Here’s the press release from Republican Statehouse candidate Nathan Ramsey, who’s vying with Democrat Susan Wilson to represent District 115, which covers a wide swath of eastern Buncombe County. Ramsey first confronted Wilson over the mailers at an Oct. 8 Asheville-Buncombe League of Women Voters forum in Black Mountain (Watch video of the interaction here). Ramsey followed up the next day with this press release. The mailers in question were funded and sent by the liberal state group, Common Sense Matters.
Susan Wilson Fails to Correct False Mailers
Fact: Ramsey Increased Funding for Public Schools in Buncombe County(Asheville) – Last night at the League of Women Voters Forum for State House, Nathan Ramsey confronted his opponent Susan Wilson over 3 negative mailers that her campaign used to attack Ramsey’s record on education. Ramsey asked Wilson directly to explain how she and her allies could possibly conclude that he cut funding for county public schools? Wilson was unable to answer the question.
Republican candidate Ramsey said, “Last night, I held up three negative attack mailers that my opponent and her allies dropped in mail boxes last week to distract attention away from her own failing campaign. The allegation that I somehow cut funding for Buncombe County public schools is completely false. The facts are clear, according to the Buncombe County Finance Department, we actually increased school funding by over $18 million while I served on the Board of Commissioners.”
Nathan Ramsey was raised in Buncombe County and attended Buncombe County public schools before graduating from UNC-Asheville and University of Tennessee Law School. As a Chairman of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, Nathan voted to increase school funding by $18 million. In fact, in 2004 and 2008, Nathan was endorsed for reelection by the Buncombe County Association of Educators.
Last week 3 different negative mailers landed in district mailboxes. Each one claimed that Nathan Ramsey had cut funds for public education. Each claim is patently false. When Mr. Ramsey asked Ms. Wilson to disavow these false attacks she refused to answer the question at the public forum.
“Nathan was always very supportive of our public schools during his service as Chairman of Buncombe County. He never cut funding for our schools and if anyone says he did, they are just plain wrong! The fact is that funding was increased by tens of millions of dollars and over $45 million was spent on capital expenditures to improve our facilities,” — Roger Aiken and Jim Edmonds, Former Chairmen of the Buncombe County Board of Education.
Ramsey added, “Susan Wilson owes the voters of this district an apology for letting these false personal attacks stand without any correction. The voters of this district deserve better, the voters of this district deserve the truth.”
Before you comment
The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.