‘Talk about politics and religion’: Wake candidates, Morrow woo conservative Christians
Wake County’s Republican-backed school board candidates are campaigning for conservative voters with Michele Morrow, the GOP nominee for state superintendent of public instruction.
The GOP-backed school board candidates joined Morrow and other Republican elected officials and candidates to talk about education at this week’s Western Wake Republican Club meeting in Cary. The candidates mixed a message of religion and politics, arguing that Christian voters need to support conservative candidates “to save America.”
“We know that we are on the brink of collapse,” Morrow said. “And I have to tell you, I believe the biggest threat to our constitutional republic right now is the indoctrination happening in the public school system around this country.”
Charges of public school indoctrination
Morrow is a homeschool parent, conservative activist, registered nurse and former Christian missionary who upset incumbent Catherine Truitt in the March Republican primary for state superintendent.
She is running against Democrat Mo Green, the former superintendent of Guilford County Schools, and former executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, a group that funds progressive causes.
Morrow repeated many of the charges she’s made on the campaign trail, including claiming that public schools are telling white students “they must apologize for the color of their skin.”
Morrow closed her comments by echoing the words of a Christian missionary, William Carey, before he went to India.
“I’m asking you, on behalf of me and everyone that is on the ballot this year, we are willing to go into the pit,” Morrow said. “Will you hold the ropes? Thank you. God bless you and God bless America.”
Morrow called an extremist
Morrow made national headlines after CNN reported on her past social media posts that talked about killing former President Barack Obama and encouraged President Donald Trump to use the military to stay in power in 2021. She’s said her comments were made in jest or taken out of context.
Opponents have accused Morrow of injecting Christian nationalism into the campaign.
“Tonight we were sent some audio,” the group Say No To Extremists posted Monday on X. “We listened to the broken record that is Michele Morrow.
“The election is near, say no to extremist Michele Morrow. Vote for candidates who believe in public education, support our educators & isn’t a Qanon j6 insurrectionist. Vote@MoGreenforNC”
Mixed GOP support for Morrow
Some Republican elected officials and candidates have been reluctant to publicly support Morrow. Truitt has publicly said she would not endorse Morrow.
“This race isn’t about politics, it’s about our children,” Mo Green said in a statement Wednesday. “Morrow can’t be trusted to take care of our public schools, even fellow Republicans know it. This moment requires all of us, regardless of political party affiliation, to stand up in support of public education.”
But state Rep. John Torbett and Dave Boliek, the GOP nominee for State Auditor, both praised Morrow at Monday’s Western Wake GOP meeting.
“I’m voting for Michele Morrow,” said Torbett a Gaston County Republican and chair of several House education committees. “And I look so much forward to working with her and getting our school system back on the correct path the good Lord mean it be on to begin with.”
Boliek said Morrow is right in calling diversity, equity and inclusion programs “a waste of money” and “administrative bloat.” Supporters of DEI policies say they help historically under-represented groups.
Conservative school board majority sought
Locally, the Wake school board is officially non-partisan. But it has a 7-2 Democratic majority. Five school board seats are on the Nov. 5 ballot.
The Wake County Democratic Party has endorsed incumbents Lynn Edmonds, Sam Hershey, Lindsay Mahaffey, Toshiba Rice and newcomer Jordyne Blaise.
The Wake County Republican Party has endorsed incumbent Wing Ng and challengers Ted Hills, Elizabeth McDuffie, Robert Morales Vergara and Josh Points.
Morales Vergara announced Wednesday that he’s withdrawing from the race and is endorsing Rice for the District 4 seat. Morales Vergara cited his disappointment with the leadership of the Wake GOP behind his decision.
Hills said he’s running to oppose the school board’s adoption of the Biden Administration’s new rules that extend Title IX to include gender identity. Hills said he decided to run after Morrow sent out an email saying there were no Republican or conservative candidates running against Edmonds.
“If all of the candidates here are voted in ... instead of having a 7-2 liberal majority on the board, we will have a 6-3 conservative majority,” said Hills, who is the North Carolina prayer coordinator for the Christian voter group My Faith Votes.
Hills’ message was echoed Monday by school board member Cheryl Caulfield, who is not up for re-election.
“Please donate, help them,” Caulfield said. “Provide the time and share, share, share with all of your friends and family.
“It is not the time to not talk about politics and religion anymore. We need to talk about it. Too much is at risk.”
This story was originally published August 28, 2024 at 7:00 AM.
