Patricia “Peaches” Rickard, recently retired as district manager for Duke Power
in Salisbury, said Friday she will be a Republican candidate for the N.C. Senate seat now
held by Democrat Jim Phillips of Lexington.Phillips announced earlier this month that he will not be seeking a third
term in the 2000 election.
Rickard joins Mac Butner of
Salisbury as announced GOP candidates for the 23rd N.C. Senatorial District, which
includes 20 precincts in northern Rowan County and 15 precincts each in northern and
central Iredell and southwestern Davidson counties.
Rickard, 55, retired Sept. 1 from
Duke Power after 30 years with the company. She also is a former public school teacher
with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
“The state and community have
been good to me,” Rickard said in a statement. “I’m committed to doing all
I can to represent the people of this area while making a positive impact for our
state.”
Rickard said she believes she
“can champion North Carolina’s quality of life,” while addressing
education, environmental and traffic congestion issues.
It’s Rickard’s first try
for elective office, although she has been visible through the years in many civic roles.
She has served as chairman of the
Rowan United Way and Hospice of Rowan County. Rickard also has been active as a board
member for the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce and as an advisor to the LandTrust for
Central North Carolina.
Rickard is treasurer for Historic
Salisbury Foundation. She is a member of the Existing Industry Committee of the
Mooresville-South Iredell Chamber of Commerce and the board of advisors of Wachovia Bank.
She also is an advisor for Livingstone and Catawba colleges.
In an interview with the Post,
Rickard said she is familiar with the district, particularly Rowan and Iredell counties.
Her previous work for Duke Power was “kind of a 24-hour job” that made it
difficult for her to ever consider a public service role “of this magnitude,”
she said.
With her retirement, the timing
was right, she added, and the Senate seat “has a lot of appeal to me.”
Rickard said she sought the
counsel of several state and local leaders, including Paul Smith, the Republican who held
the seat for many years before Phillips. Senate Minority Leader Patrick J. Ballantine,
R-New Hanover, also has encouraged her to run.
Ballantine described her candidacy
as an important part of a statewide effort to end “132 years of one-party rule of the
N.C. Senate.” Democrats continue to hold the majority in the Senate.
If she is nominated and elected,
Ballantine said in a statement, “Peaches Rickard will bring with her to Raleigh just
the wealth of community service and experience the state needs.”
A Salisbury resident, Rickard is
married to James B. Rickard and has two stepsons and two granddaughters. She is the
daughter of editorial cartoonist Gene Payne of the Charlotte Observer. She belongs to St.
Luke’s Episcopal Church.
Rickard graduated from Appalachian
State University with a bachelor’s degree in home economics.
The official filing period
won’t be until January. Butner was the GOP nominee from the 23rd District in both
1996 and 1998. |
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