I met Winn Sams at a café in Asheville through the introduction of a friend who met her at a shop in Black Mountain. Winn gets around — and if we’re lucky, she’ll get all the way to Washington, D.C., on our behalf! Here’s what she writes in her request to sign the petition to help get her on the ballot: “Most would say our current state of affairs are not in the best shape. To make a change, we have to align with people who will represent us, but be courageous enough to buck the popular way of thinking.” (Apparently, we only have till the end of February, so thank you, Daniel Walton, for such an informative article in the Jan. 8 issue of the Xpress [“No Party People: Unaffiliated Candidates Face Challenging Path to Ballot”]!)
With a dozen years of advocacy work in different areas of health and health care that so tragically need more than just a face-lift, Sams, a chiropractic physician, is offering to make the hard trek amassing close to 9,000 signatures among the constituents of the newly redistricted N.C. District 11, which is made up of the 16 ½ counties (half of Rutherford County, that is) of WNC. The reason all those signatures are needed is because Sams wants to run as an unaffiliated candidate (no party, no entrenched platforms). I assume affiliation with the Democrats or the Republicans is supposed to assure us that at least enough people would be interested in the candidate, so no petitions are needed.
Some of Sams’ top priorities to help us make a better place for ourselves and our families include legislation she’s already introduced and seen passed through legislators in other states. Her programs prioritize wise strategies for medical pain intervention, a much-needed strategy for curbing if not ending opioid and other rampant addictions. She is also an advocate for affordable health care choices (think licensing those still considered “alternative” practitioners, like naturopathic physicians) and a more transparent and honest state government in general.
“Our system needs healing, not fixing,” she writes. “I cannot do this alone.” To help gather the needed support, we can get petitions and other pertinent information via the contact page on her website, www.awinnfornc.com, and we can gather registered voters’ signatures in the county or counties where we live and work. Winn Sams’ website also includes locales where petitions are already being hosted. Click “Sign The Petition” and help turn things around, starting locally.
— Arjuna da Silva
Black Mountain
Editor’s note: Da Silva reports that she is volunteering with Sams’ campaign.
While I appreciate anyone who has the gumption to seek public office, ballot access is only the first hurdle for an independent. The odds of actually winning an election are less than slim. It’s the reason, for example, why Bernie Sanders a long time independent runs in the Democratic Primary. At best (i.e. most successful) an independent candidacy is likely to act as a spoiler. Ross Perot managed a very well supported indy run in 1992 which many credit with helping Bill Clinton get elected. In the last presidential race there was no statistical proof that votes for the Green or Libertarian candidates, supported by enthusiastic partisans, had any effect on the outcome. Best of luck.