Part 3 of a Series

MURFREESBORO – Three of the four democratic candidates for US Senate attended the African American Caucus of the Hertford County Democratic Party forum last Saturday.

The democratic winner of the March 15 primary will face incumbent Senator Richard Burr in November’s General Election.

Democratic candidates Chris Rey, Kevin Griffin, and Deborah Ross attended the forum. Candidate Ernest Reeves did not attend.

Rey said if elected he would fight to increase the minimum wage, increase education investment, provide needed resources to the nation’s veterans, reform student loans and make college more affordable, increase access to affordable health care, and implement criminal justice reform.

Rey served for 15 years in the US Army and was awarded the Bronze Star. He became a commissioned officer and was in the Signal Corps. While in law school after the Army he joined the National Guard, helping to write cyber-security policy for the nation.

He now serves as mayor of Spring Lake, works as executive director of a non-profit in his community to provide healthcare to the uninsured, and volunteers in schools to improve literacy.

“I have spent my entire adult life in the service of others,” Rey said. “My decision to run for the United States Senate was very simple; I was sick and tired of being sick and tired.

“Richard Burr has shown time after time that he is only in Washington D.C. for a very specific group of people, and not the people of North Carolina,” Rey said.

He continued that the perspective of everyday Americans is not represented in Washington. North Carolina has some of the poorest counties in the nation, he said, adding that there are two different sets of economies, urban and rural, but the leaders in Raleigh and Washington only recognize the urban economy.

Rey was asked about workforce funding that is needed in the new global economy and the education needed.

He said he would invite town mayors and county commissioners to give him advice about the strategic needs of North Carolina because the local level is where government “really takes off.”

He was also asked about the Medicare drug “donut hole.”

Rey replied that the current $118,000 cap for paying into Medicare must be raised to over $200,000.

He also said that a ¼ cent tax on Wall Street speculation would completely cover Medicare costs.

The next senatorial primary candidate to speak was Kevin Griffin, the president and CEO of AVANT Group, LLC in Durham. His company works to put workers with the proper employer. He said attending college is not the only way to go for getting good paying jobs.

He pointed out that linemen with Duke Energy, without a college degree, can make $100,000 a year.

Griffin also said the small business administration should be expanded so more people can start their own businesses.

He said the TPP trade bill is a bad idea because other countries can manipulate their economies, which would take employment opportunities out of our country and hurt local workers.

Griffin stressed that he has specific policies to bring Medicare to more Americans that can be found on his website that differ from the other people running for US Senate.

On veterans issues, Griffin said he wants to use the GI Bill to give outgoing service members six months of job service training and connect them with a potential future employer so that when they rotate out of the military they have a job.

“That would ease the transition out of the military,” Griffin said. “We help the transition, we help train veterans, and we would build the community because employers would get at least a year’s worth of good work.”

Griffin also said that local hospitals could have small subsection developed for Veterans Administration health care.

Ross said she is running for the U.S. Senate because she understands that North Carolinians want an elected leader that puts people first.

She was in the NC House of Representatives from 2003 -2013, resigning to go back to private law practice. With over 20 year practicing law, Ross specialized in constitutional law, municipal finance, transportation, and energy law. She also taught law at Duke University.

Ross said, “I have spent my entire career fighting for the citizens of North Carolina, and I am ready to take that fight to the U.S. Senate to take on the tough issues and work to create a better business environment that enhances economic security, ensure every child in North Carolina has access to quality education from Head Start through college, raise the minimum wage, and protect the equal opportunity that America was built upon.

“I’m running for the US Senate because I believe the people of North Carolina deserve better representation in Washington D.C.,” she said. “The Medicare and Social Security systems need to be stabilized and not outsourced.”

Next in the series: Candidates for North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction, North Carolina Attorney General, and North Carolina Commissioner of Labor.