iVoteValues: Democrat Candidates talk about religion's role

August 27, 2004
By Scott Nicholson, Watauga Democrat

Local politicians got to present a different side of themselves at an iVoteValues rally held at Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Boone Tuesday.

The iVoteValues bus is part of a campaign to educate voters on where politicians stand on issues the campaign views as important. Many of the issues are related to Christian morals.

The iVoteValues campaign was developed by “For Faith & Family,” an effort of The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Tuesday’s event gave the candidates a platform to espouse their positions, often framed by their religious backgrounds.

Cullie Tarleton, Democratic candidate for the N.C. House of Representatives, said he was born and raised on a farm in Union County.

He said his mother taught him “the difference between right and wrong” and said he was baptized in a small farm pond.

He is an elder in Rumple Memorial Presbyterian Church in Blowing Rock.

“Values and beliefs serve as a guide not only in how we serve the community but also in how we treat each other,” Tarleton said.

He listed jobs, education, and health care as important issues, and said if he was elected, he would be a strong supporter of Appalachian State University, which he called a major economic force.

He said neither the university nor the region received a “fair shake” from the General Assembly, and said if he were elected he would make his values count as a voice for the county.

“Every day I’m in there, I’ll be fighting for what’s best and what’s right for this part of North Carolina,” he said.
Winston Kinsey, Democratic candidate for the 5th District county commission seat, said he lived in Stony Fork and was a 35-year resident. He said he came from a traditional Christian background as a Southern Baptist and is a Sunday school teacher.

“The values I learned in church have guided me through to the present,” he said.

Kinsey said in matters of religion and philosophy, each person must decide what to live by, and said growing up during the Cold War had taught him the importance of the separation of church and state. Kinsey said God’s love was unconditional and embraced different creeds, races, religions and political parties. He said issues at the forefront were recruiting new and cleaner industries, preserving the environment, and supporting education.

Joe Phillips, 3rd District candidate for county commissioner, said he has lived on a farm in western Watauga County for most of his 64 years.

He has been a deacon of Union Baptist Church for 18 years, and said his “door is always open” and his phone number was in the book, and invited people to call if they had any questions or concerns.

James Coffey, current chair of the commissioners and running for re-election for the 2nd District seat, said the county has accomplished a lot while he served with the commission in the past 14 years. He said the county began renovating schools in 1992 and built two new ones, and said the county’s per-student funding of public schools was near the top among counties in the state.

He said his position has been “Let’s not spend too much money in administration, let’s put it in the classrooms where it needs to be.”

Coffey, a Republican, said the county had completed several major projects while still maintaining the lowest tax rate in the state, citing the new library, human services building, health department, community college and a jail facility that’s currently under construction. He said it wasn’t the commissioners’ money to spend, but the taxpayers’ money that the commissioners were watching out for.

Billy Ralph Winkler, Democratic candidate for the second district county commission seat, said he was a sinner but he tried to “a little more worthy every day.”

He said he considered himself “one of the most blessed people in the world” because he was able to do what he loved with people he loved by teaching music in Watauga schools and serving as interim music director at First Baptist Church.

“Sometimes the voice of man tries to drown out the voice of God,” Winkler said, adding that his values drove him to his views. He said he was “a huge supporter of public education” and favored protecting the environment.

“Everyone here is here for the same reason,” he said. “We all want to do the right thing.”

Twenty-fourth District attorney Jerry Wilson spoke on behalf of board of education candidate Toby Oliver, saying Oliver was born and raised here and was educated in the local school system. One of Oliver’s main reasons for running is his son, and he believes the school board is ready for some “younger blood.”

Oliver believes school staff’s morale is low and said he would push for more supplements and support.

Joanne Townsend, Republican candidate for register of deeds, said she was fortunate to be unopposed. She has served in office as a deputy register of deeds, and said every person in Watauga County will be touched by her office, which records land, marriage, birth and death records. She is church secretary at Poplar Grove Baptist Church.

Greg Horne, candidate for district court judge, said he was a Watauga resident who had served as a prosecutor for four years and had been in private practice as a lawyer for five years.

Horne said voters shouldn’t listen to political advertising, but should ask officials in the law enforcement and court system what they thought of him.

Horne said the laws that are written should apply equally to all people, and said there was a problem when judges used the bench to legislate based on personal agendas or beliefs. “That’s not the role of a judge,” he said.

State Sen. Virginia Foxx, Republican candidate for the 5th District congressional seat, said it’s “extremely important for people of faith, and especially Christians, to be involved in the political process.”

She said the country was going in the wrong direction because too many Christians have not been involved and said those values were needed to maintain the moral underpinnings of the country.

Foxx described her religious upbringing as “eclectic,” having been baptized as a Catholic, then attending a Baptist church as a child, only to return to the Catholic church later while also attending Baptist services in the past year. She said if the country’s politicians did away with their beliefs, then anarchy would result, and said the Ten Commandments were good principles by which people should be led.

In addition to Wilson, other politicians in attendance were county commissioners Keith Honeycutt and David Blust, Sheriff Mark Shook, and Superior Court Judge Phillip Ginn.