Capps, a strong supporter of CAL, believes godly values should impact the legislative process
By L.A. Williams, Correspondent
Christian Action League
RALEIGH — Former N.C. Representative Russell Capps believes Christians should do their part to impact the culture for godly values. That’s why he first ran for N.C. House in 1994 and why he filed for election this year for open House seat District 49 in West Raleigh.
“I believe we are in the mess we are in as a nation today because, as Christians, we have not been actively involved in standing up for the Judeo-Christian values we believe in,” said Capps, 80, a member of the Board of Directors of the Christian Action League. He first represented the state’s 50th House District and then the 41st when lines were redrawn.
Serving six terms before he lost to Democrat Ty Harrell in 2006, Capps said he is thankful for the opportunities he had almost every day to “speak up for our values, to attempt to make godly values a goal of legislative actions,” and he would love to do so again, especially with the current makeup of the General Assembly.
“We have seen more accomplished to return to right values than I remember in a long time,” he said. “I feel that my varied experience and my desire to impact our culture for good and for God is the kind of leadership that we need to bolster and to continue in the direction that those now serving have begun.”
President of the Wake County Taxpayers Association, Capps said he never voted for a single tax increase during his six-term tenure. He said he never considered it a failure if legislation he was working on stalled or hit a roadblock as long as he knew his was the right position to take.
“I always try to remember that standing for the right is noticed whether we see evidence of it immediately or not,” he said.
Capps said the impact for good that the Christian Action League has had in the legislative process is the “best kept secret of our day.”
“Without the very effective leadership of the Rev. Mark Creech there in the halls of the Assembly every day, who can possible know how far down the wrong paths we would have gone,” he said.
The Rev. Creech called Capps a “dedicated and diligent public servant with a heart for the Lord and for the people of his district.”
A lifetime conservative activist, Capps has a bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University and attended Southeastern Baptist Seminary. He worked in radio and television as an announcer, reporter and anchor for 17 years and spent 18 years in various capacities with Wake County Government including serving as the county’s first Planning Director and later as Emergency Management Director, Fire Marshal and Emergency Medical Director. For six years, he worked as Natural Hazards Planner with the N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety. He also helped found Fuller Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh.
“I have quite a varied expanse of experience in public and government activities over the years,” Capps said. “All these opportunities came to me as God opened doors without my seeking most of them.”
Capps will face Raleigh neurosurgeon Dr. Jim Fulghum in a Republican primary for District 49. Democrat Keith Karlsson has also filed for the seat. Filing continues until Feb. 29.