Jones backs Williams

Published 8:34 pm Wednesday, June 20, 2012

U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., on Wednesday endorsed Arthur Williams as his choice to become the Republican nominee to face Democrat Paul Tine in the race for the 6th District seat in the N.C. House of Representatives.

Williams, a Beaufort County resident who finished second in the May 8 primary, faces Dare County’s Mattie Lawson, the top vote-getter in the GOP primary, in a second primary July 17. The winner of the second primary faces Tine, also of Dare County, in the Nov. 6 general election.

After the May primary, Jeremy Adams, who finished third in the three-person GOP primary endorsed Williams.

The 6th District includes part of Beaufort County and all of Hyde, Washington and Dare counties.

Jones issued the following statement about his endorsement:

“Arthur Williams has what it takes to be a great State Legislator. I have known Arthur for many years and I am convinced that he is the best qualified by training and temperament to carry the Republican flag in November’s general election.

“Arthur is a life-long resident of eastern North Carolina, and has been married to his wife Ginny for 51 years. When Arthur arrives in Raleigh he will hit the ground running. As an experienced legislator, he is well familiar with moving legislation through the complex committee system and with helping his constituents solve their problems with an often unresponsive bureaucracy.

“Arthur Williams as a skillful legislator has worked tirelessly for his constituents. I am pleased to endorse him in the July 17 runoff for the Republican nomination in NC House District 6.”

Williams issued this statement in response to the endorsement:

“It is an honor for me personally to receive the endorsement of our Congressman. Walter Jones has been an advocate for conservative principles in the US House and is one of the most effective members for constituent services. I have a deep personal and professional respect for Congressman Jones. I look forward to working with him and all the people here to make a better quality of life for our citizens in eastern North Carolina.”

An email sent to Lawson seeking her response to Jones’ endorsement of Williams had not been replied to by Wednesday evening.

 

About Mike Voss

Mike Voss is the contributing editor at the Washington Daily News. He has a daughter and four grandchildren. Except for nearly six years he worked at the Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va., in the early to mid-1990s, he has been at the Daily News since April 1986.
Journalism awards:
• Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service, 1990.
• Society of Professional Journalists: Sigma Delta Chi Award, Bronze Medallion.
• Associated Press Managing Editors’ Public Service Award.
• Investigative Reporters & Editors’ Award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Public Service Award, 1989.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Investigative Reporting, 1990.
All those were for the articles he and Betty Gray wrote about the city’s contaminated water system in 1989-1990.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Investigative Reporting, 1991.
• North Carolina Press Association, Third Place, General News Reporting, 2005.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Lighter Columns, 2006.
Recently learned he will receive another award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Lighter Columns, 2010.
4. Lectured at or served on seminar panels at journalism schools at UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Maryland, Columbia University, Mary Washington University and Francis Marion University.

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