Candidates for state and local office in Guilford County participated in a forum Tuesday night in Greensboro, just ahead of the start of early voting. WFDD’s April Laissle attended and spoke with Morning Edition Host Robin Lambert about the key takeaways.
Interview Highlights
On how taxes dominated the discussion:
"The tax-related constitutional amendments seemed to be top of mind for many of the candidates who participated. There are two on the fall ballot: one would cap the state income tax rate, and the other would limit local property tax increases. The statewide candidates were asked to give a thumbs up or thumbs down vote on those without offering any comments, and they all fell along party lines."
On a revealing moment involving the state budget:
"The moderator very dramatically dropped the 600-page state budget on the table and asked candidates whether they'd read it. No one outright said they had, and a few actually admitted they hadn't. Several said that legislators are given less than a day to read this thick document, and they have to rely on staff members to summarize important points."
On voters' reactions to the forum:
"Many of them said they were surprised by how civil the discussion was. I think we have gotten used to really heated political discourse on the national level, and this was kind of the opposite of that. No one interrupted each other and there was no name-calling or big outbursts."