Kinnaird follows her own agendas

Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, branded as the state’s most liberal legislator, has crafted a fifth-term agenda confronting anti-crime hardliners and business interests.

Her progressive views make her a fit representative of the area sometimes referred to as “Liberal Hill.”

The state’s anti-death penalty sentiment might have grown strong enough to push a moratorium through the legislature, Kinnaird said. “We think it’s time we do it.”

A Kinnaird-driven proposal passed the Senate in April 2003 but was held up by the House.

But a change in the legislature’s leadership this year and increasing citizen support for the ban could put a temporary end to executions in the state.

An opponent to the change, Richard Morgan, R-Moore, likely will lose his influential position as co-speaker of the House.

“Every mainstream church has signed on — businesses and governments all over the state,” Kinnaird said.

Legislators against the death penalty weren’t denied re-election for their stance, even though opponents sometimes painted them as “soft on crime,” Kinnaird said.

“If you voted for it, it was not a political liability.”

The House might still put up resistance for personal reasons, Kinnaird said. Four of the 120 representatives have had a family member murdered. But Kinnaird said she thinks public support might outweigh opposition.

Kinnaird said she is less hopeful about legislators’ willingness to regulate how special interest groups can court elected officials.

Reformers ask for less bribery and more accountability, but Kinnaird said courts probably will have to take away the legislators’ lobbying gifts before they relinquish them.

“It’s just a part of the culture,” she said. “A series of little victories over time is probably all you can do.”

But Don Carrington, vice president of the John Locke Foundation, said Kinnaird isn’t always fighting against the grain of state politics.

Some of her initiatives, including her anti-lottery stance, are mainstream. Her opposition to business incentives puts her in a different type of minority, one more populated by Republicans than Democrats.

Kinnaird wants to stop the state’s tradition of using money to lure businesses to the area, and she might become part of a largely conservative movement to do so, Carrington said.

She abides by personal beliefs instead of political ideology and has demonstrated her willingness to defy party leadership, he added.

“Lots of people get labeled, but you still need to look at things issue by issue,” he said. “She’s an independent person.”

Also high on Kinnaird’s to-do list is the elimination of electronic voting; higher standards for “naturopathic” doctors, who rely on natural methods instead of modern medicine; clean records for reformed, nonassault felons after about 10 years; and arrangements for biological parents to see children put up for adoption.

Kinnaird said her forward thinking represents her district well. “Nobody’s more progressive than Orange County,” she said.

Durham, Wilmington and Asheville sometimes side with Chapel Hill’s proposals, but Kinnaird said getting legislation through is often like pulling teeth.

“It’s a hard sale if it comes from Orange County,” she said. “I spend a lot of time convincing and persuading.”

Sen. Cecil Hargett, D-Onslow, said Kinnaird communicates her ideas exceptionally well.

“She’s successful at times in convincing and persuading others. She makes us think, re-examine our values and what we believe in,” he said. “She’s sort of a conscience.”

Kinnaird, who is an attorney in Chapel Hill, relays her strong convictions while maintaining good relations with her colleagues, Hargett said.

“If she was a man, I’d call her a gentleman,” he said. “She’s not abrasive in style.”

Kinnaird said the key to passing fringe legislation is knowing who has to be convinced. There can be no illusions that good legislation will win unanimous support, she said.

“You go there as a freshman thinking this will help society, this is important and people will want to do it. Wrong.”

The business community is against Kinnaird’s push for a more environmentally friendly disposal of electronic waste such as computers and iPods. “(Business lobbyists are) opposed to anything that puts a burden on business, and they’re very powerful,” she said.

She said power often correlates with how much interest groups fund legislators’ campaigns, adding that the influence of these interests often quiets the voice of the powerless.

“People who are on death row don’t give a lot of money to campaigns,” she said.

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.