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Want to know who's running in Orange County? We've got you covered.

Although North Carolinians won't be voting for a president or governor this year, there's still a lot to know about the 2018 midterm election.

At the ballot box this year, Orange County residents will vote for leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives, N.C. General Assembly and N.C. Supreme Court. They will also vote on six amendments to the state Constitution. 

Early voting began Wednesday at the five early voting sites in Orange County, and it will end Nov. 3 before the general election on Nov. 6. Those who missed the registration deadline can register at early voting by bringing a photo ID to the polls and filling out a registration form. 

More information is available on N.C. State Board of Elections website.

United States House of Representatives: North Carolina District Four

David Price, Democrat

David Price is the current representative for District Four. Price views education as one of his top priorities and has pushed for investments in education as a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee. 

Price is a vocal advocate for campaign reform and recently introduced a bill to boost election finance transparency. 

Price is a member of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition and supports further building on legislation like the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act to increase environmental responsibility.

He believes in commonsense gun regulations that are in compliance with the Second Amendment. Price is a vice chairperson of the House Democrats' Gun Violence Prevention Task Force.

Steve Von Loor, Republican

Steve Von Loor is small business owner from Alabama who grew up in Ecuador before returning to the United States when he was 19 years old.

As a state representative, Von Loor wants to lower taxes, including corporate and income tax. He has made small businesses a cornerstone of his platform and wants to lift small business restrictions. He is against the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Von Loor also wants to work to limit wasteful government spending.

Von Loor is opposed to abortion and supports defunding Planned Parenthood.

He also wants to increase school security and is in favor of voucher-based education.

If elected, Von Loor wants to shift a portion of the defense budget to Veteran Reentry Programs in order to help veterans find employment.

Barbara Howe, Libertarian

Barbara Howe has served four terms as chairperson of the Libertarian Party of North Carolina and wants to advance Libertarian principles in Washington. 

Howe wants to adjust immigration law by restoring and strengthening DACA, providing a federal legal status for undocumented immigrants and promoting international trade.

As an opponent to the war on drugs and mass-incarceration, Howe wants to work to decriminalize the small-scale use of marijuana at the federal level and end the militarized expansion of police. 

Howe wants to change the higher education system by lowering costs and encouraging training programs for jobs that do not require a four-year college degree. She also believes students should make loan payments based on their income.

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North Carolina State Senate: District 23

Valerie Foushee, Democrat

Valerie Foushee is the current state Senator for District 23. Foushee joined the General Assembly in the state House in 2012. She previously served in the Chapel Hill Police Department for 21 years.

Foushee wants to invest time and money in quality public education. She supports funding the reconstruction of outdated school buildings.

She supports clean water and air regulations and wants to increase the protection of the North Carolina environment. Foushee also wants to work to attract high-paying job opportunities to the state.

Tom Glendinning, Republican

Tom Glendenning is a retired United States Marine. He has served as vice president and president of Glencliff Hospital. He also founded the N.C. Composting Council. 

For Glendenning, reforming the justice system is the highest priority. Glendenning wants to root out corruption in the justice system related to money in particular.

Glendenning seeks to increase security and safety through supporting gun rights and limiting government intervention. 

He supports property rights and opposes zoning that impacts affordability and land use.

North Carolina State House: District 50

Graig Meyer, Democrat

A trained social worker, Graig Meyer is the current representative for state House District 50 and has been since 2013. Meyer is the founding co-chairperson of the Early Childhood Caucus and the Life Sciences Caucus.

Meyer has a background in education and supports investment in early childhood and K-12 public education. Additionally, he has called for an increase in higher education affordability and an increase in North Carolina teacher pay. 

Meyer wants to increase jobs through small businesses and invest in rural and urban development.

He also supports an increase in environmental regulation.

Kenneth Price Rothrock, Republican

Kenneth Rothrock has been a lawyer in North Carolina since 1981. 

Rothrock is the current chairperson of the Cedar Grove Precinct of the Republican Party in Orange County. He has previous experience working for the Democratic Party, but has chosen to run as a Republican.

Rothrock wants to limit the growth of government and keep taxes as low as possible. He is also an advocate of the plain-construction approach to the Constitution. 

He has served as an elected delegate at the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.

North Carolina State House: District 56

Verla Insko, Democrat

Verla Insko is the current representative for the state House District 56. She has 11 terms of experience in the state legislature. 

Insko supports subsidies for early childhood education for families below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. She is also an advocate for higher teacher pay in North Carolina.

Insko opposes a voter ID requirement and has called for automatic or online voter registration. She also supports the restoration of Earned Income Tax Credits and raising the minimum wage.

Marcus Cooke, Republican

Marcus Cooke is the Republican candidate for House District 56.

Cooke formerly worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and has a background in education.

Cooke wants to lower taxes in Orange County and wants to make school safety a priority, as well as hiring resource professionals for students.

In the General Assembly, Cooke would work to reduce and relieve student loan debt as well as look for options to make college more affordable for future students, specifically citing UNC students.

Matthew Clements, Libertarian

Matthew Clements is the Libertarian candidate for House District 56. 

Clements wants to offer voters in Orange County a choice by running against Republicans and Democrats. He is in favor of community-oriented policing and lower taxes.

Clements wants to end the war on drugs in North Carolina and has called for the decriminalization of drug possession. Clements supports a path for medical marijuana use in the state.

North Carolina Supreme Court

Barbara Jackson

Justice Barbara Jackson is the incumbent seeking reelection to the State Supreme Court. She is considered a Republican-affiliated judge.

  • Served on the State Supreme Court since 2010
  • Served as an associate judge on the State Court of Appeals for six years
  • Served as co-chairperson of the N.C. Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice

Christopher Anglin

Christopher Anglin is the managing partner of Anglin Law Firm in Raleigh. He is considered to be Republican-affiliated.

  • Running as Republican-affiliated after being registered as a Democrat until recently
  • Graduated from Elon University School of Law in 2011

Anita Earls, Democrat

Anita Earls is the founder and former executive director of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. She is considered to be Democrat-affiliated.

  • Deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights at the United States Department of Justice in the Clinton Administration
  • Director of the Voting Rights Project from 2000 to 2003
  • Former civil rights attorney in Charlotte 

North Carolina Constitutional Amendments

Right to Hunt and Fish

  • Acknowledges the right to hunt, fish and harvest wildlife
  • Protects undefined traditional methods of hunting and fishing
  • Establishes hunting and fishing as the preferred means of managing and controlling wildlife

Changes to Current Victims’ Rights Amendments

  • Extends certain legal rights to victims of all crime against the person and felony property crimes
  • Directs legislature to develop a procedure for victims to assert rights
  • Changes will cost the justice system an estimated $11 million per year

Cap Maximum State Income Tax at 7 percent

  • Changes the current personal and corporate income tax from 10 percent to 7 percent
  • Does not reduce the current personal tax rate of 5.4999 percent or the corporate tax rate of 3 percent but limits how much they can be raised
  • Only affects state income tax, not federal income tax

Require Photographic Identification to Vote

  • Requires voters to show photo identification at the polls before voting in person
  • Does not affect absentee voting
  • Legislature would make laws regarding acceptable forms of identification and valid exceptions

Legislature to Control Judicial Appointments

  • Would change the current process of judicial appointments. Currently, if a judge leaves office before the end of their term, the governor appoints a new judge.
  • Would give legislature the power to choose two or more finalists from which the governor would choose
  • Appointed judges currently serve until the next election, but under this amendment would serve to up to four years, weakening the voters’ role in selecting judges

Party Leaders in Legislature to Control Ethics and Elections Board Appointments; Eliminate Nonpartisan Representation on Board

  • Removes the ninth, nonpartisan member from the Board of Ethics and Elections, leaving only eight members, all of whom are affiliated with one of the two largest parties
  • Gives legislature majority and minority leaders to nominate other eight members, from which the governor must choose for board appointments
  • Overturns an N.C. Supreme Court Decision that struck down a 2017 law creating an eight-member board as unconstitutional because it takes power from the governor

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