Press release from Scales for Senate:
Ben Scales, community advocate and lawyer, announced on March 22 his candidacy for the North Carolina State Senate seat in District 49, covering most of Asheville and Buncombe County. As current Senator Terry Van Duyn pursues the office of Lieutenant Governor, Scales seeks the Democratic nomination for the seat she will be vacating, which will be determined in the 2020 primary election. Scales, who dedicates his legal practice to protecting his clients’ civil, contractual, and intellectual rights, will campaign on a theme of restoring justice: economic, criminal, social, and environmental, for the people of North Carolina.
“I’ve spent my career standing up for the powerless against forces of oppression,” said Scales. “I’ve seen and understood firsthand the triumphs and struggles of the people of Buncombe County, and I know they’re ready for changes. I feel called to represent our youth, including my teenage children, to stand up for my fellow working class people, and to stress the urgency of our efforts in this great state that I call home.”
Scales points to the fiscal damage NC Republicans have created in recent years, awarding generous tax cuts to corporations and the wealthiest demographics. As an alternative, Scales proposes to restore progressive income tax rates and the inheritance tax on large estates, in order to restore funding for education, healthcare, the economy, and the environment.
“We need more candidates to strengthen the consciousness in Raleigh that healthcare is a right, climate change needs rapid solutions now, education is for everyone, gender is a spectrum, immigrants are welcome, domestic violence won’t be tolerated, women are equal, agriculture and innovation is vital, elections should be fair and voter registration automatic, the cash bail system, mass incarceration, and the war on drugs must end,” Scales said. “We have to build a movement from the bottom up by connecting deeper within our community, listen to their needs, and bring them to the table.”
Scales will be conducting a listening tour throughout the district to meet and learn from community members most impacted by these issues, such as teachers, social workers, students, domestic violence workers, farmers, persons of color, the LGBTQ community, and the service industry. The campaign will continue its grassroots nature with community building events and direct voter contact, both in the city of Asheville and its rural neighbors.
Scales holds a Bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a law degree from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, where he was a member of the Cumberland Law Review. Early in his law career, Scales served as Law Clerk to two federal judges: Judge Eric G. Bruggink on the United States Court of Federal Claims in Washington, DC, and Judge Alex Munson, the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, on the island of Saipan.
Since relocating to Asheville in 2002, the Scales family has been heavily involved in their neighborhood and community. Scales produces the Montford Music and Arts Festival, served two terms as the President of the Parent-Teachers Organization at Isaac Dickson Middle School, and served two terms each as as president and treasurer of the Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County. He founded the Southeast Regional Folk Alliance, the WNC Chapter of Americans For Safe Access, and the North Carolina Cannabis Patients Network. As an attorney, Scales has represented, pro bono, protestors from Occupy Asheville, Asheville Black Lives Matter, Veterans for Peace, and dozens of victims of domestic violence, securing permanent court-ordered protection for them and their children.
I seem to remember him running as a smart Unaffiliated/Independent last time … ?