recent debate what she would do about the deficit through the store, the national debt. She said we are your and waste fraud and abuse and representative holdings that we got a look at entitlements which is a little bit of the third rail could a dangerous to talk about but he's one of the few Republicans exactly talking about.

It was also interested that races it.

Neither one of the city they would support for speaker of the house in the In re said that the holding still there about 1/2 dozen good candidates out there and Coleman would not say whether she would vote for Nancy Pelosi interesting in that Ray Sammy that George holding talking about entitlements course Pres. Trump. He said he doesn't want to tie entitlements and that's the separation there between those two, Linda Coleman well-known in North Carolina.

She has run for statewide office before, and she's held different positions that so she has a I would say a grassroots movement to forgo.

She is also because she's woefully underfunded holdings campaign is a lot more money than hers. However, so when the coal is getting some outside money in the recent campaign ads run from outside groups supporting her and then some that she's finding herself. But it is a situation in which you got one candidate is an incumbent who was much more better financial shape to run the libertarian in that race is going to be a factor pretty much a nonfactor. He was invited to participate in the spectrum news debate declined to do so, which is very unusual because typically libertarians begged to be involved in these events and he chose not to so I don't see was a factor in thrice interesting. So that's the district to situation moving on to district 13. That is, Republican incumbent Ted by his Democratic challenger is Kathy Manning. Now that's an interesting race as well because it's got very personal.

Kathy Manning is a part of of wealthy business family if you will. She so she and her husband both involved a lot of business interests. She's local philanthropist and Ted Bud operates gun range gun store to buzz. Refreshments of this. Generally speaking, would be the easiest opportunity for people to knock him off. That's the way that the general election rhetoric goes is that the freshman winning his or her first term is the most difficult reelection prospects and is a very close race. Kathy Megan has lots and lots of money you Ted but doesn't have as much Bud's been pretty much running even to her or ahead of her and the two of them have gotten kinda nasty about things are some there were some issues dealing with a publicly funded garage in Greensboro which there were some debate about whether or not Manning and her husband had a financial stake in this tax funded garage and so it's a bit again issue that's gone back and forth about his will and giving advantage of some from cronyism or not and district 13 of the general area for that district. That's a triad kind of the rural part of the triad also does include Greensboro. Of course, but did is it is a bit more the Chad Calumet that general survey area which is not as organized as some of the other districts and Ted but again, came out of nowhere and with the primary and so he again his score better than some people thought in these in the polling of these races.

While these are the three that were to be watching the most intently on election night, which I met district 9 district to and district 13. Three of North Carolina's 13 US congressional seats across all 13 are on the ballot. Carolina journal reporting on all of these a lot of postelection analysis to come as well from our guest Rick Henderson. He was editor in chief of the time we have for the program this week. Thank you for listening on behalf of my cohost Mitch. Okay I'm Donna Martinez hope you'll join us again next week for more Carolina journal radio this week's edition of Carolina journal radio is brought to you by Blue Cross working everyday transform health system. More information available today. We got Carolina journal radio is a program of the John to learn more about the John Locke foundation including donations support programs like Carolina journal radio send email development John Morgan call 166 GLS info 1-866-553-4636 Carolina journal radio is a comfort action of the John line foundation, Carolina's free-market think tank and Carolina broadcasting system, Inc. all opinions expressed on this program are solely those I do not merely reflect the advertisers or the station information about the show or other programs and services of the John line foundation's online toll-free at 866 JL at night and thank our wonderful radio affiliates across my Carolina and our sponsors. Carolina journal radio. Thank you for listening. Please join us again next week