2014 Elections
County Commission Balance to be Tested This Year
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Only one race for the County Commission is in the May primary, but November could test the balance of power at the Wake County Commissioner table.
Raleigh Public Record (https://theraleighcommons.org/raleighpublicrecord/topics/2014-primary-election/page/2/)
Only one race for the County Commission is in the May primary, but November could test the balance of power at the Wake County Commissioner table.
Fred Puryear
Republican
Age: 42
Occupation: Firefighter in Wilson
Town: KnightdaleDo you support the half-cent sales tax for public transit and why or why not? I do not support it and the reason being at the current time, transportation falls under state DOT and it falls to cities and towns as far as maintaining roads. The county does not own any roads at the present time that I’m aware of. It’s not in their scope. Do you support letting the tax go to a referendum?
Sam Bridges
Democrat
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Age: 52
City of Residence: Garner
Occupation: Criminal Defense Attorney in Wake County, Mayor of Garner 2001-05Sam Bridges declined to be interviewed because he didn’t want to be audio recorded.
Terry Allen Swaim
Republican
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Website
Occupation: Founding Partner at Swaim Law PLLC
Town: WendellWhat is the central role of the district attorney? The District Attorney is an administrator of justice. A lot of people say the DA is a prosecutor; well, prosecuting cases is one of his or her duties. The chief job is the administration of justice, in other words a DA has to make hard decisions because sometimes you try cases, sometimes you don’t try cases. Sometimes there’s a home invasion where the homeowner wants to shoot someone who’s invading, that’s always a controversial thing, whether you bring charges or follow through on charges that are brought
Some judicial districts around the state make use of special courtroom procedures or pleas for minor offenses like traffic violations.
There are 17 judgeships up for grabs in this year’s elections. We give you the lowdown on what these men and women do.
Colon Willoughby has been Wake County’s district attorney for 28 years. He will not run again, and six candidates have stepped up to vie for the job in the primary election.
Derek Kiszely
Democrat
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Age: 24
Occupation: Sales and Operations manager at Hertzburg Furs
City: RaleighWhat do you think about the ongoing discussions about turning the Dix property into a park and how would you help resolve the issue? I think the money from the sale of the lease of the Dix Property being turned into a park should be contributed towards mental health issues. Mental health in particular is an issue that’s very near and dear to my heart. My mom actually has bipolar disorder and I think that North Carolina has failed to make mental health issues a priority and they could contribute the money from the sale of the lease towards mental health awareness in North Carolina. I think that that would do a lot of good.
Apryl Major
Republican
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Age: 54
Occupation: Quality Engineering Manager, UTC Aerospace Systems
City: RaleighWhat do you think about the ongoing discussions about turning the Dix property into a park and how would you help resolve the issue? I have been here for four years and I know that property has a great deal of emotional value to the city. I don’t know if I completely understand it. I’m always advocating for parks. I love parks, but at the same time, it seems to be an awfully large space that only serves the purpose of being a park.
John Walter Bryant
Repubilcan
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Occupation: Founding Partner at Bryant, Irvie & Long PLLC
What is the central role of the district attorney? To enforce the laws that are enacted by the legislature, but I think the office has to be a great deal more than that. I think its more of an apolitical office, even though we’re running for parties, I think it ought to be more like the positions for judges in the state that are supposed to be nonpolitical. The job is supposed to benefit everybody. Some judicial districts around the state make use of special courtroom procedures or pleas for minor offenses like traffic violations.
Several changes in voting will take effect this year. The voting ID requirement will not take effect until 2016.