Three Republicans Face Off in Bid to Take 7th District From McIntyre

RALEIGH – Three Republicans are competing for the opportunity to knock off eight-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre in what is a considerably more favorable 7th Congressional District for GOP candidates.

The three are Ilario Pantano, David Rouzer, and Randy Crow. The district, which now stretches from Johnston County down to the southeastern coastal corner of North Carolina, has changed through redistricting from a leaning Democratic district to a more competitive, potentially swing district.

In the old 7th district, Democrats held a 49 percent to 28 percent voter registration advantage over Republicans. In the new district, that advantage is cut in half. Democrats have 43 percent of the registered voters, with Republicans having 33 percent.

That change is demonstrated in the voter tallies from the 2008 North Carolina gubernatorial race. That year, Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue defeated her GOP rival, then-Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, by 54 percent to 43 percent. Under the new district, Perdue’s margin would have been 259 votes, or just less than one-tenth of 1 percent.

Two years ago Pantano, the then-GOP nominee, lost in the general election to McIntyre by 54 percent to 46 percent.

Rouzer, who is completing his second term in the N.C. Senate, worked for former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms and former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole. He also worked as a lobbyist and a consultant for tobacco companies. He said his lobbying efforts were aimed at trying to derail Food and Drug Administration regulation of tobacco. As a senatorial staffer, he worked on the federal farm bill and the tobacco quota buyout.

Pantano fought in Operation Desert Storm and after the 2001 terrorist bombings re-enlisted in the Marines. He is also a businessman and author.

Crow is an investor who has worked in the oil industry. He has run for numerous offices in the past, including U.S. president, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House.

Pantano makes a point of criticizing Rouzer in his Washington roles. “He hasn’t been able to get away from his reputation as a career politician,” Pantano said. “I think that’s probably the biggest contrast between he and I.”

Pantano said that Rouzer handed out billions to farmers in his role of overseeing the tobacco quota buyout. “He was responsible for distributing the Republican version of welfare,” Pantano said. He also said Rouzer lobbied to “get amnesty for illegals” included in the farm bill.

Rouzer responded by saying that Pantano isn’t talking about what he wants to do to move the country forward. “All he talks about is what I have done,” Rouzer said. “That’s because I have a proven conservative record and he doesn’t have a record to talk about.”

Rouzer was critical of Pantano labeling the tobacco quota buyout as welfare. “If he wants to call the tobacco buyout a welfare payment to farmers, then he just ensured that he will lose the general election to Mike McIntyre,” Rouzer said.

Rouzer calls Pantano’s amnesty assertion a “complete overreach.” Rouzer said he had some farmers who wanted changes in the guest farmworker program to come to him. He said that the provision in the farm bill he supported would allow people who could prove they were working in agriculture to earn their way to a legal status and eventually earn a permanent residency status. Eventually, such a person could earn a path to citizenship,” Rouzer said.

“That is a far cry from the amnesty that he is trying to insinuate for all these illegal immigrants,” Rouzer said.

As for the 2012 campaign, Rouzer said people are “very, very scared about the potential of four more years of Barack Obama.” He said the administration’s rules and regulations are stifling and disruptive to business.

“The whole regulatory structure in Washington needs to be revamped,” Rouzer said. He said he supports reforming the tax code, and replacing it with “a fair, simple and flat tax.”

As for energy exploration, Rouzer said he supports tapping every possible resource, including drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge region of Alaska and drilling for natural gas. “I firmly believe that if the rest of the world thought we were very serious about tapping into all the resources we have available to us, that the price of oil would come down substantially,” Rouzer said.

Pantano said he supports repealing ObamaCare and endorses U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan’s GOP budget plan. He supports closing tax loopholes, simplifying the tax code, and lowering rates at the corporate and individual level.

One part of the Ryan budget Pantano is keen on is the restoration of defense cuts made by President Obama’s budget.

“The GOP budget restores Obama’s defense cuts, which in North Carolina alone would be a $1 billion hit,” Pantano said.

Crow distinguishes himself from his GOP rivals by noting that he is self-financing his campaign. In email correspondence, Crow said that he believes the nation’s core problem has to do with the Federal Reserve, a private corporation, having a franchise to supply money to the federal government. He calls the arrangement “unconstitutional.”

He takes issue with the Fed’s loaning of money to the government and charging interest.

“The [United States] should have the Treasury issue debt-free money,” Crow said.

Crow supports lowering the corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent and opposes giving visas or Social Security numbers to illegal immigrants.

The winner of the GOP primary will face McIntyre in November.

Barry Smith is a contributor to Carolina Journal.