Early voting began last Thursday, Oct. 20. According to the Macon County Board of Elections, 1,904 people had voted as of Tuesday morning.
Early voting will continue through Saturday, Nov. 5. Voting is being held at the Community Building in Franklin and the Highlands Civic Center. Hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays (Oct. 29 and Nov. 5).
Nov. 1 is the last day to request an absentee ballot by mail. Completed absentee by mail ballots must be returned to the Board of Elections by Election Day, Nov. 8.
For more information, contact the Macon County Board of Elections at 828-349-2034 or maconnc.org/board-of-elections.
State Senate District 50
Incumbent Kevin Corbin (Republican) of Macon County is running for a second term in the state Senate and faces Democratic challenger Karen Burnette McCracken of Almond. District 50 includes Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties.
Both candidates say they will continue to work to make sure leaders in Raleigh realize Western North Carolina does not end in Asheville. McCracken said she was speaking to someone recently who said they were planning an event in Western North Carolina; the event was in Forest City.
“I will call people out on that,” she said. She said she wants to bring people to Western North Carolina to give them experiential knowledge and acknowledges her opponent, Corbin, has invited people from state government to visit the district. “They need to experience the culture first-hand,” she said.
Corbin said he refers to the district as “far Western North Carolina.”
“Every opportunity I have in committee or on the floor, I let people know we are out here,” he said. He invites leaders from the legislature and state government to the area. “Part of it is letting them see where we live. We live in a very beautiful, but very rural area,” he said. “We’re not the same as Raleigh, or Charlotte, or even Asheville. We’re different people, we’re a different region and our needs are different.”
The Franklin Press asked each candidate to complete a candidate profile including three questions: Why are you running? What are the top three issues facing State Senate District 50? What do you want voters to know about you? Their responses to those questions are below in italics. Additionally, each candidate sat for an in-person interview with the Press.
Kevin Corbin
Prior to being elected to the state Senate in 2020, Corbin previously served in the state House of Representatives from 2016-2020. Before getting involved in state politics, he served six years on the Macon County Board of Commissioners and 20 years on the Macon County Board of Education.
Corbin currently serves on the following committees in the legislature: Appropriations on Education/Higher Education, Commerce and Insurance, Education/Higher Education and State and Local Government. He said with his seniority he may have the opportunity for a leadership position on some of those committees.
Why are you running?
Western N.C. needs the best, most experienced representation possible. My experience allows me to knowledgably serve my constituents, knowing who to contact for constituent service. I have gotten over 2,500 calls for help in my six years in the General Assembly and we have been able to solve 95% of issues.
“Community service is important to me,” Corbin said in his interview. He said he brings a “wealth of experience” to the office and knowing how to navigate the “tricky waters in state government” is beneficial.
What are the top three issues facing State Senate District 50?
1. Medicaid Expansion is needed in N.C. to cover approximately 600,000 North Carolinians that fall in the coverage gap where they receive no tax credit for a private individual plan or do not get health insurance from work. I work in the insurance industry and see firsthand the people who fall in that gap. Most of them are hardworking North Carolinians that just fall under the income requirements.
North Carolina is one of 12 states that has not expanded Medicaid. Corbin was one of the first Republicans to come out in support of Medicaid expansion. A bill for expansion passed the Senate during the last legislative session. However, the sticking point in the House concerns the certificate of need for hospitals and health care policy reforms.
Corbin says it’s hard enough to get consensus in a small committee, and even harder when you’re talking about the 170 people in the state legislature. However, he said they have been working in the off-season and they may have come to an agreement on a Medicaid expansion proposal.
“I think it will pass in the next session,” he said. “It will be one of the first things we take up.”
2. Broadband expansion in rural N.C. is paramount. I have been working very hard on this issue and we have made monumental gains. In the past three months we have gotten over $25 million in grants to my Senate district including every single county. That money is coming from the GREAT grants which I worked to fund and have worked to get the grants in for our counties in the west.
In March, Corbin hosted a meeting at Holly Springs Baptist Church so leaders from the district could learn about the money available for broadband expansion. “I wanted my district to be ready,” he said.
Corbin said it’s important that the state continue to provide funding for the GREAT grants and other programs designed to improve accessibility to internet service.
With more than $25 million coming to the 50th District, that is more than was allocated for the entire state in prior years. Previously the state budgeted $15 million for GREAT grants each year, but this year that was increased to $350 million.
3. The third issue is very broad but extremely important – constituent service.
“I make myself accessible,” Corbin said, adding that he regularly shares his phone number with people.
He has instructed the people who manage his office in Raleigh “to drop everything” if a constituent calls and try to take care of them.
“Many times, we are the only contact they have at the state level,” Corbin said. And, although some of the calls that come into his office are about concerns that cannot be dealt with at the state level, they try to point people in the right direction to get the help they need.
What do you want voters to know about you?
In both my years in the N.C. Senate I was ranked in the top 10 senators in N.C. by the group NC Free. NC Free is non-partisan and has over 300 members from business groups, civic groups, government advocates, etc. They are a broad group of people that represent many interests across the political and economic spectrum in N.C.
They use a very objective point system based on votes taken and actual work accomplished. There is a subjective part of the evaluation that allows participants to grade Senators based on their view of how effective that senator is with committee work, on the floor of the Senate and working with other legislators. While in the NC House I was also ranked in the top 10.
“People should vote for the person they think will do the best job for the district,” Corbin said.
“When people call me, I don’t consider projects or people Democrats or Republicans. I consider it Western North Carolina, that’s who I work for. To me it’s about people, not politics; I don’t play that game.”
Karen McCracken
Karen McCracken is making her first run for public office, but said she is not unfamiliar with parliamentary procedure and the legislative process. She was elected to student council in seventh and eighth grade (1992-94) and attended American Legion’s Girls’ State Legislative Experience in 1997. She has served on several boards and committees with Woman’s Missionary Union, South West Area Resort Ministries and the Tuckaseigee Baptist Association.
Why are you running?
“Don’t curse the darkness but light a candle.” Many of us are concerned about the direction our state is headed, so I’m lighting a candle. Extremists are using fear to divide us, but it’s by working together that we protect our freedom to thrive. Stop extremists from controlling our lives.
“People told me I could make a difference,” she said during her interview with The Franklin Press.
McCracken said through her job as an account executive with Five Forty Broadcasting she has the opportunity to meet with people throughout the region and learn about their needs and the issues important to them. “We don’t need to wait for people to come to us, we need to be proactive.”
If elected, McCracken said she would like to serve on the Justice and Public Safety committee in the legislature. For the past 10 years she has volunteered with a ministry that helps women in jail. While she feels programs in the jails are beneficial, that help must extend beyond the jail. She knows many of the women she works with don’t have a support network and don’t have anywhere to go when they get out, so they often end up back at the drug dealer’s house.
“We’ve got to have people and places and things for them to do,” she said. “We’ve got to get rid of the revolving door.”
She said inmates’ well-being and mental health must also be addressed to give them hope for a future outside of jail.
What are the top three issues facing State Senate District 50?
1. Expansion (and improving access to quality, affordable health care): The General Assembly is playing Whack-a-Mole with Medicaid Expansion. The House passed a bill and then the Senate. The House passed another. However, they haven’t agreed on one to send to the Governor.
“I absolutely support Medicaid expansion,” McCracken said. “We need to improve our health care system.”
McCracken said she wants to learn what the hold-up is on getting a bill passed and work with others to bring change. “Let’s get a bill passed and send it to the governor,” she said.
2. Education: Teachers are leaving faster than they are being recruited. Teachers aren’t staying 20-30 years, either. Meanwhile, teachers and students are struggling to make do with limited resources.
McCracken said it concerns her that teachers spend all day teaching then have to pull extra duty such as driving a bus. “That’s a lot on the teachers,” she said.
She wants to learn more about what the requirements are for bus drivers and see if those are positions high school students could help fill.
She also wants to see a clearly defined path for teacher advancement including bonuses for continuing education and raises for those with advanced degrees. She said salaries should not be capped and teachers should continue getting raises each year.
McCracken said she would support the Leandro Action Plan to provide students a “sound basic education.”
3. Inflation: Corporate greed has spiked the inflation rate. Families who thought they were getting ahead find themselves deciding where they can cut back. Rather than making laws to control people, let’s work to protect our freedom to thrive. When you work hard and act responsibly, you deserve a shot at your version of the American Dream.
McCracken said it is important to support local businesses. “What are we doing to support local business owners so they can compete?” she said. “We need to make sure we are not overburdening our small businesses and make sure small independent business owners have a shot to compete.”
To help fill the employment needs of local businesses she suggests partnerships with high schools and community colleges to provide the training people need for skilled trades. And she wants to streamline the process to make it faster and easier for people to enter the workforce. She added though that it’s important to make sure what the schools or community colleges are teaching will be accepted by certification boards.
She said Medicaid expansion would result in a healthier workforce and better access to elder care and childcare would allow more people to enter the workforce.
“You’ve got to have options. This is America, you’ve got to have options,” she said.
What do you want voters to know about you?
I hold dear to the mountain values of my ancestors. We believe in working hard and looking out for each other. Rather than kicking people when they’re down, we lend a hand. Together, we can make life better for the people of WNC and beyond.
McCracken said she is not a talker. “Naturally, I’m more of a listener. I let other people talk and share. When elected, with my fellow Congress people to listen to their ideas,” she said. “It’s not so much about my agenda. Let’s find common ground, let’s find solutions.”
She said she wants feedback from people. “I want to do the best job I can.”
McCracken said there are two choices in the district race: Those who want a traditional, career politician or those who want something new and different. “I’m doing things differently, so if you want different results, you need different tactics.”