The Civitas Institute has mailed candidate surveys to all Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Council of State, and NCGA candidates. We hope this effort will allow those seeking elected office an opportunity to communicate their views on important policy issues and help voters make informed decisions at the polls.
Candidates were asked several questions on various issues and provided with additional commentary space if they felt the answer options did not sufficiently reflect their opinions or they wished to further explain their answers. Please click here to see a survey sample. Check back frequently to see candidate responses. We hope you find this information helpful in determining where candidates stand on important issues affecting you.
If you do not see your local or state candidate on this list, contact them and urge them to fill out the survey. For a list of the Civitas Candidate Survey Non-Responders click here.
Unless otherwise indicated, the remaining names have won their respective primary elections, and will appear on the November ballot.
*Candidate will be in a second primary
**Candidate has requested a recount
Lieutenant Governor
State Senate
- John Aneralla* – Dist 41
- Chad Barefoot – Dist 18
- Clarence Bender – Dist 11
- Brandon Black – Dist 24
- Andrew Brock – Dist 34
- Chris Carney* – Dist 44
- David Carter – Dist 23
- R.L. Clark – Dist 49
- Bill Cook – Dist 1
- Warren Daniel – Dist 46
- Don Davis* – Dist 12
- Jim Davis – Dist 50
- Don East – Dist 30
- Richard Evey – Dist 46
- Rick Gunn – 24; Declined
- Kathy Harrington – Dist 43
- Danny Hefner – Dist 8
- Milton Holmes – Dist 22
- Neal Hunt – Dist 15
- Brent Jackson – Dist 10
- Ellie Kinnaird – Dist 23
- Gene McIntyre – Dist 25
- Wesley Meredith – Dist 19
- Tony Moore – Dist 5
- Greg Muse – Dist 2
- Warren Nail – Dist 4
- Louis Pate – Dist 7
- Ronald Rabin – Dist 12
- Richard Rivette – Dist 38
- Norman Sanderson – Dist 2
- Jeff Tarte* – Dist 41
- Jerry Tillman – Dist 29
- Trudy Wade – Dist 27
- W. Bernard White – Dist 13
State House
- Dean Arp – Dist 69
- John Bell** – Dist 10
- John Blust – Dist 62
- Brian Brown – Dist 9
- Rayne Brown – Dist 81
- Rob Bryan – Dist 88
- Justin Burr – Dist 67
- Richard Button – Dist 44
- Robert Brawley – Dist 95
- Mark Brody – Dist 55
- Dana Bumgardner* – Dist 109
- Scott Bynum – Dist 32
- Diana Carroll – Dist 43
- Jim Cater – Dist 86
- Rick Catlin – Dist 20
- Rod Chaney – Dist 50
- Jeff Collins – Dist 25
- George Cleveland – Dist 14
- Debra Conrad – Dist 74
- Jim Dancy – Dist 12
- Ted Davis – Dist 19
- Jimmy Dixon – Dist 4
- J.R. Edwards – Dist 85
- Jeffrey Elmore – Dist 94
- John Faircloth – Dist 61
- Carl Ford – Dist 76
- James Fulghum – Dist 49
- Kevin Furr – Dist 67
- Mike Hager – Dist 112
- Louis Harmati – Dist 18
- Kelly Hastings – Dist 110
- Kevin Hayes – Dist 4
- Mark Hollo – Dist 73
- Craig Horn – Dist 68
- Frank Iler – Dist 17
- Charles Jeter – Dist 92
- Bert Jones – Dist 65
- Jonathan Jordan – Dist 93
- Mattie Lawson* – Dist 6
- Marvin Lucas – Dist 42
- Gene Mahaffey – Dist 84
- Chris Malone – Dist 35
- Susan Martin – Dist 8
- Pat McElraft – Dist 13
- Karrie Mead – Dist 56
- Charles Mellies – Dist 72
- Chris Millis – Dist 16
- Tim Moffitt – Dist 116
- Wil Neumann* – Dist 109
- Robert Paratore – Dist 107
- Christopher Phillips – Dist 57
- Larry Pittman – Dist 82
- Michele Presnell – Dist 118
- Nathan Ramsey – Dist 115
- Ron Reale – Dist 40
- Stephen Ross – Dist 63
- Jason Saine – Dist 97
- Lee Sartain – Dist 38
- Jacqueline Schaffer – Dist 105
- Jesse Shearin – 27; Declined
- Paul Stam – Dist 37
- Sarah Stevens – Dist 90
- Michael Speciale – Dist 3
- Edgar Starnes – Dist 87
- Bob Steinburg – Dist 1
- John Szoka – Dist 45
- Harry Warren – Dist 77
- Andy Wells – 96; Declined
- Chris Whitmire – Dist 113
- Kent Wilsey – Dist 62
- Cathy Wright – Dist 54
Council of State
Secretary of State
Treasurer
Auditor
Commissioner of Agriculture
Commissioner of Insurance
Commissioner of Labor
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Good evening and Happy Easter!
I am a conservative independent candidate needing to collect 2,300 registered voter signatures in District 34 so that my name can be added to the November ballot and run against Deborah Ross.
Would it be too early for me to complete the Civitas survey, since technically I’m not a candidate yet?
This month is my big push to get face and name recognition and the Civitas organization has an excellent reputation for fair polling.
Please let me know your thoughts…
Thank you,
Apryl M. Major
These surveys are very helpful in determining if a candidate has views to our own. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for conducting these surveys. They have been very helpful in scoring candidates for Heritage Action’s efforts to provide voter guides. Keep up the good work!
This is great information. It is very helpful in determining who shares my ideals for office. Civitas does a great job.
Great info – thanks so much
(but site kept freezing up)
I have just begun to look over your survey replys. It is a great service you render in helping folks compare the positions of the candidates. In looking over the replies of Mssrs. Folwell, Forest and Gurley it appears they have given all the same answers down to the exact wording on a few. Did they all get together and decided on the exact wording to use(refer to 16 and 33)The only disagreement is on the education cost amount. Also , why is their no question 28 on Mr. Folwells survey? I will continue my review of all of the Republican candidates. Thanks again for your effort. Jack Olsen
Mr. Olsen,
Thanks for your interest in our surveys. Folwell, Forest and Gurley selected the same answer choice for #16 and #33. A few of the questions had longer answer choices versus an “agree or disagree” option. Please see the sample survey for clarification. As for #28 on Folwell’s survey, he chose not to answer that question, either intentionally or unintentionally, and left it blank. I hope that addresses your questions.
When will you post my survey on the website, it was completed.
The State Auditor is responsible for being sure our state’s resources are used efficiently for public purposes and not wasted or stolen.
Projects the public supports get signs saying “Your tax dollars at work,” but a lot of tax dollars are spent out of public view and it is important to be sure those are actually working for the public as well.
The State Integrity Investigation’s Corruption Risk Report Card gave NC an F on Public Access to Information, and that needs to change. The public has a right to know how their taxes are collected and spent.
State Auditor is not a typical elective position. It is not a policy making position; it is a position that requires a broad business and accounting background that equips the holder to act as a financial advisor for the state and to manage a large audit department. Experience is important.
I didn’t just decide to “seek elected office.” I’ve been an elected representative and found the lack of accurate and timely information very frustrating. I’m running for State Auditor to try to be sure our state’s books are honest and open to the public and public funds are not wasted or stolen.
In the past, I’ve filled in questionnaires because I felt it was important to express my views on the issues I might handle as a legislator. Over time I became increasingly uncomfortable with questionnaires because I realized anyone could say anything and in some cases they actually helped the least qualified (or least honest) candidates by putting them on a par with those who had actual records of working for the public.
Questionnaires let everyone ignore the actual records of the candidates.
This time, I’m simply asking voters to compare my record with the records of the other candidates. I’m a Certified Public Accountant with extensive audit experience. I’ve worked as an auditor and audit manager for the federal government, including supervising auditors spread over a large geographic area. I’ve even taught at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco GA.
At the request of a small municipal government, I’ve investigated billing practices and I didn’t just write a dry report, my work led to personnel changes and the recovery of almost half a million dollars in fraudulent charges for the Town.
I’ve headed the internal audit department of a large private company and worked as a public accountant in CPA firms of all sizes, from Big 8 handling major corporations to smaller firms with smaller businesses and family farms. I’m even been recognized by the Courts as an Accounting Expert.
Please, please, please compare the actual experience of the candidates and share what you find with your friends. I would very much appreciate your support.
Fern Shubert
Certified Public Accountant
Candidate for State Auditor
Thanks for your extensive work. It is very helpful in beginning to “pare down” my ballot.
Ideally, it would be nice to have different but appropriate surveys for each office. As it is, many of the questions/responses are rather academic for second and third tier offices. It would also be nice to encourage one or two short essay answers, say on creating jobs or the illegal alien issue.
Given the number of agree/disagree questions, a spreadsheet, by office, could summarize results using “(A) agree, (D) disagree or (*) see response for answer” for those questions.
Keep up the noble fight!
Terry Beye
This survey is very helpful. One suggestion for improvement is to reword question 34. It does not indicate whether the candidate believes education spending per student is too low or too high. It only asks if it is about right. Some candidates want to look for ways to save money, others think simply spending more money means better education.
I don’t usually comment but I would really like to know why Phil Shepard House dist. 15 is not listed. Do our representatives give reasons why they don’t want us to know where they stand?
Thanks
Sorry, but the surveys did not help me except when I read Fern Shubert’s reply. It seems that most all of the candidates just wrote “agree” with your questions, so that doesn’t tell me anything about the person’s qualifications, thoughts or ability to convey his/her reasons for seeking an office.
Thanks for your questions, that really helps putting together our voting list.
But I would agree with a previous suggestion that a spreadsheet would make it a lot easier, especially when all the questions are the same and it would also save y’all a lot of work having to enter all those questions for each candidate.
I noticed you did not ask anything of the District Court Judges – why? Neither the Republican site or WRAL didn’t have any information about them either – so looks like it’s another case of ‘what name sounds better’ vote.
I think it is rather interesting that Pat McCrory is not even listed on the above since he is running for Governor. He already refuses to answer from the public and now I guess he is too good to let the people know where he stands on the issues? He assumes he has it in the bag? And THAT folks is why he won’t get my vote.
THREE STEP PLAN TO IMPROVING EDUCATION IN NC
The key is to allow teachers to teach and stop using them as the scapegoat for education failures. Education can only be successful when all three components work together. These components are excellent educators, involved parents and students that want to learn. We need to move away from teaching toward a test. What is the true definition of education? I believe that it is LONG TERM RETAINED KNOWLEDGE. Teaching toward a test does not meet the definition. Here is my proposal to improve the education system.
1. End of grade testing for grades 3-8 should be given in the first week of September during the following year. What will this do? First, it will measure the true retained knowledge of the student. Second, it will allow the teachers to better understand where thet need to go with the student during the year. Finally and most importantly, administration could not force the teachers to teach toward a test, since the children would have difficulty retaining “crammed” information. Therefore, teachers would be allowed to do their job and teach toward mastery, since mastery is the only way to improve retention. Teachers would be able to use their skills. What a novel idea!
2. I do believe that most parents, that are not involved in their child’s education, want to help. These parents don’t know how to help their children. We need to teach parents how to assist in their child’s education. If education stops everyday when the leave the schoolhouse it is very difficult for a children to make their learning concrete. Parents have to take some responsibility in their children’s education. They need to prepare children for their first day of school and relay the importance of education.
3. Children need to “buy” into the education system. Teachers are professionals and have spent many years perfecting their skills to make education fun and exciting. They learn to teach using different learning styles, differentiate instruction and effectively assess the child’s educational learning and needs. Teachers are forced to teach toward the test which makes it very difficult to effectively use their skills. Allowing teachers to teach to mastery will keep the children interested and truly see the importance of education through their successes.
For More information, visit http://www.electrichardalexander.com
Richard Alexander
Candidate
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Surely you didn’t expect anything other than standard party-line answers to your survey. Also, I would have been shocked if anyone other than a Republican would have answered the survey questions.
It would have been very helpful to have a survey done by a non-partisan group with scientifically created questions that would get to the heart of the matter. But then, we would have to assume the people running for the offices would have answered them honestly. That is a huge assumption. I will find the information I need to cast an informed vote somewhere else.
A question that should have been asked, “where do you stand on common core standards?”
I agree with the comments of Phyllis Gibbs — see above — and the need for specific information about candidates’ qualifications, thoughts, etc. Furthermore, I would suggest that candidates be asked to express their thinking specific to the tasks of the office they seek. I do not believe it is productive to give the prospective members of the Council of State and the legislative branch the same survey with limited choices for answers. I would suggest that the questions be open ended and framed for the positions sought, but perhaps with a word limit for answers.
The voters can then decide for themselves as to the quality of the answers given.
Kirkwood Callahan
Waynesville
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Good evening Karen,
I am a conservative independent write-in candidate for District 34 General Assembly, offering another choice in an uncontested race.
Can I complete the Civitas survey, now that I am certified as a write-in candidate?
Would really appreciate the opportunity and support…thank you!
Sincerely,
Apryl M. Major
Independent Write-In Candidate, HD 34