By L.A. Williams & M.H. Cavanaugh
Christian Action League
March 5, 2020
Tar Heel voters gave Joe Biden quite the gift in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. The former vice president walked away from North Carolina with another 110 delegates in his quest for the White House.
Despite Biden’s Super Tuesday sweep of Virginia, North Carolina, and Alabama on the heels of his win in South Carolina, the Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League, warns that voter support for socialist Bernie Sanders (24 percent in N.C.) should not be overlooked.
“We should be very concerned about the way socialism is rising with favor, especially among our youth,” Creech said. “Although popular progressive clergy like Rev. William Barber II tout socialism, it’s anything but Christian. It’s purely a materialistic approach to life, which does not make God a part of the equation. It embraces envy and theft as virtue. It concentrates everything into the collective, where the individual is lost in the mass mind and the mass will. It is ultimately about coercion.”
“If this country adopts socialism, there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth among the masses,” he added.
While several Democratic presidential candidates were re-examining their options — Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Mike Bloomberg, and Elizabeth Warren have all suspended their campaigns this week — and while political pundits were tracking trends, the Rev. Creech pointed out some victories for conservatives as well as some lessons to be learned from North Carolina’s primary.
Thom Tillis Prevails and Will Face Cal Cunningham
Among the victories: U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, whose Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act was mentioned in President Trump’s State of the Union address, had no trouble keeping the GOP nomination. He garnered 78 percent of the vote against three opponents who evenly split the remainder. Tillis will face Democrat Cal Cunningham in November. The race is likely to be a close one.
Dan Forest will Square-off with Gov. Roy Cooper
Similarly, Dan Forest, North Carolina’s lieutenant governor since 2012, handily defeated his opponent, Holly Grange, on the way to the Governor’s race.
Creech called Forest, who was a successful architect before his entry into politics, “the first and only politician I have ever gushed over.”
“He’s the real deal — an excellent statesman and also a brother in Christ,” Creech said. “When others are cowering or capitulating, Forest is still standing for what’s right.”
The son of retired U.S. Congresswoman Sue Myrick, Forest, has called for an expanded state-funded school voucher program and has highlighted his strong pro-life stance.
About his run for Governor, he said during a rally for the born-alive abortion bill that Cooper vetoed: “I can’t wait for the day to come when we don’t have to do this anymore, when we don’t have to have any more rallies for life.” Creech said he is praying for Forest’s candidacy.
“I not only believe that he will beat Roy Cooper in November, but I think he has the potential to become an iconic Governor for North Carolina,” he said.
Mark Robinson Has a Surprise Win
The surprise win of Super Tuesday in North Carolina was, undoubtedly, Republican Mark Robinson’s victory over eight other candidates running for Lieutenant Governor. Robinson handily won the primary and will not need to participate in any run-offs. He beat incredible odds for the nomination by besting candidates, who, unlike himself, had electoral experience and lots of money. Robinson was mostly a no-name until recently when he gave a fiery speech in Greensboro for gun rights that went viral on the internet. His Democratic opponent in the general election will either be Rep. Yvonne Holly or Sen. Terry Van Duyn, who face a run-off.
Creech said Robinson seems to possess the spirit of Trump. “He has Moxy and conviction and seems to have a clear vision of what he wants to do with the seat of Lieutenant Governor. I think this is a race to watch,” he said. “Robinson seems to display powerful leadership qualities.”
Mark Hollo Suffers a Surprise Defeat
Creech also urged conservative evangelical voters to take a lesson from Tuesday’s primary and get out the vote.
He said the surprise defeat of former House member Mark Hollo for the District 42 Senate seat should be a wake-up call.
Hollo, who was endorsed by N.C. Right to Life, and is a supporter of the Second Amendment and Voter ID laws, lost the primary to Dean Proctor, a former executive of Proctor Wholesale /United Beverages (a beer distributor).
Creech had written a letter to 16 pastors in District 42, urging support for Hollo, especially in light of anticipated bills that would weaken the state’s alcohol laws.
“During the last session of the N.C. General Assembly, lawmakers made some egregious reforms to our ABC laws. I’m sure that more are going to be proposed in 2021. We beat back some of those bad alcohol initiatives, while others got through. How well we can do next year will be determined by who you send to Raleigh,” Creech wrote.
He further wrote that he wanted to make it clear that Hollo was not only someone who could be trusted with alcohol issues, but someone who could be trusted with even weightier matters important to evangelical Christians.
Hollo resoundingly won in Alexander County, where the 16 pastors were located, but Catawba County put his opponent over the top. “I don’t mean to indict anyone. But I question whether the churches in Catawba County were engaged in the race,” said Creech.
Take Nothing for Granted
“His defeat was a surprise that proves conservative evangelicals can never take anything for granted when it comes to an election,” Creech said. “Although I think Trump is likely to win re-election in November, no conservative evangelical should take anything for granted. Churches ought to have voter registration drives; citizen Christians need to volunteer to help with his campaign and that of other good candidates. Most importantly, we should be praying. The stakes are exceedingly high, and the results of the general election will likely affect matters in this country for the next 30 years or more.”
For further election results, go to this link at the North Carolina Board of Elections: https://er.ncsbe.gov/
