Correction: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this letter was incorrectly attributed. It was written and submitted on behalf of the UNC Young Democrats. The signature has been updated to reflect this change.The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
TO THE EDITOR:
As many students might or might not know, a huge election for North Carolina will take place this November. US Senator Kay Hagan and State Representative Thom Tillis are both running to represent North Carolina in the United States Senate.
As Speaker of the North Carolina House, Thom Tillis has presided over the systematic destruction of our state’s most vital public institutions.
Tillis and his Republican friends in the legislature have slashed the education budget by more than half a billion dollars — forcing tuition upwards at state universities while making North Carolina 48th in the nation in spending per pupil.
Tillis made — and openly defends — the callous decision not to expand Medicaid, leaving needy North Carolinians without health insurance even though the federal government was willing to provide it effectively for free.
Tillis slashed unemployment benefits further than any other state in the entire nation in the middle of an enormous recession, and now makes the economically illiterate and statistically laughable claim that this drove job growth.
And he supported the Amendment One referendum, which wrote homophobic bigotry into our state’s constitution.
All the while, Kay Hagan has been a moderate voice in a polarized Washington, fighting for North Carolina and for a better America. She has introduced legislation that have improved school performance and helped North Carolina veterans. She supports simplifying the tax code, expanding access to job training, and equal pay for equal work — regardless of gender.
