Conservation Insider Bulletin, May 2

Conservation Insider Bulletin
Published weekly for the Conservation Council of North Carolina
Conservation News to Peruse & Use
Editor: Dan Besse, cib@conservationcouncilnc.org

May 2, 2008

Primary day is this Tuesday, May 6.
--Campaign Watch: CCNC's Pre-Primary Endorsements Wrapup

CCNC this week announced a list of legislators who do not face a primary election, but who are being recommended for support based on their strong environmental voting record. All of the named legislators have CCNC-scored voting records of more than 90 percent pro-environment.

The following legislators without primary opposition make CCNC's early support roll on this basis:

NC House:
Rep. Martha Alexander (D-Mecklenburg)
Rep. Susan Fisher (D-Buncombe)
Rep. Rick Glazier (D-Cumberland)
Speaker Joe Hackney (D-Orange)
Rep. Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford)
Rep. Carolyn Justice (R-Pender)
Rep. Paul Luebke (D-Durham)
Rep. Ray Rapp (D-Madison)
Rep. Deborah Ross (D-Wake)
Rep. Jennifer Weiss (D-Wake)

NC Senate:
Sen. Bob Atwater (D-Chatham)
Sen. Marc Basnight (D-Dare)
Sen. Linda Garrou (D-Forsyth)

Previously, CCNC had finalized primary endorsements in six State Senate and two State House primary contests for 2008:

S5 (Democrat) (Green, Pitt, Wayne), Don Davis
S16 (Democrat) (Wake), Josh Stein
S23 (Democrat) (Orange, Person), Sen. Ellie Kinnaird
S28 (Democrat) (Guilford), Sen. Katie Dorsett
S36 (Republican) (Cabarrus, Iredell), Sen. Fletcher Hartsell
S42 (Republican) (Catawba, Iredell), Sen. Austin Allran
H7 (Democrat) (Halifax, Nash), Rep. Angela Bryant
H119 (Democrat) (Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain), Rep. Phil Haire

S5 and S16 are open seats created by the retirement of Sen. John Kerr (D-Wayne) and the decision by Sen. Janet Cowell (D-Wake) to run for State Treasurer. The other six contests are incumbents facing primary challengers. CCNC legislative endorsements are based on questionnaire responses, incumbents' voting records, and candidates' other environmental/community work records related to the environment.

Also, CCNC previously announced statewide office endorsements in two contests: Dan Besse for Lieutenant Governor and Janet Cowell for State Treasurer (both in the Democratic primary).