Democratic Ballot: Candidate Forum for the US House of Representatives District 13

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Hello friends.
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Thanks for tuning in to the NC Deep Dive Podcast.
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I'm your host, Amanda Benbow Lunn.
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This is being recorded and hopefully released on February 22nd, meaning there are only six more days of early voting left, with a primary election being on Tuesday, March 3rd.
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We are officially in the home stretch of this election season.
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Candidates are making the rounds, forums are wrapping up, doors are being knocked, phones and emails are blowing up, and flyers are routinely showing up in the mail.
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Candidates are trying to get their messages out, and quite frankly, there's no real good way to do that, as we as voters are typically pretty hard to reach, as we're living our own busy lives, sometimes stretched precariously thin, and just don't have the time and perhaps get frustrated with all the ways candidates do try to reach us.
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Every person is different in what ways are meaningful and helpful to us.
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And if you are listening to this, you are exactly why I put so much time and effort into creating these podcast episodes.
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I know how hard it can be to find information about all of the races and all of the candidates and how time consuming it can be.
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Some places only have certain parties' information, some only certain races.
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I also know with how busy I am, sometimes it is easier when one, someone has taken the time and done the work to compile everything together, and two, it is in an audio format so I can listen in the frequent in-between moments of my day.
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Moments I may not have enough time to do much else in.
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Or perhaps moments when I can multitask, like when I'm driving, folding laundry, or running.
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I want to make it as easy as possible for you to feel informed and confident in your choices, no matter who or what resonates with you personally.
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This year, when I sent out the NC Deep Dives 2026 Voters Guide questionnaires to all of the candidates and their teams, I also expressed my willingness to try to attend and record any candidate forums where all the candidates for a particular race had been invited, where the goals of the forum were meant to be fair between said candidates.
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I also understand that perhaps with time restrictions or comfort levels, I might not have the time or necessarily be welcomed in all spaces.
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So I proffered the opportunity for others to record and share an audio file with me if they did attend candidate forums, so that I could easily amplify the message, helping candidates reach potential voters, allowing voters the chance to be as informed as possible.
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The third of such occurrence happened recently with the Southern Springs Wake Dems, and I am excited to share the candidate forum here with you, as I do think hearing from candidates directly adds immense value to being as informed as possible.
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For me, witnessing their energy, their inflections, how they answer questions or perhaps don't answer questions, and how they participate has the opportunity to say more than their websites and their marketing materials ever will.
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It adds to my visceral knowledge to then contribute to the emotional, intellectual, and logical pieces for a more well-rounded assessment to help me with my due diligence.
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This candidate forum covers the race that will be on the Democratic ballot for the U.S.
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House of Representatives for District 13.
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It can also be called the Congressional District for 13.
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This district is one of our most gerrymandered districts, stretching from Caswell County on the Virginia border through several counties like Franklin, Granville, Harnett, Johnston, Lee, Person, and parts of Southeast Wake County.
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For most of us in southern Wake County, if you are pulling a Democratic ballot in the primary, you will likely have either the U.S.
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House District 4 race between Valerie Foushee, Nida Allam, and Mary Patterson, or you will have the U.S.
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House District 13 race between Paul Barringer, Frank Pierce, and Alexander Nicholi.
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If you are unsure which race might be on your ballot, you can always search the words voter search in a search engine, and the NC State Board of Elections site will show up where you can enter in your information, click on your entry if there are multiple people with your same name, and scroll down to the section jurisdiction.
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Where it says Congress will have your congressional or US House district number next to it.
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You can also scroll down a little further to where it says sample ballot, and you'll click the link provided there and it will show you your exact ballot and all the races and candidates that you will be eligible to vote for.
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Just as a reminder that in a primary, you can only vote in your registered party's races.
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For example, if you are registered as a Democrat, you will only be eligible to vote the Democratic ballot.
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Same as a Republican, you'll only be eligible to vote in the Republican ballot.
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No other recognized party in North Carolina has a primary this year.
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If you happen to be registered as unaffiliated, also known sometimes as independent, you will have the choice of either the Democratic ballot or the Republican ballot.
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And please keep in mind all the candidates on a Democratic ballot are Democrats.
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All those on a Republican ballot are Republicans.
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So you will want to know exactly which candidates you want to vote for if your typical strategy may be to vote for someone who has either an R or a D after their name.
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Alright, back to this forum.
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It is moderated by Walter Kreutz, the co-area coordinator for the Southern Springs Dems.
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The questions were populated by those in attendance and other Democrats, and the candidates speak in alphabetical order.
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Alexander Nicholi did not end up attending after originally committing to this event.
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Paul Barringer answers each question first, followed by Frank Pierce.
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Again, this is for the U.S.
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House of Representatives for District 13 that will be on the Democratic ballot.
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Those running as candidates in this race are Paul Barringer, Frank Pierce, and Alexander Nicholi.
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Without further ado, my friends, let's dive in.
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We're supposed to have all three candidates here tonight, but I only see two.
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So he did say he was going to be here, but I'm going to kind of just assume it.
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We're going to go in the same order of alphabetical order.
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Any questions that anyone still has?
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All right.
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We gave Alexander Nicholi as much time as we could.
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So we only have two of the three candidates here tonight.
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I'm going to start with just a three-minute allowing the candidates to intro themselves.
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Well, hello, everyone.
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I'm Paul Barringer.
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I'm running to represent you all in District 13, which covers this area and a number of other counties.
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I want to tell you quickly why I'm running, a little bit about me, what I stand for, and why I think I can win.
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Why I'm running is because I could not take the news one more day.
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I have a feeling some of you all might feel the same way.
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That's why you're here.
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I felt like we needed to do something everywhere.
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Michigan and Ohio can take care of themselves.
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Let's bring it home to Johnston County and Southern Wake County, from Lee County, and Harnett County.
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So that's why I'm here.
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I'm running because I could not take the news one more day.
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Who am I?
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I'm a lawyer, tree farmer from Lee County.
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I live on a farm where I grew up.
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My family's been in Lee County for a long time.
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Yes, I was gone.
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I'll tell you that right now.
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I lived in Washington, D.C.
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I lived in England.
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I lived in New Zealand for a year.
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That goes back a long time ago.
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But my heart was always in Lee County.
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And I came back last year.
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My mom was ailing.
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She was 96 to try to help take care of her.
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And she died in the summer.
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But one of the last things she said to me before she died was, How's your campaign going?
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So I know she was interested and she wanted to see where this would go.
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I wish she could be here because she would have had a lot of fun.
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I was at a Cooper event the other night where everyone at Sanford had turned out and she would have had so much fun there.
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And people were asking about her and so many people in New York, all that aside.
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All right, I'm running because I couldn't take the news one more day.
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I'm from Lee County, lawyer, tree farmer, eagle scout, Sunday school teacher, endurance athlete.
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I've run a lot of long distances.
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I biked the district back in the fall, which is 182 miles from my house to Yancyville, even though directly it's only 66 miles, evidence of how gerrymandered this district is.
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I will say I raise that because all the endurance things I've ever done, I never quit.
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And I won't quit in this until we turn this district blue.
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And now, what do I stand for?
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I think Congress has an obligation under the Constitution to be an independent, co-equal third branch of government that shows an exercise of accountability and oversight of the other two branches of government that and not happening right now.
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I believe that Congress has a role to play in addressing issues of concern for regular folks.
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That means affordable health care, fixing and funding to VA, immigration reform, fixing the damage that Elon Musk did, and so on.
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We need to focus on those things.
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If I can get elected, constituent service will be my top focus.
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Healthcare, second, third, that executive accountability function.
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Yes, I lived a long way away for years.
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I also used to be a Republican.
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I was a Republican who believed in, as Heather Cox Richardson put it, the government has a role to play in providing a social safety net, making public investments, protecting civil rights, and regulating business.
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I believe that as a Republican.
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I believe that definitely as a Democrat.
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We got to flip this district.
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I've raised money to allow us to do that, built out our team, and I would love to have your support.
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So thank you so much for the opportunity to be here.
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So my name is Frank Pierce, and I was your nominee in 2024.
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So to let you know some backstory with that, like the person who had the seat ran away at the last hour, stepped up and ran.
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So in doing so, also, we broke every state record for active voter turnout ever.
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No U.S.
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House person, not Deborah Ross, not Valerie Foushee, has ever turned out more than 80% of active voters.
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We turned out 86.7% of active Democratic voters.
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To top it off, we also took the second most Republican votes in this district, only behind Josh Stein, who was running against the black Nazi.
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No other state house race took as many Republican votes in this district as we do.
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So this race matters.
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It does, but it matters for one reason.
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It's someone who's going to help Democrats get elected up and down the ballot to turn people out.
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To help Roy Cooper win the Senate race, to help Anita Earls win her justice race.
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Things that people don't remember, Roy Cooper's never run an off-year election.
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So it is a huge drop.
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He has never run an off-year election.
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The only candidate that is running is Anita Earls that has, that's running for a big seat.
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I have three house seats in my district, one that has win in it, and then two up north, one in Creedmore slash Nance, and one in Northern Wake.
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All three, we have a shot at winning.
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But it's about someone who's going to turn out voters and get them to show up to election day.
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Someone who has been knocking on the doors who's been showing up.
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Last time we knocked over 20,000 doors by myself.
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My team knocked over 60,000.
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This time I was planning on doing 25,000 until I need to Earl's diagnosis.
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Now my goal is 30,000.
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I've already knocked 3,700 doors.
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I continue to knock every day.
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I run my business until I finish for the day, and then I go knock doors.
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I was knocking doors before I came here.
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The whole purpose is to turn Democrats out, to turn independents out, to turn Republicans who haven't voted out.
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This is an off-year election.
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Whoever turns out the most votes will make sure that you went up and down the ballot, and that's it.
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And that's the difference between me and everyone else in this primary is I've shown up, I know who's going to show up, and I know how to get people to show up and vote in November.
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I did it last time.
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We were projected to get 33% of the vote last time.
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We got 43% of the vote.
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We outperformed every single house race in the state for turnout.
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Those are the numbers that you need in November, and those are the numbers that matter.
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I am Frank Pierce.
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I look forward to your vote.
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And thank you everybody for coming tonight.
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So the first question actually comes from the area coordinators because this is a question that's becoming important for us.
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If elected, what will you do for the Democratic Party?
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And if you are elected, why will I vote for you the next time?
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If elected, what will I do for the Democratic Party and why would you vote for me again the next time?
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If elected, I will do everything I can to support other Democratic candidates.
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I'll do what I can to raise money for the Democratic Party to help make sure that we have resources to run competitive campaigns up and down the ballot.
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If I am elected, my top focus will be constituent service, being in the district, doing town halls, which we have not had from Brad Knott.
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I will focus on helping people who have issues with benefits, social security, or a passport, or the eighth grade is coming to Washington and they need a photo op or some tour, I will help with that.
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I will also work with local leaders to make sure that we hear their concerns and offer ways to get resources to into the communities, particularly to support economic development.
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So, all that said, if you don't hear from me and I'm not doing those things and I'm not meeting your needs, then for gosh sakes, I hope you will vote me out and get rid of the bum the next time.
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But if I'm doing those things, I hope that you'll see that I'm accountable and effective and that you will send me back.
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But I will say hopefully not for that many terms, because I think let somebody else have a chance would be my philosophy.
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I think a lot of the folks up there probably ought to do that.
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So I'll raise money.
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I'll look to raise a profile, I'll support it anyway.
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Every Democrat in Canada in getting elected and pursuing whatever goals they have.
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I will also look to listen, to bring resources to respond to concerns and to be responsive in every way that I can.
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And hopefully that will position you to feel that I have done what you're looking for out of your representative and that you send me back for a couple times, but maybe no more than that.
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Thank you so much.
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Thank you.
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So, what will I do for the Democratic Party is work on making sure that we're bringing values forward, like universal health care, making sure that we're bringing forward a living wage.
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We have a 65-page paper for living wage, and it's one that Republicans in the U.S.
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House have already seen and talked about that are similar districts to mine.
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And how we would do it is you just do those things and you have those communications with them.
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Those that make sure that we're moving forward and making sure that Democrats know that we are here for them.
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We're standing up for issues like Gaza.
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We're making sure that people understand that what is happening there is a genocide.
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We're standing up for the communities in Sedan who where women are getting raped daily, and those are things that we need to make sure that we are putting forward and bringing people forward.
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Affordable housing.
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How do you do that?
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You do that by policy writing.
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So we have eight counties.
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Seven of them do not have enough water for 10 years from now.
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Do you know how long it takes to build a water reservoir?
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10 years.
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That's on the low end.
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It's about 10 years.
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So seven of my counties are going to be without water based on their growth.
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Granville County, Southern Granville, has actually stopped building.
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They had 200 houses set to go up.
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They've completely stopped after the second house was built.
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They did not have any water to go there at all.
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They have actually been under our boiled water advisory in southern Granville this whole for the last two months.
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How many times has anyone seen it on the news?
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You don't.
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So those are things that make sure that we're getting things done so that we bring demage cuts.
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And to stand up for you, guys, I'm always here.
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One of the things I do is I do anywhere from eight to ten bookbag drives a year in my district.
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I do about 30 to 40 food drives.
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And in Raleigh, I feed every firefighter station, which is 28 of them, on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
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Between those three things, I raise over $250,000 a year doing that.
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Raising money is not an issue if I thought that that's what we needed to win.
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Things that you need to win is making sure that we're door knocking and people are showing up.
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Those things matter.
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What is a living wage?
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So living wage is based on where you live.
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Michigan did a thing where they said 19 for the rural areas.
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So how I would do it is you have 19 for the rural areas, but every county actually gets to do it.
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So your local elected officials get to do it.
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So that we would set it, we'll just say 19.
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We're just gonna pick a number, 19.
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And then every commissioner in Wake would get to vote on what they thought a living wage for Wake County was.
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And so essentially, North Carolina could have a hundred different living wages, and you base it on where the company is located.
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So Johnson County companies won't be the same as Wake.
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I've got to give you an opportunity to respond to that one.
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What's a living wage?
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I'll give you 40 seconds.
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Living wage, I think, would be determined by geography.
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We have to look at different geographies in order to, but the conceptual concept that at its core, I think a living wage is what allows people to live in that community, and there has to be some variability in that.
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Um, like what's the number?
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How many is it for in Lee County and Wake County in New York City?
00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:24.399
And um, I mean, in New York City, people are making 200 grand a year, paycheck to paycheck.
00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:31.679
I've heard it from a lot of people in Johnston County, the young families making a hundred grand a year, they feel like they're living paycheck to paycheck and they can't afford anything.
00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:36.639
So I think there's variability by community, and just like Frank says, I agree with him on that.
00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:41.039
So we do have questions that are kind of always going around in what you're gonna do.
00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:43.759
I kind of chose the rest of them, importance of what they are.
00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:47.679
This is one of the most important ones, I think, that we have that really differentiate ourselves.
00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:51.600
But the first question is do you support a woman's right to choose?
00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:52.240
Paul?
00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:53.120
Yes.
00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:08.960
So, yes, also, but expanding on it, you have to write policy to make that happen.
00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:10.720
Like it's not something that's little.
00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:13.759
One of the things that both parties do that isn't is we don't write policy.
00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:21.759
There are so many times that we're always trying to pass big bills, whereas if we wrote small bills for policy to help women and you make it up into 10 smaller bills, you'll pass it.
00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:23.519
Policy matters in how you write it.
00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:24.559
So that's how you do it.
00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:29.759
So, yes, but make sure we're writing policy to protect them like we should have done in 2008.
00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:33.279
All right.
00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:37.919
This is the question that I actually really do like because this will definitely take everyone's two minutes.
00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:44.159
What is your biggest goals in repairing some of the damage that Trump has done if the Dems become the majority in the House?
00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:48.240
So the examples are environmental protection, voting rights, and et cetera.
00:16:48.559 --> 00:17:01.919
So the three priorities that I have when I get elected, as I mentioned before, one is countering the executive overreach from the president by fulfilling Congress's Article I responsibility to be an independent and co-equal branch of government.
00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:06.400
And I think in practical terms, that means taking back Congress's role in issues like tariffs.
00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:07.759
Tariffs are taxes.
00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:09.920
Taxes and revenue is the province of Congress.
00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:11.279
Congress should control that.
00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:14.799
They have inappropriately delegated that responsibility to the president.
00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:21.119
There are a host of other concerns where Congress has inappropriately delegated authority or has ceded that authority.
00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:28.160
I would say just two examples: the Kennedy Center, the created by an act of Congress, pulled out of circulation by the president by Fiat.
00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:33.920
I think we all suspect that renovation may mean destruction because that's what often means what happens with Donald Trump.
00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:41.759
So the second is the negotiation of the DHS funding bill, where the Senate majority leader has ponded and says that we can't negotiate with the Senate Democrats.
00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:44.000
Has to be the president that does that or the White House.
00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:46.240
So Congress isn't fulfilling its obligation.
00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:47.839
I will work to make sure that it does.
00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:51.200
Secondly, in healthcare, I've worked in healthcare for more than 30 years.
00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:55.759
I did a lot of work over the last 10 years in helping Medicaid agencies approve their operations.
00:17:55.759 --> 00:18:01.200
About 10, 12 years ago, I did a bunch of work around the launch of the Affordable Care Act to help people get covered.
00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:02.559
So I know how important that is.
00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:09.519
And what I would definitely work to do if I can get elected is to reverse the changes that the administration has made to healthcare.
00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:18.559
One, with the big beautiful bill creating new burdensome bureaucracy and eligibility requirements that will result in an estimated 11 million people losing Medicaid coverage.
00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:26.160
Second, with the failure of the Congress to address the expanded subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, which means that many people will lose coverage or be priced out of coverage.
00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:33.759
And finally, I think we push for Congress to consider all long-term alternatives that can help promote a sustainable, affordable, universal health care.
00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:36.640
And then the final is constituent service, as I mentioned before.
00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:37.839
Those are my three priorities.
00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:48.799
I think we could talk for about four hours about that with all the things that he's damaged, you know, especially environmental and all those things.
00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:53.920
So the first thing is how they're getting things done is they're writing policy to do so.
00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:57.680
So how you have to protect it is write policy to do so and get people on your side.
00:18:57.680 --> 00:19:11.519
Our district is actually, it is the number one gerrymander district in the country, but it's getting states like Alabama, Alaska, Tennessee, places that have similar districts and similar makeups to understand how this is affecting them and make sure when you go and write that policy, you get people on your side.
00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:14.960
Even with a majority, it doesn't mean every Democrat's gonna vote with us.
00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:15.839
That we know.
00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:18.960
We've seen that with people that are elected in the Senate, people that are elected in the House.
00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:21.119
So getting people on your side and bringing them together.
00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:28.079
That's one of the things I've done in building my small business and working together and working with people and saying this is how we get things done by actually moving forward.
00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:30.000
My number one thing is constituent services.
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:32.160
So you have to help people in the community.
00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:34.640
We can help with water bills, like when you when you have issues.
00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:39.039
Apex, a few weeks ago or last year, had massive water issues with their water billing.
00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:43.440
Those are things that you should be down here helping, having a person on your team doing, doing things like that.
00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:47.519
Making sure that as Democrats that you're writing policy to make life better.
00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:51.440
And if everyone doesn't know this, did you know you can write policy where they can't add anything to it?
00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:57.519
So what they do now is they write the bill and then they come up to Amanda and say, just add what you need to add to make it pass.
00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:04.400
You can actually write policy where they cannot add anything to it, but that requires you to go get Amanda's vote and get her on your side.
00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:08.319
And that's one of the things that I will do is making sure that we're writing policy where there's nothing stupid in it.
00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:15.039
Writing small things like term limits, making sure we have water conservation, things that people care about and we need to make sure that are happening.
00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:19.440
You know, I know there's an older generation in this room, but I do think that there's an age limit that we should have.
00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:22.640
I think that we those are things that we need to have to make the country better.
00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:23.440
Those things matter.
00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:28.240
So making sure that when you write policy, you actually don't add a whole bunch of stuff that's not going to let it pass.
00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:31.519
You can keep it to a minute and then make things better.
00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:35.920
All right.
00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:39.279
Here's a good question that is very important to Democrats.
00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:44.960
Most of us are concerned about healthcare costs and availability, particularly access in rural areas.
00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:50.559
What experience do you have in healthcare and making it more available and new options?
00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:55.599
In DC, will you be able to work with Congress or on policy making for it?
00:20:56.240 --> 00:20:58.000
So I am a lawyer.
00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:07.440
I'm a health lawyer, and I also went to graduate school in public policy and focused on healthcare and have worked in my entire career in healthcare.
00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:09.839
I worked as a health lawyer right out of school.
00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:15.359
I've worked both in the US and overseas, so I've seen some of the international models that can be effective.
00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:20.000
I have worked as the general counsel of a nonprofit that's focused on health reform.
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:29.200
And I've worked in the corporate world around healthcare issues for many years, and especially over the last 10 years on helping to improve Medicaid and human service agency operations.
00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:33.680
And as I mentioned before, I did a lot of work around the launch of the Affordable Care Act to help people get covered.
00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:35.359
I know how impactful that is.
00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:36.880
I know how important it is.
00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:38.880
I also know how confusing it is.
00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:48.319
So I saw how the work that we did, that our teams did to support state agencies was very meaningful for people and it really could be life saving.
00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:56.799
So in Congress, as I mentioned before, I will work to make sure that we reverse the changes from the big beautiful bill around the Medicaid eligibility requirements.
00:21:56.799 --> 00:22:05.519
I will work to ensure that there is funding and That it's uh enhanced subsidies are available for the population in who gets Affordable Care Act coverage.
00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:24.960
But I also think it's very important as a country that we look at long-term reforms that can bring down the underlying cost of care and provide options for people to get covered no matter where they are, no matter what their employment status, or no matter kind of what cliff in income they may face, and then all of a sudden they went from having full coverage to having no coverage.
00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:27.359
So we need to look broadly at those issues.
00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:37.279
Congress is basically the board of directors of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which is functionally the agency that finances about two-thirds of healthcare spending in the country.
00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:38.480
Congress has a role to play.
00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:41.119
I can bring expertise that supports that.
00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:53.200
So I know I harp on policy, but the thing is, is anybody raise their hand where the at any point has the healthcare been good in your life?
00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:54.000
At any point.
00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:54.480
Yeah.
00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:55.440
Okay.
00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:56.240
When was that?
00:22:56.240 --> 00:22:59.039
Anyone else?
00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:00.640
Time frame, give me time frames.
00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:02.319
Anytime in the last 25 years.
00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:04.559
Yeah, nominal Medicare.
00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:05.599
Yeah, Medicare.
00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:06.640
As a 10 Medicare.
00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:10.000
I had a $48,000 bill recently.
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:10.960
I didn't pay it now.
00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:18.240
So I asked that and say, like, there are people, as in people in this room, that you get taken care of.
00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:20.960
And if you look at the numbers, 90% of the country doesn't.
00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:22.240
And that is a true fact.
00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:25.359
It depends on where you live, access, all of that stuff.
00:23:25.359 --> 00:23:30.000
So to do those things and change it, guys, we have to start completely over.
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:32.640
This isn't like the Affordable Care Act was great.
00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:33.920
It had a lot of issues.
00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:36.880
Okay, fixing the subsidies is great, but it doesn't fix the problem.
00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:38.880
We're still going to have that problem down the road.
00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:40.319
You have to write a new bill.
00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:43.359
You have to bring new policy forward to make things better.
00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:50.480
You can't, you can look at the past and see what was good and how to improve on it, but you can't keep going back to the old things because they don't work.
00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:53.759
It doesn't help everyone across the state, across the country, anywhere.
00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:58.240
You have to start writing policy to bring things forward and making sure that it's better for everyone.
00:23:58.240 --> 00:24:01.119
You know, our district outside of Wake is extremely rural.
00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:02.400
Very few hospitals, right?
00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:08.240
Those things are going to matter, and you have to make sure that when you're doing those things, that you're not just going off the same old playbook.
00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:17.119
You have to move forward and have a playbook that says this is how we're going to make things better in Caswell and Franklin and Granville and Wake and all these areas so that that makes it better for the whole country.
00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:19.039
Because our district is the entire country.
00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:20.799
We have blue areas, we have red areas.
00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:22.000
We are a purple state.
00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:25.920
So if we can make it happen here, we can make it happen for the entire country.
00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:35.440
So some of you might have seen this weekend at the NATO summit, there was a question similar to this.
00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:38.960
We want to make sure that the people we're, I think we're sending, answer this one right.
00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:43.519
Would you support American troops defending Taiwan, NATO, and the Ukraine?
00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:46.480
Nobody wants to put American troops in harm's way.
00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:51.119
And war should require, and war activities should require congressional authorization.
00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:53.440
We don't see that from the president right now.
00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:56.720
So I do think there's a role for Congress to play in authorizing military action.
00:24:56.720 --> 00:25:05.039
In terms of those specific things, Ukraine, I believe that the strategy that they have pursued over the last four and a half years of arming Ukraine has helped them.
00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:10.559
They are not asking for troops, they're asking for weapons, consistent, reliable deliveries of weapons.
00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:12.480
We should continue to do that.
00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:15.119
For Taiwan, it's complicated.
00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:21.599
Obviously, the warmongering that we have with Greenland is making China feel emboldened around Taiwan.
00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:31.359
So although I would never want to see American troops deployed to Taiwan, and President Trump actually has provided weapons to Taiwan, unlike some other presidents in the past.
00:25:31.359 --> 00:25:33.279
And you can argue whether that's good or bad.
00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:36.160
But I don't want to see troops go to defend Taiwan.
00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:45.279
I think we need to be conducting ourselves carefully and strategically with our relationships with other allies to position us so we don't have the risk of having to send troops to Taiwan.
00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:50.240
I think that's more likely than less likely with the way the president is behaving around foreign policy right now.
00:25:50.240 --> 00:25:51.599
That's Taiwan, Ukraine.
00:25:51.599 --> 00:25:52.240
What was the other one?
00:25:52.559 --> 00:25:52.799
NATO.
00:25:53.119 --> 00:25:53.519
NATO.
00:25:53.519 --> 00:25:53.839
Of course.
00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:57.759
NATO, we should remain fully committed to NATO.
00:25:57.759 --> 00:25:59.920
We had a joint defense agreement.
00:25:59.920 --> 00:26:04.400
These are countries that we share so much with culturally, historically.
00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:16.319
It's helped to preserve a world order that's focused on democracy and demo like broad democratic values for 80 plus years to see the things that are happening to NATO is very troubling, very concerning.
00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:20.240
I would be a strong advocate for continuing our participation in NATO.
00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:25.279
And hopefully the collective defense agreement will keep us from having to deploy troops.
00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:27.119
But strong commitment to NATO.
00:26:27.119 --> 00:26:27.759
Thank you.
00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:40.160
So as someone who grew up dirt poor and had a full-time job since he was 11 years old, sending troops somewhere is not my ideal thing to do because it's me that goes.
00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:41.839
It's kids like me growing up that goes.
00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:44.240
The kids that don't have money and have no other thing else to do.
00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:47.519
When it comes to Ukraine, there are a lot of things that we can do.
00:26:47.519 --> 00:26:51.279
We are not holding them accountable with all the things that we've put sanctions on.
00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:52.640
They're still doing those things.
00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:55.279
We're still allowing them to trade oil with people, hiding it.
00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:59.279
They're still doing the things that we've put sanctions on because we're not holding them accountable.
00:26:59.279 --> 00:27:06.400
So to help Ukraine, not only is it giving them more weapons, but actually holding Russia accountable and making sure they can't get the money to keep paying for this war.
00:27:06.400 --> 00:27:08.400
As it goes to Taiwan, it's the same thing.
00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:11.119
Like we have to make sure that people know that we are there.
00:27:11.119 --> 00:27:16.480
You know, as much as China's going after Taiwan, if we say we are behind them, China isn't going to do anything.
00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:17.680
They can say all they want.
00:27:17.680 --> 00:27:19.599
We are who we are for a reason.
00:27:19.599 --> 00:27:23.440
We have built the number one army, navy, marines in the world.
00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:24.559
We have that.
00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:26.240
And they're not going to challenge that.
00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:29.039
They're trying to buck us because of what's happening in Greenland.
00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:30.240
That is why they are doing that.
00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:31.279
And that's the only reason.
00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:45.119
And as it comes to NATO, we should 100% be behind everything that NATO does, all those things that we have, because it benefits us not just not sending kids to die, but also in our everyday lives with trade and with everything else.
00:27:45.119 --> 00:27:48.079
I mean, this all ties back to also us getting over NAFTA.
00:27:48.079 --> 00:27:53.279
Canada now is having deals with the UK and Australia, and we just lost so many things.
00:27:53.279 --> 00:27:55.359
We closed two bourbon places.
00:27:55.359 --> 00:28:00.160
They closed the entire plant down because Canada is no longer buying Kentucky bourbon.
00:28:00.160 --> 00:28:01.440
So those things matter.
00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:09.599
And the only thing that you can do to make that is make sure that we are there and we are doing our job in Congress to make sure that the president doesn't get to do what he wants to do.
00:28:13.920 --> 00:28:14.559
Tariffs.
00:28:14.559 --> 00:28:17.039
Do you support them or not support them?
00:28:17.039 --> 00:28:22.160
And then do you think the president should be able to implement tariffs for the United States?
00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:22.799
No.
00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:27.200
But I'll go a little bit more on this one.
00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:30.799
But also for Iran on what I said before, tariffs are taxes.
00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:32.720
Taxes are something that we all pay.
00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:33.920
There's been a lot of research.
00:28:33.920 --> 00:28:42.640
Goldman Sachs, the Federal Reserve, many independent economic organizations have analyzed the impact of tariffs, and the incidence of tariffs falls upon us.
00:28:42.640 --> 00:28:43.599
We all pay it.
00:28:43.599 --> 00:28:56.640
My favorite dark chocolate bar from Food Lion went up by 15%, 30 cents on the wholesale price from $3 to $3.30 after the imposition of the European tariffs last summer.
00:28:56.640 --> 00:28:58.240
I could say it directly.
00:28:58.240 --> 00:28:59.599
I mean, it happened.
00:28:59.599 --> 00:29:02.400
So, no, and tariffs are taxes.
00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:03.119
I'll say that again.
00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:04.240
Tariffs are taxes.
00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:06.799
Taxes and revenue are the province of the Congress.
00:29:06.799 --> 00:29:08.559
The Congress should control that.
00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:13.279
They have inappropriately delegated that authority along with many other authorities to the president.
00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:24.480
We need a Congress that has a backbone, that has the ability to function independently, that has people who can think independently, you don't just be a rubber stamp and do directly what the president tells them to do all the time.
00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:27.359
So, no, I do not support tariffs.
00:29:27.359 --> 00:29:35.440
I think that the way in which the president has implemented his on again, off again regime of tariffs has been very disruptive to the economy.
00:29:35.440 --> 00:29:38.079
It's definitely affected businesses.
00:29:38.079 --> 00:29:41.519
We see that, and it's not good for any of us.
00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:46.720
So, no, the Congress should take back that, and it has that authority per the Constitution.
00:29:46.720 --> 00:29:48.640
They should exercise that authority.
00:29:53.200 --> 00:29:55.519
So Trump was not the first one to impose tariffs.
00:29:55.519 --> 00:29:57.920
Like tariffs have been controlled since Ronald Reagan.
00:29:57.920 --> 00:29:58.799
That's number one.
00:29:58.799 --> 00:30:01.440
I don't support tariffs when they hurt our American people.
00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:03.920
So there are tariffs that we had in place that were good.
00:30:03.920 --> 00:30:09.119
When we got milk from Canada, it helped the Wisconsin farmers with selling their milk and keeping it in the U.S.
00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:11.680
There are tariffs that benefit us.
00:30:11.680 --> 00:30:15.839
And those are the tariffs that we should be making sure are put in place and used.
00:30:15.839 --> 00:30:20.240
And then there are tariffs that destroy us and do not help us and just cause taxation on us.
00:30:20.240 --> 00:30:23.519
So it's making sure that we balance those tariffs.
00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:28.799
If we want control of that, we have to write policy taking it from them because they've had it for a long time.
00:30:28.799 --> 00:30:33.759
Obama had tariffs, Clinton had tariffs, Bush had tariffs, tariffs have been around for a long time.
00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:38.000
So if we're going to do that, you have to write policy to take it from them and give it to congressional.
00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:48.240
But if we get it back, we have to make sure that we're understanding what we need to do and what we don't need to do, because there are tariffs that do help us and help our local farmers, our soybean farmers.
00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:50.720
90% of the soybeans in this country go overseas, guys.
00:30:50.720 --> 00:30:57.200
So yeah, it's hurting us with the Chinese tariffs, but we have farmers that sell no product to the U.S.
00:30:57.200 --> 00:31:07.200
We have to make sure that when we're putting things forward, that we have that in mind because there are a lot of farmers, especially in North Carolina, that sell not a single thing to anyone in the U.S.
00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:08.880
So bringing that forward matters.
00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:12.480
If you want to take it back from the president, yes, let's write a policy to do that.
00:31:12.480 --> 00:31:15.119
But we have to make sure that we do these things.
00:31:19.839 --> 00:31:20.240
All right.
00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:22.960
This is a very appropriate question for you guys right now.
00:31:22.960 --> 00:31:26.319
How can we stop losing Democratic candidates because of gerrymandering?
00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:27.759
Gerrymandering is a problem.
00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:30.400
Gerrymandering's been around a long time.
00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:52.000
I have said that, and I'm pretty sure I'm right on this, that Democrats invented gerrymandering, but Republicans perfected it because they have computers and they are using sophisticated data to draw a line, for example, here in Wake County, that puts in this district only Republicans and puts all the Democrats into the adjacent districts.
00:31:52.000 --> 00:32:11.599
So I believe that as national policy, we should have national policy around independent redistricting commissions across every state, not just in the blue states, not just in the good government states, but in every state, because otherwise you have a race to the bottom because the red states have gerrymandering, the blue states have independent commissions.
00:32:11.599 --> 00:32:13.119
So there has to be national policy.
00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:14.799
I would definitely support that.
00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:17.279
In the meantime, gerrymandering is a reality.
00:32:17.279 --> 00:32:19.359
We're in a district that's very red.
00:32:19.359 --> 00:32:22.640
So I think what we need to do is we need to choose to win.
00:32:22.640 --> 00:32:33.680
And that's really why I put myself forward, defining a platform that I believe has the potential to appeal broadly to not just Democrats but independents and maybe three or four Republicans across the district.
00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:35.759
I believe we can win with this platform.
00:32:35.759 --> 00:32:41.119
I've also raised money that positions us to be successful with more than 2,000 people donating to my campaign.
00:32:41.119 --> 00:33:05.279
And as evidence of what I believe is a strong campaign, I've been endorsed by Senator Lisa Grafstein, Representative Sarah Crawford, former Lieutenant Governor Dennis Wicker, former Congressman David Price, the young Democrats in North Carolina, the Wake County Voter Education Coalition, and just earlier this week, the News and Observer, which said that I was the ideal candidate to take on a freshman Republican incumbent in a red district.
00:33:05.279 --> 00:33:16.240
So again, I hope that you all will consider supporting me and choose to win because I think I can carry water working with you through March and into November to win this district to turn a blue.
00:33:19.839 --> 00:33:26.559
So being from North Carolina, does anyone in this room know what the number one thing that Democrats need in the state to win?
00:33:26.559 --> 00:33:29.920
Nope.
00:33:29.920 --> 00:33:31.119
They used to be in our party.
00:33:31.119 --> 00:33:32.079
Black voters.
00:33:32.079 --> 00:33:40.559
Guys, even though we took 92% of the black women, we have lost over a hundred thousand black women in the last 10 years in our party that are no longer voted.
00:33:40.559 --> 00:33:42.079
They are no longer on register rolls.
00:33:42.079 --> 00:33:44.720
We can win these gerrymander districts with black voters.
00:33:44.720 --> 00:33:48.400
I had the highest black voter turnout in the state in 25 years in this district.
00:33:48.400 --> 00:33:50.480
It is a rural district with rural areas.
00:33:50.480 --> 00:33:52.480
We can win seats with that.
00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:55.200
You know, being endorsed by organizations matters.
00:33:55.200 --> 00:34:02.640
The Raleigh Wake Citizens Association, which is the longest tenure get out and vote group in the entire state, not just Wake County, has endorsement.
00:34:02.640 --> 00:34:03.920
Those things matter.
00:34:03.920 --> 00:34:06.640
Turning out voters who don't vote.
00:34:06.640 --> 00:34:10.719
We don't show up to black communities, guys, until September, October.
00:34:10.719 --> 00:34:11.840
And that is a fact.
00:34:11.840 --> 00:34:14.000
And they are over it and they're not showing up.
00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:16.639
And you can see that in our elections across our state.
00:34:16.639 --> 00:34:20.480
Black voters matter, but they want us there in January and February and March and April.
00:34:20.480 --> 00:34:22.960
And my entire life I've been there January, February, March, and April.
00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:24.079
I grew up in Southeast Rally.
00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:34.880
So this state is important to me in getting Democrats to win in gerrymander districts is turning out the black vote because how they gerrymandered it is they took black voters who weren't voting.
00:34:34.880 --> 00:34:36.000
And those things matter.
00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:42.880
They use the black voters that weren't voting to do it because then they could say it wasn't about color, it was about doing vote numbers.
00:34:42.880 --> 00:34:44.719
So that's how you we win those districts.
00:34:44.719 --> 00:34:48.800
And it's also a candidate who's not gonna back down from Trump and not be a bully.
00:34:48.800 --> 00:34:53.519
I am loud proud the entire time, and I will not back away from him at any point.
00:34:58.639 --> 00:34:59.039
All right.
00:34:59.039 --> 00:35:02.320
Why do you individually think you can beat Brad Knott?
00:35:02.559 --> 00:35:03.840
We got to get rid of Brad.
00:35:03.840 --> 00:35:06.559
Brad's been there for a year.
00:35:06.559 --> 00:35:10.159
If Brad stays around any longer, he's gonna get entrenched for good.
00:35:10.159 --> 00:35:12.079
We got to get him out of there right now.
00:35:12.079 --> 00:35:14.800
Like I just said, I think I can carry water for you.
00:35:14.800 --> 00:35:18.719
And if we work together, we can get him out this time.
00:35:18.719 --> 00:35:25.039
I have defined a platform that I think has the potential to appeal to a broad swath of the electorate.
00:35:25.039 --> 00:35:28.400
Democrats, independents, and at least a few Republicans.
00:35:28.400 --> 00:35:35.519
I have a rural background, but also expertise and law and healthcare that I think could be useful and will present well.
00:35:35.519 --> 00:35:48.159
And I've also managed to raise a substantial amount of money, more than $600,000 already for the campaign that positions us to have a field organization and to do other things that will allow us to be competitive down the stretch.
00:35:48.159 --> 00:35:50.559
That's just the start, but we can get more.
00:35:50.559 --> 00:35:52.559
And that's from more than 2,000 people.
00:35:52.559 --> 00:35:57.599
But there's thousands of other people that we can raise money from when they see that this district is competitive.
00:35:57.599 --> 00:36:01.920
So with the right platform and some resources, I think we can be competitive.
00:36:01.920 --> 00:36:08.400
And when you look at what's happened in some of the special elections over the last three or four months, that's the case.
00:36:08.400 --> 00:36:19.199
In the governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey, moderate candidates with affordability-oriented platforms turned districts that had gone red by wide margins just a year earlier.
00:36:19.199 --> 00:36:23.599
In a special congressional election in Tennessee, the lady moved the needle by 14 points.
00:36:23.599 --> 00:36:24.960
She didn't win, but she came close.
00:36:24.960 --> 00:36:26.960
And it was a district that looked a lot like ours.
00:36:26.960 --> 00:36:40.800
And then in the wake of Minneapolis, which I think has been a wake-up call for a lot of Americans who were asleep before then, we've seen in the recent elections in Louisiana, and especially in the state Senate race in Texas, that Democrats have moved the needle by wide margins.
00:36:40.800 --> 00:36:46.559
Again, with resources and an affordability-oriented common sense platform, I think we can do it.
00:36:46.559 --> 00:36:47.440
We'll stick it to Brad.
00:36:47.440 --> 00:36:48.639
Let's send him home this fall.
00:36:53.360 --> 00:36:55.920
So the active voter turnout last time was amazing.
00:36:55.920 --> 00:37:01.280
It being a year that's an off-year, getting those same voters back out is a lot easier when they know who they are voting for.
00:37:01.280 --> 00:37:02.480
It's the same candidate.
00:37:02.480 --> 00:37:03.440
Those things matter.
00:37:03.440 --> 00:37:09.199
Making sure that, you know, last time, Brad Knott's CD 13 chair, so you know how every Congressional District has a chair.
00:37:09.199 --> 00:37:15.119
Their chair ran two canvasses a day for the last three months because of all the groundwork that we had done.
00:37:15.119 --> 00:37:17.920
The man was like, we thought you were just going to be a name on a ballot.
00:37:17.920 --> 00:37:19.519
We didn't expect you to turn these out.
00:37:19.519 --> 00:37:26.079
They had a turnout and 88.3% of active Republican voters to beat us.
00:37:26.079 --> 00:37:29.039
That's also never happened in the Republican district ever.
00:37:29.039 --> 00:37:29.920
Those numbers matter.
00:37:29.920 --> 00:37:34.639
Beating Brad in this election is being able to turn people up because they believe in you and they show up.
00:37:34.639 --> 00:37:35.840
And those things do matter.
00:37:35.840 --> 00:37:38.719
Last time we had 7,000 people knock doors for us.
00:37:38.719 --> 00:37:40.000
That's not a small campaign.
00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.079
And that was a campaign that it's about building the grassroots and building from the ground up.
00:37:44.079 --> 00:37:48.719
It's people that are here in the state that know their neighbors that can knock their neighbors' doors and get them to show up.
00:37:48.719 --> 00:37:57.760
We know Brad Knock doesn't care, but I know one thing: if it's my name or someone else's name on the ballot, he's more afraid of my name on the ballot than he is anywhere else.
00:37:57.760 --> 00:38:03.280
Because last time we had an onstage ABC 11 debate that he canceled.
00:38:03.280 --> 00:38:04.320
Now who told him to do that?
00:38:04.320 --> 00:38:05.039
Tim Moore.
00:38:05.039 --> 00:38:06.400
I've known Tim Moore for 30 years.
00:38:06.400 --> 00:38:11.039
And Tim Moore said, I will never let that man on the stage with you because you will eat him for lunch.
00:38:11.039 --> 00:38:12.320
Those things matter.
00:38:12.320 --> 00:38:13.599
Getting people to show up.
00:38:13.599 --> 00:38:15.440
And also every everyone here knows.
00:38:15.440 --> 00:38:18.159
Do young progressive Democrats vote for conservative people?
00:38:18.159 --> 00:38:18.800
They don't.
00:38:18.800 --> 00:38:26.480
The Muslim community inside North Carolina will not vote for any person that will not stand up and vote against what's happening in Gaza.
00:38:26.480 --> 00:38:28.239
They have made that statement clear.
00:38:28.239 --> 00:38:31.519
And there are a lot of Muslims in this state.
00:38:31.519 --> 00:38:33.360
So having their vote is gonna matter.
00:38:33.360 --> 00:38:40.239
And if they're just gonna leave things blank because you won't say a genocide is happening in Gaza, then that's a lot of voters you're losing.
00:38:45.280 --> 00:38:45.760
All right.
00:38:45.760 --> 00:38:48.400
So if elected, how will you fight fascism?
00:38:48.400 --> 00:38:49.840
Voting rights being dismantled.
00:38:49.840 --> 00:38:57.519
The SAFAC that's coming out as an example: women who have taken their husbands' names don't can't show up with the document with their original birth name.
00:38:57.519 --> 00:39:00.800
Executive orders being signed, mass dice agents.
00:39:00.800 --> 00:39:03.039
That's the question I want to put forth to you guys.
00:39:03.360 --> 00:39:09.440
We need a Congress that will step up and exercise its Article I responsibility under the Constitution to be independent.
00:39:09.440 --> 00:39:10.639
It's not doing that today.
00:39:10.639 --> 00:39:14.320
Congress is supposed to be an independent, co-equal third branch of government.
00:39:14.320 --> 00:39:15.679
That's not happening today.
00:39:15.679 --> 00:39:20.400
Congress needs to exercise oversight and ensure accountability for the other branches of government.
00:39:20.400 --> 00:39:21.840
It's not doing that today.
00:39:21.840 --> 00:39:31.039
I think by doing that, we counter the fascist tendencies, oligarchic, autocratic tendencies that we see and all the developments that are happening.
00:39:31.039 --> 00:39:35.280
And there's so many ways in which Congress has a role to play in oversight.
00:39:35.280 --> 00:39:38.880
We talked about war and the war powers resolution as one before.
00:39:38.880 --> 00:39:40.159
Corruption is a huge one.
00:39:40.159 --> 00:39:45.039
The Trump family made $4 billion over 50 years or 60 years in real estate.
00:39:45.039 --> 00:39:47.840
It's made $8 billion over the last year in crypto.
00:39:47.840 --> 00:40:00.480
I think everyone's aware of the $500 million investment that the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi made in the World of Liberty Financial, and then just two months later received access to very sensitive computer chips that had not been granted before.
00:40:00.480 --> 00:40:05.840
So executive accountability is an important role for Congress.
00:40:05.840 --> 00:40:07.840
We have to step up.
00:40:07.840 --> 00:40:11.920
We have to hold them accountable for things that they're doing that are violating the law.
00:40:11.920 --> 00:40:13.760
We have to stop the malfeasance.
00:40:13.760 --> 00:40:16.719
In terms of voting rights, we talked, you mentioned the voting rights.
00:40:16.719 --> 00:40:28.559
We have to protect access to the ballot box, all the effort that they've made to fighting fraud when there's an infinitesimally small amount of actual fraud which has been detected since 1982.
00:40:28.559 --> 00:40:37.360
I think they've identified something along the lines of 140 instances of voter fraud since 1982 out of billions and billions of ballots that have been cast.
00:40:37.360 --> 00:40:39.760
So there it's a solution in search of a problem.
00:40:39.760 --> 00:40:41.039
I think we have to push back.
00:40:41.039 --> 00:40:46.400
If they can't win at the ballot box on the strength of their ideas, they need they need to get new ideas.
00:40:46.400 --> 00:40:51.199
And we need to protect access to voting because that will ensure that we have the best ideas and power.
00:40:55.760 --> 00:41:03.920
So if the save act is terrible, but if it passed, it actually hurts the Republicans three times more than it hurts us because more Republicans don't have their birth certificate.
00:41:03.920 --> 00:41:06.000
It's only one in four, and that's a known number.
00:41:06.000 --> 00:41:08.400
So that's that hurts them more.
00:41:08.400 --> 00:41:10.159
Shouldn't be passed, but it does hurt it more.
00:41:10.159 --> 00:41:13.199
But how you fight fascism is the same way we did in World War II.
00:41:13.199 --> 00:41:13.840
Same way.
00:41:13.840 --> 00:41:15.360
Guys, you have to fight it head on.
00:41:15.360 --> 00:41:19.199
You have to step up and you have to be loud, and you have to make sure that people know that you're there.
00:41:19.199 --> 00:41:19.599
Okay.
00:41:19.599 --> 00:41:21.599
How you get rid of ice, no offense.
00:41:21.599 --> 00:41:24.079
We've had snow, ice, and government ice lately.
00:41:24.079 --> 00:41:26.480
You have to make sure you stay salty and fuck ice.
00:41:26.480 --> 00:41:27.599
Plain and simple.
00:41:27.599 --> 00:41:31.199
Like it's not a thing where you get you have to go on television and say that.
00:41:31.199 --> 00:41:33.360
You can't be scared because you have Donald Trump in there.
00:41:33.360 --> 00:41:34.159
And so we're clear.
00:41:34.159 --> 00:41:37.599
Article one of that we're talking about, like getting back our powers, guys.
00:41:37.599 --> 00:41:40.480
Congress hasn't had those powers since I don't know when.
00:41:40.480 --> 00:41:43.280
They didn't use them with Obama, they didn't use them with Clinton.
00:41:43.280 --> 00:41:47.840
They don't they choose and pick what they want to do, when they want to do it, and how they want to do it.
00:41:47.840 --> 00:41:55.360
If you want to get back control, it's actually going there and writing policy and giving people who are going to do that and actually go have conversations outside.
00:41:55.360 --> 00:42:03.760
Because I'm going to tell you, one day, if you ever have time, go to DC, okay, on a Thursday or Friday night, and you will see every one of them smoking cigars and drinking liquor together.
00:42:03.760 --> 00:42:09.519
So no one can tell me they can't write policy to get things done because they go to the same bars and have the same stuff all together.
00:42:09.519 --> 00:42:15.039
So to fight fascism, you have to stand up, be loud, be proud, and say, I'm not here for this.
00:42:15.039 --> 00:42:16.000
I'm gonna be nice.
00:42:16.000 --> 00:42:17.840
There is no niceness for fascism.
00:42:17.840 --> 00:42:20.239
You gotta stand up, fight, and be like, I'm here.
00:42:20.239 --> 00:42:28.159
We're not going anywhere, and we're gonna fight you tooth and nail, and I'm not gonna back down just because you tell me to, or you send some of your crazy MAGA people after.
00:42:28.159 --> 00:42:29.840
That's how you beat fascism.
00:42:34.639 --> 00:42:36.800
All right, this is the last question.
00:42:36.800 --> 00:42:38.559
I kind of blended a little bit together.
00:42:38.559 --> 00:42:41.199
Brad Knott is going to be raising a lot of money in this state.
00:42:41.199 --> 00:42:43.679
Essentially, what are you doing to match his numbers?
00:42:43.679 --> 00:42:48.559
What type of organization are you putting together to outperform him in getting your message out?
00:42:48.559 --> 00:42:50.960
And what are you doing to reach across the aisle?
00:42:51.199 --> 00:42:57.119
So Brad Knott had raised about $850,000 or $900,000 through the end of last year.
00:42:57.119 --> 00:43:00.079
We had raised about $610,000.
00:43:00.079 --> 00:43:02.400
And that's for more than 2,000 donors.
00:43:02.400 --> 00:43:07.199
And yeah, I put some money in too, and I'll say because I really believe in this.
00:43:07.199 --> 00:43:14.800
I really, really believe in this race, and we have to do something because, dude, I want my country back, and the things that are happening are not right.
00:43:14.800 --> 00:43:20.320
So we're gonna continue to raise money that positions us to have a team with a field organization.
00:43:20.320 --> 00:43:22.320
I have built out a team.
00:43:22.320 --> 00:43:31.760
We've got people behind me who are helping to kind of do the things that need to get done from a communication, social media strategy and on the ground standpoint, we're gonna continue to do that.
00:43:31.760 --> 00:43:42.159
I think Brad Knott will raise more money than we will because remember, the Republicans, especially through crypto, are essentially in a place where they can print all the money that they want.
00:43:42.159 --> 00:43:44.800
That's an exaggeration, but not really that much.
00:43:44.800 --> 00:43:49.039
So they'll definitely have more money than we have, but we'll have enough to be competitive.
00:43:49.039 --> 00:43:53.199
And when you look at what's happened in some of these other races, the Republicans have had more.
00:43:53.199 --> 00:43:56.159
But as long as we have enough, we can be competitive.
00:43:56.159 --> 00:43:58.480
And that's my my whole uh point all along.
00:43:58.480 --> 00:44:04.079
Again, coupled with uh Platform that has the potential to appeal broadly to the electorate and resources.
00:44:04.079 --> 00:44:05.519
I think we can be competitive.
00:44:05.519 --> 00:44:09.039
So we'll continue to do everything that we can to raise money.
00:44:09.039 --> 00:44:12.400
There's lots of people that I've gone to have said, come back after the primary.
00:44:12.400 --> 00:44:16.079
So I know I've got a lot of people to hit before and after the primary.
00:44:16.079 --> 00:44:19.360
We're going to keep doing that because a rising tide will help all boats.
00:44:19.360 --> 00:44:22.239
If we can do this, we can support the county organizations as well.
00:44:22.239 --> 00:44:24.559
Those resources are helpful at a lot of levels.
00:44:24.559 --> 00:44:35.440
So I'm very committed to doing that, to supporting folks around the district in any way that I can to make them successful and in turn to allow us to be successful and turn the seat blue and get Brad Knott out of office.
00:44:40.800 --> 00:44:43.599
So I don't have 300 grand to give myself for this seat.
00:44:43.599 --> 00:44:44.400
I will say that.
00:44:44.400 --> 00:44:54.480
So in this seat, how it's going to matter is last time we organized 37 precincts across our eighth to make sure that we're turning voters out.
00:44:54.480 --> 00:44:54.719
Okay.
00:44:54.719 --> 00:44:56.880
Brad Knott's going to raise ungodly money.
00:44:56.880 --> 00:44:57.599
That's great.
00:44:57.599 --> 00:45:00.960
That's not going to help him with voters and getting voters to turn out for him.
00:45:00.960 --> 00:45:02.400
He's already made people mad.
00:45:02.400 --> 00:45:10.239
But the biggest thing for the Democratic Party is having a candidate that's going to be liked by every single organization in our own platform.
00:45:10.239 --> 00:45:13.679
The Jewish caucus, the progressive caucus, the Muslim caucus.
00:45:13.679 --> 00:45:17.360
There are caucuses who do not vote for someone in this party.
00:45:17.360 --> 00:45:19.119
The Democrats are the worst about it.
00:45:19.119 --> 00:45:21.679
We don't show up and vote a D just because they have a D.
00:45:21.679 --> 00:45:25.760
Republicans will show up and vote for an R, no matter who it is for the most part.
00:45:25.760 --> 00:45:26.719
We are not like that.
00:45:26.719 --> 00:45:28.559
We have never been like that in this state.
00:45:28.559 --> 00:45:36.639
So it's making sure that we're having the Democrat on the ballot who everyone is going to go show up and vote for from every single one of our affiliated organizations.
00:45:36.639 --> 00:45:39.360
I am first vice chair of the Democratic Mid of North Carolina.
00:45:39.360 --> 00:45:44.639
We have organized over 12 districts right now, from zero to 12 in less than a year.
00:45:44.639 --> 00:45:45.840
We have outreach.
00:45:45.840 --> 00:45:47.920
We have those things in our community.
00:45:47.920 --> 00:45:49.039
Those things matter.
00:45:49.039 --> 00:45:54.880
If you want someone that's going to show up in beat Brad and give us numbers for everyone, that's the Democrat on the ballot.
00:45:54.880 --> 00:45:56.320
That's the one that's been there from the beginning.
00:45:56.320 --> 00:45:58.320
Anita Earls needs people to turn up.
00:45:58.320 --> 00:46:01.519
I've already worked out a plan with the African-American Caucus in North Carolina.
00:46:01.519 --> 00:46:05.760
We are going to be going to every single HBCU to make sure that we're turning them out.
00:46:05.760 --> 00:46:07.039
We start that next month.
00:46:07.039 --> 00:46:13.039
Those things you do to make sure that we're turning out these voters and let them know we care about them and not just showing up in October.
00:46:13.039 --> 00:46:14.800
Knocking doors will win this race.
00:46:14.800 --> 00:46:18.000
I will knock more doors than anyone has ever knocked in a single race.
00:46:18.000 --> 00:46:18.559
I promise you.
00:46:18.559 --> 00:46:20.159
Knocked over 20,000 last time.
00:46:20.159 --> 00:46:21.840
I will get 30,000 this time.
00:46:21.840 --> 00:46:27.280
But making sure that we're getting those on the ground because at the end of the day, voters vote.
00:46:31.599 --> 00:46:35.119
So for one minute, if you can come on up, tell us how we can learn more about you.
00:46:35.360 --> 00:46:37.920
Well, I thank you all so much for the opportunity to be here tonight.
00:46:37.920 --> 00:46:42.320
I really enjoyed the chance to respond to the questions and to introduce myself to everyone here.
00:46:42.320 --> 00:46:48.559
I'll stay around and am happy to provide any additional information or answer any other questions that anyone has.
00:46:48.559 --> 00:46:52.400
But you can also go online and find information about us at paulbarringer.com.
00:46:52.400 --> 00:46:58.400
We're on Instagram at I think it's um at PaulBarringer NC, we're on TikTok, Facebook.
00:46:58.400 --> 00:46:59.599
Yeah, all those things.
00:46:59.599 --> 00:47:03.360
So yeah, anyway, you find that on the on the website, paulbaringer.com.
00:47:03.360 --> 00:47:05.519
And we would love to have your support.
00:47:05.519 --> 00:47:12.880
We especially great for your vote, but also for any support you can provide in volunteering and of course financial support is always extremely helpful.
00:47:12.880 --> 00:47:15.280
So please check us out at paulbaringer.com.
00:47:15.280 --> 00:47:20.159
Thank you so much again for the opportunity to be here, and we'll look forward to turning the district blue in the fall.
00:47:24.800 --> 00:47:28.079
So start with the website is Frank Pierce for Congress.com.
00:47:28.079 --> 00:47:32.239
How to get a know me, if you go to that page, it actually has a number that comes straight to me.
00:47:32.239 --> 00:47:33.920
I have that phone, nobody else does.
00:47:33.920 --> 00:47:38.320
I do that because if I ever can't answer your calls, even if I don't answer, I'll call you back.
00:47:38.320 --> 00:47:39.920
I don't think I should be in Congress.
00:47:39.920 --> 00:47:44.079
And so you can reach me and let me know how to get things done because that matters.
00:47:44.079 --> 00:47:47.440
People being able to reach you and tell you about things and do that.
00:47:47.440 --> 00:47:52.880
But anything you ever need to know, you can always call me, email me, Frank Pierce for Congress at Outlook.com.
00:47:52.880 --> 00:47:56.480
But go to the website, it'll tell you how I stand and where I'm from.
00:47:56.480 --> 00:47:57.199
I'm from here.
00:47:57.199 --> 00:47:58.079
I've stayed here.
00:47:58.079 --> 00:48:04.960
I've always worked to make sure to better the Democratic Party and push it forward, and we get candidates who get Democrats to show up in November.
00:48:10.559 --> 00:48:12.800
Guys, I want to thank both candidates for coming out.
00:48:12.800 --> 00:48:15.039
I want to thank all of you for coming out.
00:48:21.519 --> 00:48:24.159
And that brings this episode to a close.
00:48:24.159 --> 00:48:26.159
Again, we covered the U.S.
00:48:26.159 --> 00:48:32.800
House of Representatives for District 13, also known as Congressional District 13 race.
00:48:32.800 --> 00:48:37.679
There are three candidates, Paul Barringer, Frank Pierce, and Alexander Nicholi.
00:48:37.679 --> 00:48:45.920
If this race is on your ballot and you are registered as Democrat or unaffiliated, you will be eligible to vote for one of these candidates.
00:48:45.920 --> 00:48:55.119
As always, if you have any topics or thoughts you'd like to share, you may reach out via social media or by emailing ncdeepdive at gmail.com.
00:48:55.119 --> 00:49:00.559
Throughout next week, episodes covering the 2026 primary election will continue to drop.
00:49:00.559 --> 00:49:16.559
Each one will have candidate contact information along with their websites, general voting information, general election information in the show notes, including links to our NC Deep Dive 2026 primary election voters guide for Southern Wake County.
00:49:16.559 --> 00:49:23.280
You may find that information if you access the episodes through our website ncdeepdive.com.
00:49:23.280 --> 00:49:31.119
You can also tune in to each episode wherever you already listen to music or podcast, like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Audible.
00:49:31.119 --> 00:49:40.000
If you found value in today's episode, I'd love for you to subscribe, review, and share it with others in your life who might find the information useful.
00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:42.480
Until next time, my friends, Namaste.
00:49:42.480 --> 00:49:48.239
The love and light in me sees and honors the love and light in you.