The 2014 primary election was historic, particularly regarding the hotly contested race for the three seats opening up on the Rowan County Board of Commissioners.
With incumbent and board chairman Jim Sides not garnering the votes necessary to be able to embark on a fourth term, a new majority ultimately is slated to take the board’s helm this fall.
Never before have so many political action committees surfaced to focus their resources on influencing the outcome of a particular race.
Never before have so many unaffiliated candidates jumped through the May primary and landed on the November ballot through grassroots campaigning and getting signatures from registered county voters.
Never before have so many ads run targeting a particular candidate and issue so vehemently.
Political action committees like “La Resistance” and “The Rowan Alliance” are independent expenditure entities, while “La Resistance Rowan” and “C4L” are solely political action committees, said Laura Russell, county elections specialist.
“I have never seen this many PACs open at one time. In the past, I can only recall having two that each opened for a specific mailing they wanted to send — and then they were done,” Russell said. “I have never had a PAC that did as much as those (4) have been doing.”
Dr. Michael Bitzer is calling this year’s election “a watershed.”
As provost and professor of political science at Catawba College, Bitzer said the primary is a prelude to what truly happens in November.
“There was a firm rebuke to Sides,” Bitzer said.
With the formation of the PACs, Bitzer said actions at the national level with presidential races filter their way down and trickle to the local level.
The formation of PACs is a natural extension of the political process, Bitzer said.
“Everybody thinks about political participation as getting out to vote,” Bitzer said. “This is becoming a major way of influencing politics, especially if you have committed individuals and resources.”
At the state level, Americans for Prosperity targeted U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan “for a very long time,” Bitzer said.
“When you get to the local level, that raises a whole new set of issues,” Bitzer said. “Not only do you know the issues really well, but (Sides) has been in the news so much that it gets into the politics of personality and policy. (Sides) had a very definitive and direct agenda.”
As much as people complain about politicians being wishy-washy and flip-flopping, Bitzer said when a candidate like Sides comes in with firm convictions and strong policy agendas — it can be just as polarizing as somebody who flips back and forth.
“This was one side of the electorate casting their voices,” Bitzer said. “The primary was very hard, and the November election will be more difficult.”
All bets are off on in November, Bitzer said.
“We’ve never truly seen a three-way race. Usually what tends to happen is the third-party candidates, the independents, tend to act as spoilers,” Bitzer said. “They will take away votes (from the favorites).”
In Florida in 2000, Ralph Nader took away votes that would have gone to Al Gore, so George W. Bush was elected, Bitzer said.
This November’s election is going to come down to who gets their voters out, Bitzer said.
Judy Klusman, a candidate for Rowan County commissioner, said her winning the primary election has broken down significant barriers in Rowan County that have stood “forever, according to one county native.”
“I was the candidate who couldn’t win because I wasn’t from Rowan, and I was a woman and a clergy woman at that,” Klusman said. “Now people know it can be done by good, old fashioned campaigning, shaking hands, introducing myself, listening to people’s stories and developing relationships.”
The PACs are not all about money, Klusman said.
In the primary, Klusman said La Resistance had more people than any other resource and was more powerful than money.
“When you have a group that wants change and is energized and willing to work – they energized voters,” Klusman said. “That was another major factor in this race as they encouraged people to change their registration. Nearly 500 people changed because they wanted their vote to make a difference. They wanted to be heard.”
The red berets, or “La Resistance,” sprung up to seemingly attack one person and one issue – Jim Sides and the mall purchase.
“The only way the primary could have gone any better is if Johnny Love made it into the top three,” said Mark Lyerly, spokesman for La Resistance. “We supported him, Judy Klusman and Jim Greene. We succeeded in our mission in the May 6th primary by helping to defeat the two openly ‘fish house’ candidates and ensuring a new majority on the Rowan County commission.”
While the work of La Resistance is not complete in the commissioner race, Lyerly said, the group did not “choose Sides.”
“We are happy that we, as Jim Sides said, changed the face of politics in Rowan County,” Lyerly said.
“La Resistance” all began with a Facebook page, Lyerly said.
The page, dubbed “Fire Jim Sides and Craig Pierce,” brought satire to Rowan County politics, Lyerly said.
The humorous memes on the page caught people’s attention, but the ability to connect with others who were frustrated with the direction the county commissioners were taking is what engaged readers, Lyerly said.
“A lot of people felt like their views on local politics were not common in Rowan County because of past election results, but they found they were not alone once they found the Fire Jim Sides and Craig Pierce page,” Lyerly said.
The name, “La Resistance” originated after commissioner Craig Pierce allegedly expressed dissatisfaction for local attorney Todd Paris and whose words were dubbed over a scene from “Downfall” — a movie about Hitler’s demise.
“The clip has been used to portray people, often sports fans or celebrities, in the midst of a crisis. In the clip by Jon Snow, there is a line that ‘the Resistance has a Todd Paris.’ The historical connections to the French Resistance, as well as the name ‘Paris’ led to the apt, if hyperbolic, name for the group — La Resistance. A donation from a local artist in the form of raspberry berets was all it took to complement the name with a symbol.”
La Resistance split into two main entities because of state election law.
“We determined that receiving monies from businesses and corporations was a viable way to help spread our message,” Lyerly said. “There are businesses and corporations very interested in our cause, and they wanted to help fund us.”
Under state law, a PAC cannot receive corporate money and operates solely on a local level.
An independent expenditure PAC can receive those funds and participate in statewide races, Lyerly said.
“La Resistance provides some of the financing behind La Resistance Rowan. La Resistance only has one physical member, while anyone who believes in our cause and is active toward the cause is part of La Resistance Rowan,” Lyerly said. “This split allows us the best of both worlds, where one entity can work with businesses, but not directly with candidates — the independent expenditure PAC — and the other work with a wide range of individuals without any risk of running afoul of North Carolina election law.”
Will McCubbins, vice-chairman of the Rowan County Republican Party and a member of the Rowan County Tea Party Patriots, signed for the C4L political action committee.
McCubbins said the small PAC stands for “Citizens for Liberty.”
“It’s not an attack PAC. It’s not a misinformation campaign directed toward any particular candidate,” McCubbins said “I’m the only donor, but I’m not the only volunteer.”
The rule of C4L is to be 100 percent positive, McCubbins said.
“If we don’t support a candidate, we don’t mention that candidate. You will never see a picture of a candidate with a slash through it,” McCubbins said.
La Resistance ran several attack ads targeting Jim Sides and detesting commissioners’ decision to buy the mall.
The Rowan Alliance, signed for at the board of elections office by Jake Alexander, also published ads in the newspaper.
“I was one of a large group of concerned Rowan County citizens who wanted to make an effort to defeat Jim Sides,” Alexander said. “We dealt in facts and used his own words to prove our point. He has been a disappointment as a commissioner and has thwarted growth in Rowan County.”
Sides could not be reached for comment.
“There were heightened local interests, and there was a vehicle through which local people could gather people together to raise awareness,” Alexander said.
The Rowan Alliance could have endorsed candidates, but Alexander said the group chose not to.
“With the direction the county has taken, like it or not, Mr. Sides has been responsible for much of the negative things that happened here recently,” Alexander said. “The tone he has set as a leader has been detrimental.”
As an advocate for and person involved in economic development for 40 years, Alexander said he has “never seen an elected official with such animus toward the development community.”
“I have to give (Sides) some perverse sense of congratulations. He despises incentives and votes against them all. He didn’t have the public demeanor to do so as a gentleman,” Alexander said. “It’s a stunning attack.”
Another group Alexander also signed for, Southern Initiatives, did not meet the requirements of a PAC as determined by the state, Russell said.
“The goal (of Southern Initiatives) was to create an entity that can raise money and contribute to educating Rowan County in job growth and education,” Alexander said.
The results of May’s primary have yielded a categorical shift in how candidates’ view the pool this November.
For the first time in Rowan County history, commissioner candidates, both formerly Republican and formerly Democrat, are jumping through the primary by garnering a little less than 4,000 signatures to be placed on the fall ballot as an unaffiliated candidate.
More unaffiliated candidates may be coming, as Chris Cohen and Malcolm “Mac” Butner are soliciting signatures.
“There was an increase in voter turnout, and that’s a positive sign. It’s not nearly as large a turnout as one would hope for,” said Raymond Coltrain, former commissioner and the first unaffiliated candidate to get on the November ballot. “I think the people communicated they want a change in perspective for the county, particularly one that is more positive.”
Sides’ defeat hopefully improved Coltrain’s chances this fall, the candidate said.
“You’re kind of on your own and not associated with any general group of people,” Coltrain said. “You work hard. Seeking to serve in public office is time-consuming and requires a lot of sacrifice and hard work by individuals.”
Coltrain urged “voters to look at candidates’ actions over the years as opposed to what they did just on the campaign trail.”
Gene Miller, the second unaffiliated candidate to hit the November ballot, said the primary results are “just about as (he) expected.”
“Two of the Tea Party candidates were defeated, and I suspect because of their Tea Party politics, particularly concerning the mall purchase,” Miller said. “The third member of that group won in the primary, but is now being challenged on his ‘mall stance’ and affiliation with the Tea group.”
Miller said he thinks it is great to see several more moderate candidates running who want to see the county prosper and grow.
“We cannot continue to ignore the fact that every county along the I-85 corridor is beginning to improve after the recession with the exception of Rowan — from Mecklenburg to Wake,” Miller said. “We have to ignite a plan that will start Rowan on the path to recovery by attracting new businesses that will grow our tax base.”
The county has to improve its education system so businesses and families want to move, work and live in the county, Miller said.
Miller said that goal can be accomplished if three “good people” are elected to the commission.
“The important word is the ‘three.” One or two cannot make it happen with the makeup of the present board,” Miller said. “I’m very excited and encouraged by the response of the citizens and just hope that the momentum can carry through to November. I really believe that we can be on the road to recovery.”
Miller said he believes all moderate candidates now have a better chance for election, not necessarily because Sides was defeated, but because the county’s citizens have spoken with their votes and want Rowan County “to be better.”
“We need to live up to the signs posted on the entrances to Rowan County that state ‘We are a county committed to excellence.’ We cannot be committed to excellence by discouraging new business when they apply to locate in Rowan County,” Miller said.