This page is  http://www.burtonsys.com/daves_picks_2010pri.html

Dear friends,

[5/6/2010 update - results are in red and green.]

I pray that your conscience will be your guide while voting in the May 4, 2010 primary election.

I also pray that we can all be polite and friendly and charitable, remembering always that "the tongue (or keyboard) is a flame..."

To view your sample ballot (and check your polling place) for tomorrow's primary election, visit:
http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/VoterLookup.aspx?Feature=voterinfo
(Fill in your name, etc., then click on "My Sample Ballot.")
The polling places are the same as for November elections.

The early voting results for Wake County are as follows:
    Republicans: 1886
    Democrats: 2960

If Republicans and Democrats turn out tomorrow in the same proportions that they've turned out in early voting, it is likely that all the Republican candidates will be eliminated in most of the judicial races.   (Result: fortunately, that didn't happen, and our judges did well!)

Several people have asked me for my recommendations for tomorrow's election. These are my recommendations for the Republican Primary; I'm sorry, but I have no recommendations for the Democratic Primary.

These recommendations are probably worth what you paid for them:

US Senate - Richard Burr    (Result: he won the primary!)

US House, NC 2nd Congressional District - Renee Ellmers (2nd choice Frank Deatrich, but Ellmers will be the stronger candidate in November)    (Result: Renee won the primary!)

US House, NC 4th Congressional District - Frank Roche (easy choice; more on this race, below)  (Result: Frank lost a close race to libertarian BJ Lawson.)

US House, NC 13th Congressional District - Dan Huffman (2nd choice is Bill Randall, but his campaign debt will make it hard for him to mount an effective campaign in November)  (Result: Dan was eliminated in a very close race, but Bill Randall won the nomination in a runoff.)

NC House 33rd District - Paul Terrell III    (Result: Paul won the primary!)

NC House 34th District - Steve Henion (2nd choice Tinga)    (Result: Steve won the primary!)

NC House 41st District - Tom Murry (2nd choice Todd Batchelor)    (Result: Tom won the primary!)

NC Court of Appeals Calabria Seat - Ann Marie Calabria (very easy choice!)    (Result: Success!  Ann Marie will face a Democrat in November.)

NC Court of Appeals Elmore Seat - Steven Walker (2nd choice Elmore)    (Result: Double Success!  Both Democrats were eliminated, and Walker & Elmore will face each other in November!!  This is amazing!!)

Wake Co. District Court Judge - Kris Bailey    (Result: Success!  Kris will face a Democrat in November.)
 

 
North Carolina's U.S. House of Representatives District 4 race is particularly interesting. I strongly believe that Frank Roche is the best Republican candidate to take on arch-liberal Rep. David Price.

There are four candidates in the race, but in my opinion only two have a realistic chance of winning the primary: Frank Roche and BJ Lawson. (David Burnett is a decent guy, too, but not really a serious candidate, IMO.)

Both Frank and BJ are hard workers, and articuate speakers. Both are running as conservatives, too, but BJ lawson is not really a conservative, except on legal/constitutional construction, and federal spending.

On foreign policy, BJ Lawson is a Ron Paul / Walter Jones / MoveOn.org retreatist/isolationist. (He calls himself a "non-interventionist.")

BJ is liberal/libertarian on social issues, too. He opposes the Marriage Protection Amendment, and supports decriminalization of illegal drugs. If you ask his opinion about abortion, the best he he can muster is that he's opposed to government funding of abortions, and that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided. He uses Clintonesque language about "reducing the need for abortion."

In my opinion, the "need" for abortion is similar to the "need" for other forms of child abuse.

BJ also has the endorsement (for the Republican Primary) of the far-left Independent Weekly.

Like his friend, Todd Gailas (in the 2nd Congressional District), BJ is still an ardent supporter of Ron Paul. You may recall that after Ron Paul failed to win the GOP nomination for President, he asked his supporters to vote for a third party candidate like Cynthia McKinney, Chuck Baldwin or Ralph Nader, instead of McCain/Palin. That gave a significant boost to the Obama campaign.

Most of the pro-life, Christian conservatives I know are backing Frank Roche.
 

Please feel free to call or email me to discuss any of these (or anything else).

Dave Burton
my email address
H: 919-481-0098      M: 919-244-3316

 

P.S. - My dear friend, Judy Keener, also has recommendations for tomorrow's Republican Primary. Most of them are the same as mine:
http://www.burtonsys.com/judys_picks_2010pri.html