By Karissa Minn
kminn@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — Congressional candidate Richard Hudson says he takes the 8th District’s issues to heart and knows how take action on them in Washington.
Hudson is seeking the Republican nomination to run against U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell, a Democrat, for his seat in the U.S. House.
Hudson has never run for office before, but he has worked on the campaigns of several candidates, such as U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes, N.C. Rep. Virginia Foxx and gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory.
“I got a lot of satisfaction out of helping a lot of good conservatives … to fight against the direction the country’s been leading, which is toward more government, more spending and less freedom,” Hudson said during an interview at the Post.
He said he got fed up with the way things are going and realized he could be doing more.
Hudson recently moved to Concord from Washington, D.C. He is the owner of Cabarrus Marketing Group, which provides consulting services to small businesses.
He was born in Virginia but was raised in North Carolina from the age of four, and he has served on the Rowan-Cabarrus Community College Board of Trustees.
“I’m from here and I know the district very well, but I also understand how Washington works,” he said. “I won’t need on-the-job training; I’ll be effective from day one.”
Hudson said he wants to help revive the economy, cut government spending and defund President Barack Obama’s health care plan. Lowering taxes will help businesses create jobs, he said.
He also wants to get rid of unfair regulations that are hurting businesses – including the agriculture industry and family farms in the 8th district.
Hudson has won the endorsement of former Carolina Panther Mike Minter, who is now a Concord businessman and college football coach.
“Richard is from here and I know him as a man of character who shares my conservative and Christian values,” Minter said. “We can count on Richard to fight to change the cultural and fiscal insanity in Washington.”
Five other announced candidates will join Hudson in the Republican primary — Dan Barry, mayor pro tem of Weddington; former Iredell County Commissioner Scott Keadle; former Winston-Salem City Council member Vernon Robinson; N.C. Rep. Fred Steen, who represents the 76th District in the state House, and John Whitley, a Fairmont neurosurgeon.