News-Record.com

(Blogger's Note: You will find several audio files from each candidate at the end of this post, along with some biographical information on each. We will have further coverage of this race, including Q+As on more issues not represented here, in the paper.)

If you are going to talk about battle-ground elections in and around Guilford County, then you need to be chatting about House District 57. It is a central-Greensboro seat currently occupied by Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Democrat, who is challenged by Republican and political newcomer Ron Styers.

Two years ago, Harrison beat Rep. Joanne Bowie, a longtime Republican legislator. There are some analysts who chalked that up to tinkering with the district boundaries by Democratic leaders during the last round of redistricting. Indeed, the core of the district shares many precincts in common with Guilford County Commissioner District 6, itself a Democratic stronghold.

But there are other factors that point to a more competitive race. Although voter registration favors Democrats, in a year that could produce spotty voter turnout observers on both sides say that the district is close enough to be competitive.

And Harrison is just completing her first term in the legislature, having made a reputation as one of the more progressive-liberal members of the Democratic caucus. That gives her neither the inertia of a long-time legislator who voters are loath to boot nor the comfort zone of more centrists or so-called “business” Democrats who draw both yellow-dog Democrats as well as some Republican votes.

“There are a lot of (districts) that are vulnerable this time, including that seat,” said Bill Peaslee, the state Republican Party’s chief of staff. “She’s been kind of wishy-washy on that whole Jim Black thing.”

That “Jim Black thing,” is the ongoing saga regarding embattled House Speaker Jim Black, a Mecklenburg County Democrat Republicans say wields power in a heavy-handed way on behalf of special interests.

“Yes, it’s been a little bit of an albatross for us but I think that Jim Black is in Jim Black’s district,” Harrison said during a recent interview. “I think the voters out here can make that distinction.”

Still, Styers has criticized Harrison for taking large amounts of money from the Democratic caucus, much of which was raised by Black. The two disagree on the amount, although Harrison said she is working to return all of it to the party. And she points out that she was one of the few Democrats to call for Black to step aside from his leadership post while various state and federal investigations proceeded.

Peaslee said that Harrison was merely “hedging her bets,” and should have made a motion on the House floor to remove Black. No Republican made such a motion during the session.

On substantive issues, Harrison and Styers share some similarities. Both oppose incentives as a way to lure corporations to the state. Both supported last year’s rise in the minimum wage but say they would need more information before supporting a similar hike. Both say more needs to be done in terms of ethics and lobbying reform during the next session.

Differences include their take on charter schools, publicly funded but privately run K-12 institutions. Styers is a passionate advocate of charters and said that the state should lift the 100-school cap now imposed by North Carolina. Harrison called them as “failed experiment here in Guilford County” and says the state has not seen enough evidence that charters are effective to raise the cap. She said that money is better spent on improving public education, a notion that prompted Styers to say, “The answer is not to keep putting more money into a black hole.”

Tactically, Harrison has been the far more prolific fund raiser. Styers says he will raise more money before the campaign is over and is still waiting to hear if and how much the state party will help with his push down the home stretch.

Audio Links
The following audio was recorded during sit-down interviews in mid-September. I met Styers at his office in Kernersville, Harrison at her home in Greensboro.

• A key criticism that Styers has leveled at Harrison is that she spent too much time concerned with issues not directly affecting Guilford County.
  Click here for Styers’ stake
  Click here to listen to Harrison respond.
  
• Immigration has emerged as an influential issue in state House races. Earlier this year, the debate erupted when legislators, including Harrison, proposed giving in-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants.
  Click here to listen to Harrison talk about the in-state tuition debate.
  Click here to listen to Harrison talk more generally about immigration.
  Click here to listen to Styers’ take on immigration, including his take on the in-state tuition matter.
  
• One of the biggest variables in the fall election is what effect the stories surrounding embattled House Speaker Jim Black will have.
  Click here to listen to Harrison’s take.
  Click here to listen to Styers’ take.

About the candidates
Mary Price “Pricey” Taylor Harrison
Party: Democrat
Age: 48
Address: Ridgeway Drive, Greensboro
Family: Widowed, no children.
Education: High School, Greensboro Day School; Bachelor’s degree, Duke University; law degree, UNC-Chapel Hill
Professional: Former communications law attorney
Political experience: First term House member.
Civic leadership: Vice Present of the Julian Price Family Foundation; board member, Piedmont Land Conservancy; board member, N.C. Environmental Defense; board member, Carolina Environmental Program for UNC-Chapel Hill.
Website: www.priceyharrison.com

Ron Styers
Party: Republican
Age: 46
Address: Sanderling Place, Greensboro
Family: two children
Education: High School, Grimsley High School; Bachelors in Broadcast Journalism, University of South Carolina.
Professional: Co-owner, Specialty National, a Kernersville cleaning products maker.
Political experience: none.
Civic leadership: none.
Website: none.