By Steve Huffman
Salisbury Post
A Mocksville businessman has filed for the N.C. Senate District 34 seat.
William A. Burnette, 67, a Republican who filed Thursday, is challenging incumbent Andrew Brock.
“This area has given so much to me and I want to give a little back,” Burnette said. “I’m running to give our citizens a real voice in Raleigh.”
Burnette said he attended the University of Richmond, though he didn’t graduate. He spent the better part of his life in the tobacco business, having started his career with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in 1960 and being an executive in the Asian region of Reynolds in the late 1960s.
He later became president of Piedmont Leaf Tobacco Co. and in 1986 formed his own International Tobacco Co. In addition, Burnette has been involved in real estate development since 1960.
“Davie and Rowan counties are in a remarkable geographical area to benefit economically in the future,” Burnette said. “The interstates 40, 85 and 77 corridors offer great opportunities for the future.”
He said the region needs better representation than it’s getting in Raleigh.
“Our current senator is out of touch with the needs of our community and I intend to change that,” Burnette said. “I will work to help us move from manufacturing and textiles to the high-tech jobs of the future.”
He said North Carolina also needs to improve its health-care system and help seniors with the rising cost of prescription drugs. Burnette said he’d work to improve both situations.
He described himself as “fiscally conservative and philosophically moderate.”
Burnette’s wife died of cancer in 1989. He has three grown daughters, two of whom have families and live in the 34th District. His other daughter lives in Winston-Salem.
Contact Steve Huffman at 704-797-4222 or shuffman@salisburypost.com.