Don’t underestimate Raleigh voters like me | Opinion

Raleigh elections

I read David Knight’s Dec. 23 op-ed decrying the move of the Raleigh City Council elections to coincide with the general election with a good bit of amusement— until he noted that over two-thirds of voters may have never voted in a Raleigh local election before and suggested they knew nothing about the council elections and merely followed the partisan endorsement of political parties.

That statement registers about a 10 on the clueless/arrogance scale. Many citizens watched the previous council eliminate significant citizen input with no replacement, move the election providing them more time in office, eliminate runoff elections, conduct significant closed-door votes, and tilt the balance excessively in developers’ favor.

That’s how I made my decision on City Council races, not a political party endorsement card. The citizenry of Raleigh is educated, intelligent and capable of handling a ballot with 30 races. Perhaps a bit more self-reflection, rather than pointing at an uninformed electorate, might have returned Knight to office.

Jim Bray, Raleigh

Changing the rules

David Knight was part of the Raleigh City Council that begged the legislature to move the elections to odd-numbered years because of COVID and the danger of in-person voting. The old council also voted to do away with runoff elections. Now, winning candidates need only a plurality rather than a majority of votes. This encourages third-party candidates and further advantages incumbents who have greater name recognition.

It worked for Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin who was re-elected with less than 50% of the vote, but it failed to save Knight. Could it be that Knight is a sore loser and yet again wants to change the rules of the game? His grumbling about the system is a little like the burglar who complains that the silver wasn’t polished.

Terry A. Henderson, Raleigh

From Dan Bishop

Regarding “A new GOP star may be rising, and it’s bad news for North Carolina,” (Dec. 23 Editorial):

Thanks for detailing so extensively the national attention paid to my commentary on the $1.7 trillion omnibus appropriations bill. Who knows how many of the 24 million views of my team’s Twitter thread were logged by your editorial board!

You dived deeply into the likes and shares and replies from Elon Musk. And then you elaborated on the media interviews that followed, including Tucker Carlson Tonight (down to Tucker’s facial expression) and Matt Gaetz’s Firebrand podcast.

When you got around to remembering my six-year-old tweets and calling me a “savvy” ”rising star” and “smart legislator,” it started seeming a little weird. But by concluding that my communications about the most expensive bill this year, passed at the last minute by a lame-duck Congress, were just a “stunt” that made you “cringe,” you definitely showed I’m not living rent free in your heads.

Don’t worry about the 90% of commentators who ridiculed you. You never do.

U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop

Divisive politics

Newt Gingrich started it. Fox News gave it voice. The Tea Party gave it momentum. Donald Trump perfected it.

I’m talking about combative politics where the opposition party is viewed strictly as the enemy. No compromise is permitted.

Examples abound, but one stands out — a 2012 photograph of N.J. Gov. Chris Christie shaking hands with President Barack Obama who was offering emergency funds following Sandy, the most damaging hurricane in N.J. history. Years later, that photo was used against Christie in the 2016 primaries, as if he were consorting with the enemy instead of getting resources for the people of his state.

Now, combative politics is being used within the Republican Party against its conservative leaders Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell who don’t appear extreme enough. As “Pence’s path to the White House is through Trump” (Jan. 2) pointed out, that leaves no room for “uncommonly decent and principled public servants” like Mike Pence. It’s sad.

Hugh Mensch, Southern Pines

Red, blue divide

The split in the United Methodist church over same-sex marriage, particularly in rural eastern North Carolina, is another example of how this country is becoming more divided along urban and rural boundaries.

We have a political divide between red rural areas and blue urban ones that extends to economics in terms of job opportunities and wealth. When will we realize this isn’t sustainable for our long-term democratic institution and social cohesion?

I recently relocated to Washington, D.C., for work and when I drive home in North Carolina the contrast is stark between the affluent, diverse and culturally cosmopolitan cities with high-rises along I-40 versus poorer, more conservative rural areas with few opportunities. We are living in two Americas!

Aaron Kohrs, Alexandria, Va.

Tax loopholes

Finland publishes every resident’s taxable income and Finns are proud to contribute to their country. One by-product is that Finnish student achievement is among the highest in the world. If Congress repealed the tax avoidance gimmicks available to corporations and the ultra rich, the rest of us in the U.S. might feel proud of our contribution.

Janis Ramquist, Raleigh