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Roger Sharpe, Democratic candidate for the 5th-District U.S. House of Representatives seat, challenged incumbent U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-Banner Elk, to a debate during a campaign stop in Boone Thursday.
The stop was part of a swing through the 12 counties in the district, in which Sharpe repeated the call for a debate and criticized Foxx’s voting record, saying, “I am running because my opponent’s voting record proves that she is out of touch with the needs and values of working families in Northwest North Carolina.”
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Democratic 5th District congressional nominee Roger Sharpe address an audience at the Jones House Thursday.
Photo by Scott Nicholson
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Sharpe criticized yard signs of his opponents that read “Foxx Country.” “Well, let me tell you about Foxx Country,” he said.
“In Foxx Country, ‘Big Oil’ executives rake in record profits while hourly wage earners struggle to afford enough gas to get to work and enough food to feed their families. In Foxx Country, funding for public education and higher learning is slashed while our students get left behind.”
Sharpe said Halliburton gets “billions of dollars” in government aid while soldiers have to buy their own body armor, and that victims of Hurricane Katrina get nothing but “under funded promises.”
He also claimed pharmaceutical companies write health care legislation while senior citizens can’t afford prescription medicine and 45 million Americans were without health insurance.
Sharpe urged the crowd to “take the country back” in the coming election.
“In our America,” he said, “we honor the sacrifice of those serving overseas by providing them with life-saving equipment and we take care of our neighbors here at home when they are in need.”
Sharpe criticized Foxx for what he called an alignment with Pres. George W. Bush’s policies. “The choice of what we want to leave to our children and our future generations from the election couldn’t be clearer,” he said.
“A rubber stamp for the failed policies of the Bush Administration or our positive vision of a stronger America?”
He challenged Foxx to explain her voting record and asked whether she stood for the people or for “the hundreds of wealthy political action committees who contributed to her campaign.”
In calling for a debate, he said Foxx should explain why she was disconnected with the people and said he would “debate any time, anywhere.”
Sharpe addressed a crowd of two dozen people, with N.C. House of Representatives candidate Cullie Tarleton opening the event, which was held at the Jones House in downtown Boone.
Tarleton also criticized his incumbent opponent, N.C. Rep. Gene Wilson, R-Boone.
Other Democratic candidates on hand were county commissioner candidates Billy Ralph Winkler and Mary Moretz. The election is Nov. 7.
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