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Cal Cunningham,
former State Senator and potential Democratic challenger to Richard Burr in
2010, will be guest speaker at the August meeting of the Watauga County
Democratic Executive Committee.
Cunningham did two
tours of active duty in Iraq
as an Army Reservist in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, during which he earned
the Bronze Star and the General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award.
Cunningham was both
Student Body President and, later, Chief Justice of the Student Supreme Court
at UNC-Chapel Hill, from which he also earned his law degree. He holds as well a
Master of Science from the London School of Economics.
In 2000, Cunningham
won a highly contested election to
represent Davidson, Rowan and Iredell counties in the N.C. Senate, becoming the
youngest member of the N.C. Legislature. In the Senate, he served as Vice
Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and on the Education Appropriations,
Policy and Joint Oversight Committees. Cunningham was known for his work on the
patient’s bill of rights, the clean smokestacks bill, class size reductions,
and preservation of farmland.
Since returning from
his tours of duty in Iraq,
Cunningham has worked as an attorney with Kilpatrick Stockton, LLP in Winston-Salem.
He is meeting with
voters across the state, assessing a possible primary run for U.S. Senate in
2010, when Senator Burr will be up for reelection. Other potential Democratic candidates
include attorney Kenneth Lewis, who was a fundraiser for President Obama, and
N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall.
The Watauga Democratic Executive Committee will meet
at 7 p.m., August 11, in the Boone Town Council Chambers on Blowing Rock Road. The meeting is open to
registered Democrats and their guests.
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