Fisher elected to Republican National Committee
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, December 2, 2009
By Jessie Burchette
Salisbury Post
Dr. Ada Fisher’s message of change won over the N.C. Republican Convention over the weekend.
The 750-plus delegates elected Fisher as one of two North Carolina members of the Republican National Committee ó the first black woman to represent North Carolina on the committee.
Fisher, 60, who retired from the W.G. “Bill” Hefner VA Medical Center, said Monday she may be the first black person of either gender to represent North Carolina on the National Committee.
After reading the convention rules, Fisher took to the podium at the convention and nominated herself.
She pointed out that while the presidential contenders ó U.S. Sen. John McCain for the Republicans and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama for the Democrats ó are now talking change, she’s been delivering that message for a decade or more.
“Obama didn’t just coin that. … Folks are now just appreciating it,” Fisher said.
She also talked about the need to expand the Republican Party, to be more inclusive.
And Fisher talked to the delegates about the distress that people are now feeling.
“Tax cuts are fine,” she said, but added that, “If you don’t have a job, you don’t need to worry about a tax cut.”
Fisher won in a secret-ballot vote, defeating a Gastonia woman nominated by the party chairman.
A former member of the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Eduction, Fisher ran unsuccessfully for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in 2002 against Elizabeth Dole.
She also challenged U.S. Rep. Mel Watt, a Democrat, in 2004 and 2006.
Fisher is seeking the 77th N.C. House District seat now held by Rep. Lorene Coates.
She credits her victory over the weekend to her work within the Republican party and her message.
“When I ran for the U.S. Senate, I was the first one to walk all 100 counties. A lot of the people (at the convention) I knew,” she said.
“I’ve built up a reputation as someone who cares and who will fight.”
Now that she is a member of the Republican National Committee, she’s busy finding out what they do and vows to “be an expert in the next two weeks.”
And she will be attending the national Republican Convention set for Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., Sept. 1-4.
Contact Jessie Burchette at 704-797-4254 or jburchette@salisburypost.com.