News

McGrady joins 'Republicans for Stein'

By Bill Moss, Published: September 20, 2024

On the same day that explosive reporting by CNN of Mark Robinson's porn website chatter threatened to wreck the Republican gubernatorial nominee's campaign, six former GOP state legislators endorsed the Democratic nominee, state Attorney General Josh Stein.

The “Republicans for Stein” announcement drew fully half its power from the N.C. mountains. Besides former state Rep. Chuck McGrady, the half dozen dissenters included former Sen. Jim Davis, an orthodontist from Macon County, and David Guice, who represented Transylvania County in the state House from 2009 to 2012, when Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue tapped him to run the state probation system.

McGrady, the former summer camp owner, Flat Rock Village Council member and Henderson County commissioner, has long blazed  a path independent of Republican Party doctrine. A former national Sierra Club president, he led efforts for comprehensive land-use planning in Henderson County, served for a decade as the lead drafter of environmental legislation in the N.C. House and joined Democrats and independents in an unsuccessful effort to liberate redistricting from partisan gerrymandering.

Other "Republicans for Stein” included Wake County Sen. Richard Stevens, who declared that Stein “has the right values, and he knows how to govern. I encourage my fellow Republicans and indeed all voters to truly consider who they want to be the face of our state and our leader for the next four years.”

The final two were former Reps. Chuck Neely and Wil Neumann, the daily N.C. politics newsletter North Carolina Tribune reported.