Lawson runs again vs. Price

As political candidates get busy with grassroots campaigning this summer, the race for the U.S. House of Representatives for the 4th district is looking eerily familiar.

B.J. Lawson is back as the Republican candidate, again challenging 11th term U.S. Rep. David Price, D-N.C., for the 4th district.

Lawson is again confident he can unseat an entrenched Democrat in a heavily Democratic district — the 4th represents all of Orange and Durham counties, as well as parts of Wake and Chatham counties.

Price defeated Lawson on a 63-36 margin in 2008. With only about 400 people signed up to volunteer in his 2008 campaign, Lawson now estimates his volunteers at 800.

“I think we’re going to win this time,” Lawson said in an interview.

“I just think more people are concerned about the direction our country’s going, and there’s a growing sense across the political spectrum that Washington is no longer working for the American people.”

Lawson cited the health care reform bill, the Food Safety Modernization Act and the cap-and-trade legislation as bills that gave the federal government too much power and that Price voted for.

“Washington doesn’t see patients, Washington doesn’t grow food. We have to empower good local producers,” Lawson said.

Running on the Republican ticket with a Libertarian bent, Lawson is well-known for passing out pocket versions of the U.S. Constitution.

He said his campaign is not a partisan conversation, rather, it’s a conversation about who should be regulating people: federal or local governments.

Lawson said the food safety act is a great example of unnecessary federal regulation.

“We already have a North Carolina Department of Agriculture. We already regulate stuff at the state level,” Lawson said.

Lauren Knapp Resnik, president of the Northern Orange Republican Women, said she thinks name recognition from 2008 will help Lawson defeat Price this time.

“The galvanizing conservative movement sweeping the nation — and even Democrats distancing themselves from the current administration and affiliates — gives Lawson a strong chance of unseating (Price),” Resnik stated in an e-mail.

N.C. Democrats are well-aware of this conservative movement.

In a forum at Carol Woods Retirement Community on Monday, N.C. Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, voiced her concerns that Democrats could lose seats in November.

“The problem is in this coming election, young people who were excited in 2008 have been disappointed. Democrats are in big-time trouble,” Kinnaird said as an appeal to supporters.

The Price campaign is confident that he will win an 11th term.

“Critical issues such as getting our economy back on track, job creation, financial regulatory reform and fiscal balance are on the table,” Price stated in an e-mail. “I look forward to engaging with constituents on these and other matters in the months ahead.”

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