MCCRORY SAYS GANGS SHOULD BE A TOP ISSUE FOR ALL OF NC

By Jason Saine

LINCOLNTON - Arriving with a full film crew in toe, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory made his first official campaign stop in Lincoln County on Saturday at the Republican Party convention held at the Senior Center on the campus of Gaston College.

Shortly after the convention was under way and precinct meetings had been held, all business stopped for the man who wants to be North Carolina’s next governor.

McCrory worked the room like an old pro shaking hands with young and old, east and west, and anyone in between.

McCrory followed his most notable Republican rival, State Senator Fred Smith of Johnston County, who was in Lincoln County last month holding a fundraiser, a meeting with local homebuilders, and hosting a free BBQ dinner where locals got to hear his stump speech.

McCrory enjoyed a room full of support as many seemed to push their way just to get to shake hands with the Charlotte Mayor.

McCrory said that he began thinking about running for Governor last February when he went with a group of other mayors, district attorneys, police chiefs and regular citizens to Raleigh to: “tell the Governor and the Legislature about a serious break down in the criminal justice system in North Carolina.”

(Photo caption: Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, who recently became an announced candidate for Governor of North Carolina, was in Lincolnton on Saturday at the local Republican Convention.)

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“We are re-arresting the same people over and over again,” said McCrory.

“We have a serious gang problem. I’m not talking about Charlotte. I’m talking about everywhere and you have gangs right here in Lincoln County,” McCrory warned.

Hitting on bedrock Republican issues, McCrory also talked about illegal immigration and the failure of the federal government to do something about the issue.

McCrory, relaying that he was the candidate who could make tough decisions, spoke about how he once, while a basketball referee, called “traveling” on Michael Jordan.

“Do you know why I called traveling on Michael Jordan?” McCrory asked. “Because he traveled and I had the courage to call traveling on Michael Jordan. It’s going to take some tough leadership...and I’ve got a record of that tough leadership.”

McCrory said that if elected governor the first tax he would cut would be the income tax.
“We should not punish people for working.”

McCrory will face three other Republican opponents in the May 7th primary.

If he wins the governors race in November, McCrory would be the first Republican since former Congressman Jim Martin won the seat in 1984.