This week Wake County Democratic Party Chairman Mack Paul said the intense partisanship by the Wake County Republican Party in the 2009 school board race, where four Republicans were elected, and the concern about the certain partisanship in this fall’s school board races led the Wake County Democrats to decide to endorse candidates in the November municipal elections.
            “A key factor was the school board race. We knew there was a lot of concern about what was happening in Wake County,” Paul said, so they decided to help candidates running against the current school board majority. Their strategy and efforts paid off when Democratic candidates Susan Evans, Christine Kushner, Keith Sutton and Jim Martin were elected in October and Kevin Hill won a run-off election in November.
            In the past, Paul said, the Wake County Democratic Party had mailed cards to Democratic voters urging them to vote for the Democratic candidates in town elections.
            This year, “We wrote to every single candidate who was a Democrat or unaffiliated,” Paul said, and then a committee interviewed all who replied and weighed their responses against a predetermined set of criteria. “We did endorse some unaffiliated [candidates],” he said.
            The two who were endorsed in Wake Forest were Ben Clapsaddle and Sherry Ward, who were not elected.
            Calls to the Wake County Republican Party headquarters were not returned, but it seems that the party chose candidates it labeled “conservative Republicans” without interviewing all the Wake Forest Republican candidates, reportedly expecting the candidates to ask for an endorsement.
            The local Republican party endorsed Anne Hines, Zachary Donahue and Greg Harrington, who all won election.
            Both parties dispatched volunteers as poll workers. The Republican workers had sheets they called “sample ballots,” although they did not resemble ballots and only had a list of the three names. That was the way they avoided running afoul of a state campaigning law. The Democrats had what Paul called a slate card, a yellow piece of paper with the names of the two candidates endorsed by the party.
            Apparently there were party poll workers at most if not all eight Wake Forest precincts most of Election Day.
            There were other endorsements.
            “We supported two, Zach Donahue and Jim Thompson,” a spokesman for the Raleigh Regional Association of Realtors said. “We invited all the candidates to come in and sit down with our interview committee. Everyone gets an invitation.” She also said the association has been following this practice and endorsing candidates they find suitable for at least a decade. Thompson turned down the $1,000 check that came with the endorsement, saying it was more money than he had planned on for his campaign.
            Another group making endorsements was the North Carolina Home Builders Association, which endorsed Donahue and gave $250 to his campaign. Money from that group and from the realtors’ association has been reported by various town candidates since 2000.
            Wake Forest has nonpartisan town elections. Gary Sims, the deputy director at the Wake County Board of Elections, said a municipality or a governmental board determines the type of election in its original charter. They do so by deciding whether to hold elections on the traditional November election day, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, or to hold party primaries in May or October. Wake Forest has always opted for the November date with no primary in its original charter and later changes.
The candidates’ comments

            This week the Gazette asked each of the eight candidates about the endorsements. Did you approach the local Republican/Democratic party for an endorsement or did they approach you first? Why did you decide to ask for or accept an endorsement? For those not receiving an endorsement: Were you approached by one of the parties and turned it down or did not receive one? For those running a second time: Did you consider an endorsement for your first candidacy? Why not?
            Not everyone responded to the emails and telephone calls, and Commissioner Anne Hines, who won re-election, was in a serious car crash – she and her husband were not hurt – and may not have returned home by Wednesday. This is some of what those who did respond said.
            Ben Clapsaddle wrote: “I was approached by the Wake County Democratic Party. I attend several of their candidate classes to educate myself on the process and was invited to speak to their executive leaders and they chose to extend an endorsement.
            “I have been a registered Democrat my entire voting life. Many people abandoned the Party in the 80's and 90's. I chose to stick with my values, ethics and beliefs and work within the organization to ensure we represent the hard-working people and families of this state and country, not just the elitists who shift from position to position and party to party based upon personal gain.
            “On Election Day, a gentleman asked me, "What party are you? What church do you go to?" I proudly told him I was a Democrat and a member of St. Catherine. He called me a liberal and unpatriotic. I told him I was also a combat veteran, a member of VFW Post 8466 and a life member of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) – and which post did he belong to? I told him they didn't ask me if I was a Democrat or Republican, a liberal or conservative when I joined the Army, nor did the enemy care when they fought American soldiers in the wars I fought for our nation. He walked away without answering my question.
            “Many will wave the flag on Veteran's Day, Memorial Day or the 4th of July but they won't take the time to serve our nation and assume if you are a member of a certain party you must be liberal/conservative patriotic or not. Like my father (Korea, Vietnam), uncle (Vietnam), grandfather (WWII), great-grandfather (WWI), I am proud to have served our country in her times of need and am a Democrat.”
            Matthew Reck reported: “In the late spring earl summer I had conversations with several folks in the [Republican] party about running for town commissioner. I have identified with that particular party my entire adult life. I interviewed for the endorsement and did not receive it.”
            Zachary Donahue wrote that the Republican party approached him about an endorsement and he decided to accept it “to assist in name recognition.” He said he had considered asking for a party endorsement when he ran in 2009 and finished third for two seats.
            Sherry Ward said she responded to the letter sent out by the Wake County Democratic Party. “I am a Democrat, I have worked for the party,” she said. “I knew they could provide me with assistance with the campaign” and help with name recognition. “I knew other people were going to ask for an endorsement from the Republican Party.” Ward said she accepted the endorsement “because you try to get as much support as you can where you can.”
            Peter Thibodeau said he met with the committee from the North Carolina Home Builders Association and told them he did not want their endorsement. “I just don’t want you opposing me.”
            He responded to the four questions by saying: “First and foremost, it appears important to remind people that the election for Wake Forest town commissioners is a non-partisan election process. This distinction is intended to remove party bias and prevent party “block” voting from affecting elections. Thus, the commissioners should be selected based on individual merits and not party affiliation.
     “After filing for candidacy, I was approached by a local Democratic party representative. I clearly indicated that I was seeking neither endorsement nor support, since the election is non-partisan. My goal in this election was to maintain the same high level of ic: I represented all of the voters in Wake Forest equally and without bias to any party.
     “I followed the same process in this campaign as in the past. I openly refused to seek or accept any endorsements, Political Action Committee (PAC) support, and money/funding related to those endorsements. I felt that my integrity would be compromised by lowering my standards to take a partisan approach to campaigning. It is my strong belief that this provided assurance to ALL citizens of Wake Forest that my vote came as a result of independent thought and consideration, without the possibility of anyone thinking that my vote could be influenced from having accepted PAC, political party, or other organization funding or endorsements. My responsibility was always to all of Wake Forest’s citizens only, period.
     “I do not believe that seeking partisan endorsements from political parties is appropriate for the Wake Forest town commissioner elections. Unfortunately, other candidates sought and received endorsements from political parties and other PACs. I was disappointed to see that the Wake County Republican Party felt the need to inject themselves into the process by having volunteers at all of the voting precincts on Election Day, handing out what they called sample ballots. These "sample ballots" contained the names of the three candidates who apparently sought and received endorsement from the Republican Party, with complete disregard to the fact that this was a non-partisan election.
     “I found it interesting that one of the GOP volunteers with whom I talked on Election Day asked me about who should have been supported as candidates with regard to a key issue to that person. I politely informed this person that I had led the charge on that specific issue, and that at least one of the Republicans on the GOP’s “sample ballot” did not support the change sought. The person then asked me how they should have known that, and I replied that candidates provided answers on that issue in The Wake Forest Gazette, The Wake Forest Weekly, and the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce forum. By following town matters this person could have become educated on this issue. I find this an interesting anecdote that supports the non-partisan election process. If this person had bothered to take the time to get educated on the issues, rather than voting blindly for a party-endorsed set of candidates, that person may have had a chance to have that key issue addressed to their satisfaction.
     “Ultimately, I am extremely proud of the four years that I served as town commissioner. I believe that our board had numerous positive accomplishments and helped guide the town well through a difficult economy. I regret that I will not be given a chance to continue to help build on these successes as a town commissioner. I will, however, remain active in the community, lending my time and passion to support other causes and issues of importance to our citizens. Thank you to all those who voted for me in the election, and thank you to the entire town of Wake Forest for the opportunity to be your town commissioner for these last four years.”