Raleigh [Sat. Oct. 16, 2021]—“Sexuality and gender identification are diverse and innate characteristics individuals are born with, and no innate characteristic should ever be referred to as filth,” said Travis Groo, chair of the Libertarian Party of Wake County in a statement issued today.

He said Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s statements about the LGBTQ community are “unacceptable.” 

Raleigh [Wed. Sep. 22, 2021]—A standing-room-only crowd packed Tobacco Road tonight to attend a Wake County Libertarian Party-sponsored forum for the nine announced candidates running for sheriff. The candidates who participated included Democrats Randy Baity, Joe Coley, Tommy Matthews, Willie Rowe, and Roy Taylor and Republicans David Blackwelder, Donnie Harrison, Stephanie Hopkins, and Tivon Howard. Current Sheriff Gerald Baker, a Democrat, did not respond to an invitation to attend.

After each candidate took a couple of minutes to introduce themselves, forum moderator Ken Penkowski asked some two dozen questions, directing each one to one or more candidates in order to ensure each candidate got roughly equal time. Consequently, every candidate did not have the opportunity to address every question. Here is a summary of their responses:

By Brad Hessel

Democratic voter registration continued to grow in Wake County in the first half of 2021, while Republican registration declined, a trend in stark contrast to what’s happening statewide. For the first time ever, as far back as the publicly posted N.C. State Board of Elections records go (1993), registered Democrats exceeded registered Republicans in Wake by more than 100,000. 

If the current trend holds through the second half of the year, it will be the fifth consecutive year the Democrat’s  growth has outpaced the Republicans in Wake.