By Emily Ford
eford@salisburypost.com
Elisabeth Motsinger, a Democrat and Winston-Salem/ Forsyth County School Board member, has filed for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 5th District.
Incumbent Virginia Foxx, a Republican, filed for re-election Wednesday. So far, they are the only candidates.
For the first time, Rowan County is part of the newly drawn 5th District, which encompasses about a third of Rowan north of Salisbury. The 12th Congressional District splits the county in the middle, and the 8th District takes in southern Rowan.
Motsinger said she was inspired to run for Congress after hearing someone explain an unsatisfactory situation by saying, “that’s just politics.”
Lawmakers are not dealing with the real challenges facing the country, she said — threats to the environment, economic inequality and a lack of jobs that plagues recent college graduates and others.
“We have an economy that doesn’t really work for a lot of people,” she said.
Lawmakers treat the Earth “as a liquidation sale, instead of as the only home we’ve got,” she said.
Motsinger and her husband were arrested in September at the White House during an organized protest of the Keystone XL pipeline project. They each were fined $100 and spent several hours in plastic handcuffs, then were released.
Motsinger said sit-in protests, a form of civil disobedience, are a “long and honored American tradition.”
A physician’s assistant since 1989, Motsinger said she wants to ensure access to health care for all Americans.
While she has not been to Rowan County yet, Motsinger said she looks forward to meeting local residents.
“A representative is actually supposed to represent the people, and that means listening to them and going out and meeting them and hearing what’s on their minds,” she said.
So far, Motsinger said she’s discerned that people in the 5th District want a viable local economy so their children can find jobs close to home.
“The economic policies that we’ve been operating under support big, mega corporations, not smaller businesses,” she said.
Small businesses not only create good jobs, they create good communities, she said.
Motsinger said she intends to keep working and serving on the school board during her campaign.
Also filing Thursday was John Whitley, a Republican running to challenge incumbent Rep. Larry Kissell, a Democrat, in U.S. House District 8.
Contact reporter Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.

Elisabeth Motsinger

Office sought: U.S. House of Representatives, 5th District
Age: 54
Address: 6548 Woodmere Dr. Walkertown, N.C. 27051
Phone number: 336-757-6241
Party: Democrat
Occupation: Physician’s assistant
Education: PA?degree from Wake Forest University. Finishing masters in bioethics at Wake Forest
Previous elected office: Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School Board since 2006
Community involvement: Extensive
Family: Husband  John, three grown children, Christian, Lysandra and John Jr.