Edwards and Rogers engage in civil but lively contest for HD 112

Spindale Town Councilman Ben Edwards said he was agitated when he learned House Majority Leader Mike Hager was running unopposed in House District 112, which the Republican had represented since 2011.

Edwards, who’s registered unaffiliated, expected someone else to step up to oppose Hager. When nobody filed, he went about the task of collecting the requisite 1,983 signatures from registered voters to gain ballot access.

The response was “humbling and inspiring,” Edwards said — he gathered 2,300 signatures by the deadline, as more continued to flow.

Then Hager announced he was stepping down, citing family reasons, and the local Republican Party chose attorney David Rogers to serve the remainder of Hager’s term. Rogers is running to keep the seat in Republican hands.

Rogers said the party considered him a good replacement because, like the hard-working Hager, he was known to be conservative, and was considered a good prospect for “continuing the business-friendly work that the legislature has been doing for the last several years, and continuing improving our education system — but I am strongly pro-school choice.”

The district in the southwestern foothills covers Rutherford County and takes in part of Burke County. The North Carolina FreeEnterprise Foundation, which tracks state elections, rates it as a strong Republican district, even though 37.3 percent of its electorate is registered Democratic, 34.3 percent Republican, and 28.1 percent unaffiliated.

Although Hager frequently spoke fondly in defense of his district during legislative debates, Edwards said he believed Hager was “disrespecting his constituents and harming the state while representing special interests.” He recalled a time Hager made what he called “real vicious and inappropriate comments on Facebook to opponents who were still his constituents.”

Edwards didn’t like the “We know better than you attitude” coming out of Raleigh, citing General Assembly action changing the allocation of seats on the Isothermal Community College Board.

“Nobody asked” lawmakers to make that move, he said. “It looked ugly and felt ugly. Nobody wants somebody in Raleigh poking around at the local level unless they’re asked to help.”

Conversely, he said, the Spindale Town Council once asked the state for help getting affordable health care for employees. “They were asked to help and they did. That should be the normal order.”

Edwards said the race with Rogers has turned out to be “much more amicable” than he expected. “He’s a nice guy. His heart’s in the right place, and we’re going to be friends after this election.” Edwards said they received a lot of positive feedback at debates about how they can “disagree without being disagreeable.”

Rogers spelled out some of those differences.

“I’m for voter ID. He is not, and claims it disenfranchises less-privileged, would-be voters, although a voter ID would be free, and we actually [had] a felony conviction for voter fraud in this county within the past year,” Rogers said.

Rogers supports House Bill 2, requiring people to use bathroom and shower facilities matching their birth anatomy, “although parts of the bill as originally passed were indeed overreach, and I would have limited it to the bathroom/shower/locker room issue.”

He puts the blame for the passage of H.B. 2 on the Charlotte City Council.

“It is very unfortunate that liberals in Charlotte forced this issue,” Rogers said, and Edwards “does not support any of H.B. 2.”

Rogers said he would “strongly defend the Second Amendment, and I am endorsed by the NRA. He is not.”

Edwards, a gun owner and recreational shooter, advocates “a real conversation about gun safety,” but not just among legislators “who don’t know the difference between a magazine and a clip.”

With four children, Rogers is enthusiastic about education reform. He said the legislature should support and implement improvements that help to push North Carolina school performance into the top 10 states nationally.

To promote business, Rogers would continue to look at lowering the corporate tax rate. “It’s why our business climate is improving, I think.”

Rogers said government incentives “weren’t working as well in our county,” citing Facebook’s shortfall on hires, and the bankruptcy of Horsehead, a zinc production facility.

Edwards has a different take.

“Some things are undermining our reputation, making North Carolina a less business-friendly environment. Facebook doesn’t want to come to North Carolina anymore. There’s a general perception of disorganization and radicalism” in the General Assembly, he said.

Edwards isn’t promulgating particular issues so much as trying to represent his district. He cited his campaign sign slogan, “Local interests, not special interests.” He said good government is a facilitator. “We provide the space for you to provide the solution.”

Edwards is a codes and standards consultant in the construction industry. He said it’s his job to decipher bureaucratic verbiage, and to make sure it works in the real world.

“It worries me that we’ve lost control of the General Assembly. They pull bills out without people having the opportunity to read or discuss them,” he said.

Both candidates express a love for the district and said they are perturbed that coal ash generated in Asheville is being dumped there.