LENOIR – A visit here to Caldwell County as part of the Locke Foundation’s fall series of regional meetings has me thinking about a local legislative race that featured tough rhetoric, bitter recriminations, and allegations of outside influence.
No, I’m not talking about the closely watched primary contest between incumbent Sens. Virginia Foxx of Watauga and Ken Moore from Caldwell, which ended last Tuesday with a huge victory by Foxx. We provided a fair amount of commentary and coverage about that race here at Carolina Journal Online. I feel a bit guilty that we didn’t pay enough attention to another key primary in a district dipping into this county: the failed reelection bid of longtime Republican Rep. Monroe Buchanan of nearby Mitchell County.
“Buck” Buchanan has in recent years been a RINO (Republican In Name Only). On fiscal issues and in leadership spats on the House floor, he’s parted company with his GOP colleagues and voted with the Democratic caucus. It’s actually worse than that: some Republicans say that he hasn’t just voted against their interests, but has misled them about his intentions in a way that sabotaged their efforts. As a result, they kicked him out of the GOP caucus last year, and this year helped Spruce Pine Mayor Phillip Frye take on and defeat Buchanan (read more about the race here: http://www.newstopic.net/news.html?Type=Local&ID=5721).
Usually party leaders stay out of party primaries, but in this case state Republican Chairman Bill Cobey campaigned actively for Frye. Around Raleigh, the talk just days before the Sept. 10 primary was that Frye had made little impression in the district and had not raised enough money to overtake the incumbent. I never believed it. It didn’t seem likely, for example, that Buchanan would benefit from that many unaffiliated voters showing up and voting for him in the primary. Let’s face it, the district is solidly Republican; most unaffiliated voters in the district probably think the party is too liberal and would hardly be Buchanan supporters.
Plus, Frye is an experienced and able politician. He’s been elected, albeit as a small-town mayor, and according to those who have interviewed him (including a member of my staff, for a Carolina Journal profile) he has strong and informed opinions. In short, he was a good candidate in a good position to take advantage of much disaffection among party regulars about the politically footloose Buchanan.
Some at the legislature will miss his trademark flattop, and his odd claim-to-fame of being the only labor union member serving in the General Assembly. But his Republican colleagues won’t miss him much, at all.