"WHY I'M RUNNING FOR LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR"

Since I began considering seeking statewide office, I've been asked frequently: 'Why are you interested in being a candidate when politics is so negative and destructive?'  Here's why…

I'm running for Lieutenant Governor because I am unwilling to give up on the idea that government can be an ethical, capable, efficient, and positive force, and I refuse to concede that our state and national experiment in representative democracy is destined to disappoint and fail.

I'm running for Lieutenant Governor because while our state has made remarkable advances over the past forty years – my lifetime – there is more, much more, we need to do.

I'm running for Lieutenant Governor because, having worked in the Governor's office, I know firsthand the crises that can confront state leaders.  I am prepared to lead this state through any challenge.  I also know the daily demands on a Governor's time and the unique opportunity the Lieutenant Governor has to think not just about the next meeting but about the next year, the next decade, the next generation.  As Lieutenant Governor, I'll use that opportunity to develop and promote solutions to our most serious challenges.

I'm running for Lieutenant Governor because I believe we need to:

• Eliminate continuing racial disparities in schools, health outcomes, and our criminal justice system.
• Reduce the gap that leaves low-wealth counties and school systems in certain parts of the state disadvantaged despite the best efforts of their citizens and leaders.
• Put patients first by demanding that affordable, comprehensive, and high-quality health care never be held hostage by politics.  North Carolina should be a stem cell research leader, protect reproductive health and freedom, insist that non-profit insurers and providers fulfill their chartered missions, ensure the availability of mental health and dental care, and better meet the medical needs of our growing senior population.
• Safeguard the spectacular natural environment that makes North Carolina such a wonderful place to call home and that we hold in trust for future generations.
• Put state government at the forefront of promoting discrimination-free workplaces and the associational rights of government employees, along with fair business opportunities for companies large and small.  
• Target the court backlogs and jail crowding that threaten public safety and erode public confidence.
• Enhance voting rights, government ethics, and open government in North Carolina.  All three are fundamentally related because failures in any one of these areas reduces the legitimacy of government, and undermines the common good and the will of the people.
• Enact an Education Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for the 21st Century, a compact with North Carolina families that, among other things, offers high-quality learning environments for children as young as three and raises the compulsory school age to 17 or older.
• Free counties from Medicaid's financial burdens.
• Increase the use of advanced technologies in law enforcement.
• Expand health insurance risk pools.
• And make a deeper commitment to mass transit and sustainable energy. 

I'm running for Lieutenant Governor because, even when I don't have an immediate answer, I know the right way to find it: seek advice widely, insist on open and transparent deliberations and decision making, make sure that present actions benefit rather than burden succeeding generations.

Finally, I'm running for Lieutenant Governor because people across North Carolina have urged me to do so.  I deeply appreciated hearing from them in person, by phone, or by email.  I look forward to talking with you in person soon.  Please feel free to contact me anytime at Hamp@HDforLtGov.com

Regards,

Hampton Dellinger