Election Results:

In the General Election for North Carolina House District 118, held on November 2, the State Board of Elections reports the following unofficial figures:

For Sam Edwards (Republican): 10,991 votes, or 45.34% of all votes cast.   Of these, 7,515 were cast in Haywood County, 3,283 in Madison County, and 193 in Yancey County.

For Ray Rapp (Democrat - incumbent), 13,250 votes, or 54.66% of all votes cast.  Of these, 8,389 were cast in Haywood County, 4,733 in Madison County, and 128 in Yancey County.

Mr Rapp is thus re-elected for a fifth term.  He returns as a member of the new minority party, since for the first time in 112 years, Republicans have majorities in both houses of the General Assembly.  Unofficial returns indicate that the Senate will be composed of 30 Republicans and 20 Democrats, while there will be a 15 vote Republican majority in the House.

I congratulate Mr Rapp on his re-election victory, and on conducting from his side - as I endeavored to do from mine - a campaign that focused on issues rather than personalities.  In all things consistent with the principles that I espoused during this campaign, he may expect my support.

To all who honored me with your support of my bid for office, you have my deep gratitude.  If our particular campaign failed to reach its objective, it still played a real and valuable part in the Revolution of 2010.   Even in a tsunami, not every wave reaches the shore, but every wave still lends its force to the surge.  

We still have much work to do toward the restoration of constitutionally limited government and the putting down of progressivism-falsely-so-called.  Each of us has a role, and some of us - perhaps even you - will be called by your conscience, your fellow citizens, and your God to stand for election in coming contests.  Be ready to answer.

Sincerely yours in liberty,

Sam Edwards

What I stand for

I am a Republican, but before that I am a Christian, a patriot and a conservative. It will require the united effort of conservative patriots of all parties and of no party at all to pass the test of the  economic and cultural trials we are now enduring.

I am a common-sense conservative.  I believe

• in the protection of all the God-given rights to life, liberty, and private property guaranteed to you under both the United States and North Carolina Constitutions,

• that prosperity comes from private effort and enterprise, not from government intervention, and 

• in effective, financially sound, fiscally responsible but strictly limited state government.  Government should be limited and local:  The less local it is, the more limited it should be. 

My practical approach to government is called subsidiarity – a fancy word for the idea that nothing should be done by any level of government that cannot be done as well or better at a lower level. This is illustrated by what I call the pyramid of freedom – broad at the local base, narrow at the top.

More and more, however, we have allowed a different model of government to take over – one which inverts the pyramid of freedom – leaving the levels in the same order, but inverting the scope of their authority. Like an upside-down pyramid, it is inherently unstable. Like an upside-down pyramid, it can only be stabilized by hammering the lower levels into the ground.

This vision is what lies behind the questions that I think a good legislator will ask a constituent who comes to him looking for his help: (1) What have you done to resolve the problem? (2) What obstacle has prevented you from resolving it on your own? (3) What do you want the state government to do to remove that obstacle? (4) Is what you want done the sort of thing that government should ever be doing to solve any problem?

Contact us today!

To contribute, please send your personal check (no business checks, please) for any amount from $1 to the state limit of $4,000 made out to "Committee to Elect Sam Edwards" to:

Janette Miller, Treasurer

Committee to Elect Sam Edwards

55 Misty Mountain Drive

Maggie Valley, NC  28751

To volunteer, call 828-456-2558 or 828-226-6756, email us at edwards4nch118@dnet.net, or write to us at

Committee to Elect Sam Edwards

493 Camelot Drive

Waynesville, NC  28786

NEWS NOTES: 

As of Labor Day, I have been honored with the endorsement of five organizations that stand for good government and the protection of the helpless:  The Independence Caucus (www.ourcaucus.com), North Carolinians for Free and Proper Elections Political Action Committee (www.ncfpe.com), the North Carolina Right to Life Committee Political Action Committee (www.ncrtlpac.com), Tea Party Western North Carolina (www.teapartywnc.com), and Asheville TEA-PAC (ashevilleteapac.com).  Please visit these fine organizations' web sites to find out more about them and their program for the renewal of our founding commitment to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 

I'm now blogging at

http://EdwardsForNCHouse118.com/blog

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