News

'We need new leadership,' Caskey says as he files to challenge Edwards

Brian Caskey, a Democratic candidate for the state Senate, talks to Elections Director Karen Hebb as he files for election.

By Bill Moss, Published: December 3, 2019

Vowing to stand up for the working poor, Democrat Brian Caskey officially filed to run for the North Carolina Senate seat held by Chuck Edwards.

“For the last 10 months, I’ve been campaigning all across District 48 and have attended hundreds of events in Buncombe, Henderson, and Transylvania counties," he said in a news release. "The one question that I expected to be asked, and haven’t been asked, is why I’m running. Nobody asks the question because it’s obvious to all that we need new leadership in Western North Carolina. We need effective leadership.”

Caskey, who was elected to the Mills River Town Council in 2017, has been an advocate for the environment, for health care, and for public education.
“It’s not effective leadership when food insecurity is an increasing problem in Western North Carolina," he said. "In WNC, one out of every four children does not know whether there will be food on the table at dinner time or not. Let's end rural hunger. Our children are our greatest treasure, and corporate tax breaks are contributing to the divide between rich and poor. Let's reinstate the Earned Income Tax Credit and reward our working poor, allowing them to feed their children and enjoy a better quality of life. My opponent, Chuck Edwards, believes in rewarding corporate donors instead of protecting our children. This is wrong. I will never let children go hungry.”
Caskey said that he will continue to serve on the Mills River Town Council during his campaign for the state Senate.

“I have a great rapport with my Republican colleagues on the Council, and we are accomplishing terrific things for our community," he said. "I have been able to reach across the aisle and negotiate in good faith at all times, and that kind of work for the ‘common good’ is what we need in Raleigh right now.”
“I was the first candidate to file because I will put the needs of the people who live in District 48 first. When Chuck Edwards is taking PAC money from Duke Energy and other corporate donors, who do you think he will put first?”
Caskey has scheduled at a campaign event from 7 to 9 Tuesday night at Dry Falls Brewing Co. on Busy Bend in Hendersonville and will be joined two Democratic candidates for the state House — Sam Edney of Pisgah Forest, running for the District 113 seat for the second election straight, and Josh Remillard, who is running for District 117.