SEANC targets Holliman
From a story posted online this afternoon:
RALEIGH — Rep. Hugh Holliman’s role in rewriting the state’s health plan makes him “part of the problem,” according to an employee group running radio ads criticizing the Lexington Democrat.The two-year, $675 -million bailout raises deductibles and copays as well as increases the cost for dependent coverage. It also cuts benefits for those who are overweight or smoke. And while it costs taxpayers, it is not as expensive as other potential fixes to the plan.
The ad attacking Holliman is sponsored by SEANC, the State Employees Association of North Carolina, a 55,000-member, union-affiliated group that frequently gets involved in political campaigns and lobbies the legislature.
“Hugh Holliman has his priorities wrong,” says the SEANC ad, airing on WZTK-FM and WSJS-AM in the High Point and Greensboro markets. “He’s part of the problem when he needs to be part of the solution. Maybe it’s time for new leadership in the North Carolina legislature.”
Click here for the full story, including this from Holliman:
“I think it’s fair to say I really don’t appreciate that (the ad) but they’re certainly welcome to do what they think they need to do,” Holliman said. “I think SEANC needs to discover they’re in the real world... and we don’t have money to just throw around.”
Click here to listen to the ad.
Worth noting: SEANC also targeted Rep. Margaret Dickson with a radio ad, as you can read in this release.(PDF)
As I point out in the story, Holliman is really part of a two-headed beast that oversees the state health plan. The other is Sen. Tony Rand, the majority leader in the Senate.
I asked SEANCE why they were going after Holliman and not Rand. The reply came back from SEANC political director Kevin LeCount that Rand's time may come. From the story:
“Everything we say in the ad about Rep. Holliman, we would be happy to make the same assertions about Rand,” LeCount said. “It’s not because we’re not going to talk about Rand.”
However, I think it's worth nothing that Holliman had a relatively close General Election in 2008, winning by 5 percentage points in what could be a swing district. Meanwhile Rand was unopposed and in a district carried handily by Democrats at all levels of the ballot.
It would not be unreasonable to speculate that SEANC is spending its ammunition where it thinks the impact is more likely to be noticed.
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