By Josh Bergeron

josh.bergeron@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Friday is scheduled to be a unique day for local politics.

Salisbury has seen senators visit. Salisbury even had one of its own — Elizabeth Dole — serve in the U.S. Senate. On Friday, however, four U.S. senators from four different states are scheduled to attend a fundraiser for Deborah Ross, North Carolina’s Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate.

The fundraiser will occur at a home on Fulton Street.

U.S. senators scheduled to attend include: Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin, Hawaii’s Mazie Hirono, New Hampshire’s Jeanne Shaheen and Michigan’s Debbie Stabenow.

Listed as part of the host committee are several prominent Salisbury names — Democratic Party Chairman Geoffrey Hoy; attorney and philanthropist Ed Norvell; philanthropists Alice and Fred Stanback; local attorney Mona Lisa Wallace; and local Democratic Party organizer Nan Lund. Salisbury residents Mary and Will James are listed as the hosts.

Ross is facing incumbent Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., in November’s election. The race is considered part of the trio of tight political contests in North Carolina — others are the presidential and gubernatorial races.

The Real Clear Politics average of polls shows Ross with a 1 percentage point advantage in North Carolina’s U.S. Senate race.

Congress averts government shutdown

With just days until a deadline to avoid a shutdown, Congress passed a short-term measure to keep government funded until early December.

First, the Senate passed the spending measure by a 72-26 count. Next, the U.S. House passed it by a 342-85 count. It keeps government funded until Dec. 9 and includes money to fight the Zika virus, help victims of recent flooding in Louisiana and various appropriations for military construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

On its final passage, all members of Congress who represent Rowan voted for the short-term funding measure. The story was different across North Carolina’s entire congressional delegation. North Carolina’s members of the U.S. House voted for the spending measure by a count of 8-5. Reps. Renee Ellmers, R-2, Walter Jones, R-3, Mark Walker, R-6, Mark Meadows, R-11, and George Holding, R-13, voted against the short-term funding measure.

When asked about his vote, Rep. Richard Hudson said America expects its elected representatives to “do our work.” Hudson accused Democrats in Congress of continuing to “grind the process to a halt.”

Earlier, Democrats had opposed the funding because it didn’t provide aid to alleviate water woes in Flint, Mich. — where the city’s water system had been contaminated with lead.

“Instead of continuing to kick the can down the road with continuing resolutions, we need to find long-term solutions that cut wasteful government spending, encourage job creation, and strengthen our economy, and I remain committed to doing that,” Hudson said in an emailed statement.

Rep. Alma Adams, D-12, also expressed disappointment with the fact that there’s no long-term budget. In an emailed statement, Adams said “there was too much at stake not to support” the funding measure, which includes money to combat the Zika virus and recent flooding in Louisiana.

Both of North Carolina’s U.S. senators — Richard Burr and Thom Tillis — voted for the measure.

Tillis, in an emailed statement, expressed similar sentiments to Hudson, accusing Democrats of filibustering bipartisan, long-term spending bills. Burr avoided criticizing Democrats in his statement, saying he was encouraged to have passed the funding agreement.

Hudson to host women’s symposium

U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson is scheduled to host a women’s symposium today in Concord.

The symposium starts at 8:30 a.m. and continues until 11:30 a.m. It features Julia Landauer, a race car driver and member of the NASCAR Next Program. It will be at the Hilton Garden Inn at 7831 Gateway Lane in Concord.

Concord City Councilwoman Jennifer Parsley is also scheduled to speak.

The symposium will “celebrate the tremendously provide impact women have on our economy and communities and focus on ways our region can advance opportunities, grow our economy and return decision-making power back to our families and away from Washington,” an event announcement states.

Breakout sessions during the event include: protecting your family from online threats, the opiod and heroin epidemic and women in nontraditional careers. Each session will feature speakers with knowledge about the individual topics.

Cooper still leads in gubernatorial race

The latest poll in North Carolina’s gubernatorial race — from High Point University — shows Democratic gubernatorial candidate Roy Cooper with a nine-point lead over incumbent Pat McCrory, a Republican.

The poll released Tuesday shows Cooper with 50 percent support among likely voters and McCrory with 41 percent support among likely voters.

The race is still tight, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polling. Cooper has a 3.6 percentage point lead, according to the average.

Contact reporter Josh Bergeron at 704-797-4246