District 3 State Senate seat to move rightward | Eastern North Carolina Now

by John Steed

Whoever wins the primary, the State Senate representation of Craven, Beaufort, and Lenoir counties will move rightward in the next legislature.  The retirement of moderate liberal Republican State Senator Jim Perry from the District 3 senate seat has led to two more conservative candidates seeking the nomination in the Republican primary.  No Democrat has filed.

The race pits former four term State Representative Michael Speciale who filed early in the process and first term New Bern Alderman Bob Brinson who filed at the last minute.  Both are long time military veterans, Speciale in the Marines and Brinson in the Army.  Both are former chairmen of the Craven County Republican Party, Speciale having served two full years and Brinson serving three months before resigning to run for alderman.

Both candidates espouse conservative views, so the main factors deciding the race will be on experience and who is most likely to stand up and fight for conservative principles and for the interests of the district in Raleigh.  This is where the backgrounds of the candidates differ.

Speciale has been a fighter for conservative principles long before he went to Raleigh.  He was one of the organizers and an early chairman of the Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association.  Later, Speciale helped found and served as chairman of the God and Country Christian Alliance of Craven County.  Both Brinson and Speciale have been very active in campaigning for other Republican candidates.

Most important is legislative experience and a demonstrated willingness to stand up for conservative principles.  In the NC House of Representatives, Speciale was the founder and first chairman of the NC House Freedom Caucus, composed of individual conservative legislators banding together to jointly fight for conservative issues.  Under Speciale's leadership, the Freedom Caucus scored some notable successes in forcing the more liberal House Speaker Tim Moore to the right.  The Freedom Caucus is continuing that record under Speciale's successor as its chairman, Rep. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort).  Speciale also served as chairman of the Military and Veterans Affairs Committee of the NC House.

As a first term New Bern Alderman, Brinson has not been in the same political crucible to demonstrate a leadership on conservative issues.  Only time would tell how conservative or how effective he would be.

The more liberal Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, who has shepherded some of liberal Governor Roy Cooper's key liberal agenda items through the legislature, seems to have taken note of the potential arrival in the Senate of a conservative fighter with a record of success in the House.  

Berger is twisting arms of senators to contribute to Brinson, who he seems to regard as easier to control.  Brinson, himself, says he would not be under Berger's thumb in Raleigh, although only time would tell for sure.

One other major difference is which candidate sticks to the offices with which they are entrusted.  Speciale made a term limit pledge when he was first elected to the NC House to serve no more than four terms in that office.  At the end of his fourth term, he honored that promise to the voters and retired from the House.  Brinson pledged to spend a full two-year term as county GOP chairman, but resigned after three months to run for Alderman.  Now in the middle of that term as alderman he is running for state senate which would cut short his term as alderman.

While the two primary candidates have generally similar positions on issues, there are other key differences that should decide the race. Either would be an improvement over the more liberal Perry.