Continuing your guided tour of the most competitive House races in North Carolina this year, let’s take a look at the Sandhills region of the state. In Fayetteville proper, there are two races that merit close attention.

In District 41, three-term Republican incumbent Mia Morris faces a tough challenge from Democrat Margaret Dickson, a former broadcaster in the area. With a chunk of Cumberland County and a sliver of Harnett, District 41 is a swing district with a slight Democratic tilt. Morris advocates the Taxpayer Protection Act to put an annual limit on state spending growth, efforts to combat fraud and control costs in the Medicaid program, and tough anti-crime measures and experiments with privatization to provide prisons at an economical cost. She also supports school choice: competition “improves all schools, thereby improving the chance for all our children to be well-educated and ultimately productive members of society.” Dickson argues that the state’s budget problems have been caused by an outdated tax code that fails to generate sufficient revenue. Designing a new system, she said, “will be difficult and painful for many Tar Heels, but it is essential to the financial health and ultimate prosperity of North Carolina.” One specific idea Dickson favors is giving localities a “menu” of ways to raise taxes rather than relying mostly on property taxes. She favors the lottery and more taxpayer spending on education. Basically, this is a classic contest between two women, one conservative and one liberal.

Another Cumberland District, 44, is an open seat. It’s another swing district with a Democratic tilt. And it’s another classic contest of ideological opposites. Democrat Rick Glazier is an attorney and school board member with a number of traditionally liberal positions. He favors tax increases on cigarettes to fund new health programs and contends that “the nation must move towards a universal health care system of basic care.” He argues for a new system of incentives to attract business investment, and that “the legislative delegation must be part of the business recruitment and retention process that identifies concrete economic prospects, helps introduce entrepreneurs to potential investors, ensures resources are dedicated to train the workforce . . .” Wow. Stone, an attorney, is running on a conservative agenda that includes lower taxes and utility rates, less wasteful spending in Raleigh, and strict term limits for legislators. He had a rough primary against a city council member, and thus has the challenge to unify the outnumbered Republican Party in the county.

Nearby, there are two other House races with a lot at stake. Up in House 51, mostly in Lee but also encompassing parts of Moore and Harnett, Democratic incumbent Leslie Cox is facing a surprisingly strong challenge from the Republican nominee, Lee County Commissioner John Sauls. Cox is a proven fundraiser, but the district has become competitive and Sauls is an experienced candidate in the key county of Lee. Cox is campaigning as a lottery-referendum supporter — “We ask people to vote on all kinds of things . . . A lottery is too important of an issue to leave to politicians in Raleigh” — and a defender of the Democrats’ management of state budget problems. He’s also claiming partial credit for the sales-tax holiday. Sauls is, once again, running as a fiscal conservative and critic of the governor and legislature for pushing part of the state budget deficit off on the cities and counties.

Finally, the rest of Harnett County makes up the new 53rd District, where Republican David Lewis, a businessman and former head of the county GOP, will take on Democrat Larry Upchurch, a consultant who retired from the FBI. Lewis has a message of “faith, family, and freedom” as a conservative advocate of local control, voluntary prayer, and parental choice in schools; pro-family welfare reforms; 2nd Amendment rights; and lower taxes. The Lewis campaign was bolstered on Sept. 23 when one of Upchurch’s Democratic opponents in the primary, Sam Stephenson, criticized the Democratic nominee for negative campaigning and endorsed Lewis. For his part, Upchurch blames excessive corporate-tax loopholes and“pork-barrel spending” such as the Global TransPark for helping to cause state budget problems and argues for an economic development policy that aids small business. He also promises less partisan rancor in the legislature.

Tomorrow: Three competitive House races along the I-85 corridor.