‘Aim Higher Now’ questions absence of GOP candidates from local forums

PRESS RELEASE

ASHEVILLE – Western North Carolina Republican state lawmakers are struggling to defend their record, so now some of them are dodging debates.

A week after Rep. Michele Presnell skipped a Madison County League of Women Voters forum she previously committed to attend, Rep. Tim Moffitt dodged two debates in one day. Last week Rep. Presnell was in Greensboro rubbing elbows with the logging lobby at the swanky Grandover Resort. Rep. Moffitt, on the other hand, did not even bother trying to excuse his absence. Event organizers never heard from him.

“Michele Presnell and Tim Moffitt know they can’t defend their anti-education record,” said Doug Jackson of AimHigherNowNC. “Presnell and Moffitt made sure corporations got tax cuts while our schools saw budget cuts. Dodging debates adds insult to injury, but maybe it’s fitting for these politicians who have been listening to special interests in Raleigh instead of constituents back at home.”

Here’s the record of dodged debates:

-Michele Presnell skips Madison League of Women Voters forum October 2nd in Marshall.
-Tim Moffitt absent for Western North Carolina for Public Education forum Thursday afternoon.
-Tim Moffitt a no-show for forum hosted by LWV, YWCA, Communities in Schools Thursday evening.

Moffitt also brought two legislators from other parts of the state to do the heavy lifting at an education town hall in May.

Moffitt also brought two state lawmakers from outside Buncombe County to a town hall meeting at Roberson HS back in May to help him explain his record of cutting public education.

“Students can’t skip school on the day of a tough test and still graduate” Jackson said. “If Presnell and Moffitt want to return to Raleigh, they should have to answer tough questions and do so without help from a tutor.”