On Sept. 17, the Washington, D.C.-based Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee announced the first 20 state legislative races that grass-roots activists consider the most essential and significant this fall. North Carolina Senate District 19 was one of two North Carolina districts to make the inaugural list.

“North Carolina is a critical redistricting state where Democrats are fighting to retain legislative majorities this year,” said DLCC’s Executive Director Michael Sargeant in a press release. The stakes are high since only about a dozen state Senate seats held by Democrats are competitive.

Democrats have reason to worry. The latest Public Policy Polling data show Republicans hold a 50-42 advantage over Democrats on a generic legislative ballot and Republican voters are more energized about the election than are Democrats. Should that margin hold, the GOP would gain control of the Legislature for the first time in 112 years.

N.C. Senate District 19, considered a swing district, comprises all of Bladen County and part of Cumberland County.

In January 2010, Margaret Dickson, D-Cumberland, who had served nearly four terms in the N.C. House, was appointed to fill this seat after former Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, resigned to chair the state’s Post-Release and Parole Commission. Rand’s appointment to the commission sparked controversy because of allegations about possible conflicts of interest and questions about his past business dealings.

Dickson’s challenger is Republican Wesley Meredith, a Fayetteville city councilman and owner of a landscaping and general contracting company. In September, the state Democratic Party filed a complaint on Dickson’s behalf with the state Board of Elections against Meredith’s company and his Senate campaign, accusing Meredith of illegally coordinating advertising to promote his Senate campaign.

Meredith denies any wrongdoing and says he might file a defamation lawsuit if Dickson doesn’t apologize for making false statements. The state Republican Party also has indicated it might file suit on Meredith’s behalf.

Carolina Journal contacted both candidates for interviews. Repeated attempts to schedule a phone interview with Dickson were unsuccessful, but CJ did speak with Meredith.

Different Priorities

Meredith, serving his third term on the Fayetteville City Council, says his door-to-door canvassing of the district shows that people are most concerned about jobs. “So many people are unemployed and underemployed. A lot of people I meet ask for a job,” Meredith said.

As for how he would deal with the state’s looming $3.2 billion budget shortfall in 2011, “I would not raise taxes and I would work at cutting unfunded mandates,” Meredith said, “and I certainly would not vote to tax services. As a Fayetteville city councilman, I’ve never voted for a tax increase at the city level.”

Touting his experience as an entrepreneur, Meredith said politicians need to understand “there’s not an endless supply of money,” and the state’s budget should be balanced by cutting “inside state government, not by raising taxes. The people in charge must be accountable for their decisions.”

Meredith fully supports the state GOP’s 10-point plan, which includes exempting North Carolina from the federal health care law mandate, reducing small business regulatory burdens, and passing a constitutional amendment to prohibit the state from condemning land solely for private economic development.

Dickson’s campaign website says “protecting teachers and the classroom remains my first priority for investing your state dollars.” As for job creation, Dickson says small businesses “make North Carolina strong, not multi-national corporations whose risks and excesses landed us in our current economic downturn.”

In September, the Civitas Institute published its 2010 Conservative Rankings, rating each state legislator on a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 as “not conservative at all” and 100 as “about as conservative as you can get.”

Dickson received a score of 0, placing her in a 4-way tie for least conservative in the N.C. Senate. The longer Dickson serves as a legislator, the more liberal she has become. While in the House, she received a score of 2.0 in 2009 and 13.0 in 2008.

Dickson voted for HB 813 — a bill that was defeated but would have allowed the state to adopt a comparative fault system for personal injury, property loss, and other lawsuits. Critics say comparative fault would increase liability insurance premiums for businesses as the new system likely would increase their exposure to litigation.

According to the 2010 Candidate Questionnaire she completed for the North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation, Dickson has voted for economic incentives to businesses, but now says she wouldn’t do that in a recession.

She also voted to raise the state’s minimum wage but indicated she would not do that again in the present economic climate.

Karen McMahan is a contributor to Carolina Journal.