Senate District 18: State Sen. Chad Barefoot (R) vs. Gil Johnson (D)
Chad Barefoot is one of those North Carolina Senate Republicans that liberals love to hate, and they would love it if this is the year he goes down. Fortunately for those liberals, Barefoot represents a swing district and won’t have an easy reelection. This year, he’s being challenged by Democrat Gil Johnson, a member of the Franklin County School Board.
The district, the 18th, takes in not only Franklin County but Eastern Wake County as well. While Wake County as a whole is trending Democratic, Barefoot’s portion of Wake County gave him 54% of the vote two years ago, while Franklin County gave him just over 50%. The Wake County portion of the district is larger, so cutting down Barefoot’s margins in the small towns and rural areas of Eastern Wake is vital. Since Gil Johnson is from Franklin County, geography could be a problem.
Democrats particularly want to see Barefoot defeated for his attempt to redraw the County Commission and Board of Education lines in Wake County, which they viewed as egregious gerrymandering. The plans have since been struck down by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, but that hasn’t made Barefoot any less of a target.
One of the main challenges for Democrats this year, besides geography, will be money. In the last financial reporting quarter, Johnson had only $39,476 cash on hand, while Barefoot had $91,253, clearly prepared for a competitive election. Most observers feel that their best shot at Barefoot was two years ago when the Democratic nominee was Sarah Crawford, and they were disappointed when she fell short. Democrats may need to provide Johnson with a lot of money in order to prevail in this expensive district.
Education will be a key issue here. Like almost every Democrat seeking office, Johnson will charge that Republicans are shortchanging public education. Barefoot will argue that Republicans have provided for greater school choice. Barefoot will also emphasize jobs and the economy and the “Carolina Comeback” that he’ll say is a result of four years of Republican leadership.
This one gets a ranking of Leans Republican.
District Rating: Leans Republican
2014 Result
52.9% Barefoot (R)
47.1% Crawford (D)
Voter Registration
41.1% Democrat
33.9% Republican
24.7% Unaffiliated
72.0% White
21.6% Black
6.4% Other
Results in Other Elections
2012 President
52.2% Romney
46.7% Obama
2012 Governor
55.9% McCrory
41.7% Dalton
2010 Senate
55.6% Burr
42.3% Marshall
2008 Senate
49.9% Hagan
47.2% Dole
John Wynne is the “conservative voice” at PoliticsNC, where he also provides polling analysis and commentary on legislative campaigns. When not writing about politics, he enjoys gardening and listening to opera. Contact: johncwynne@gmail.com.
The real tragedy is that Barefoot’s mother-in-law IS A PAID Consultant (LOBBYIST) for the NC General Assembly for “religious issues” and was one of the creators of the SS Marriage ban. When that was struck down she and Chad and Berger came back with HB2! She is determined to impose her religious VIEWS on the lives of EVERY NC citizen no matter the cost in money or national embarrassment.
The federal and US Supreme courts stopped her and Chad Barefoot from taking NC back to 1953 and imposing legal discrimination once more.
Barefoot demonized Sarah Crawford’s husband as a lobbyist – he NEVER SAID “for whom” – it was for “clean water and the environment” the “ever dangerous fish and squirrels” That’s who. Before the ash fiasco.
Barefoot received over $900,000 from the RNC in 2014 and probably more this year to send full color mailers 1-2 AT A TIME, every other week to every home in the district. You can’t do that with grassroots money and HE was the one accusing Crawford of lobbyists buying her the seat!
Barefoot, his wife and his mother-in-law ALL draw salaries from the NC GA! They have been instrumental in the wasting of over $10 MILLION+ of taxpayer funds defending their unconstitutional legislation.
Nearly every major piece of legislation Barefoot has been involved with SINCE HE WAS ELECTED the 1st time has been struck down by court after court. The state’s educators have been the victims of “VERBAL WORD PLAY” in education funding while the governor and NC GA leaders pass MORE laws empowering themselves to hire OUTSIDE lawyers to spend taxpayer funds defending the indefensible.
Makes you wonder at the intelligence and morals of people that vote for a guy like Barefoot…
Couldn’t agree with you more, Jeff, about Barefoot. A waste of representation for my Senate district.
And all those full color mail flyers that jam my mailbox every week all tout one thing—Barefoot as a champion for public education! Such a crock! He, like all his GOP colleagues, like to claim how much they raised teacher salaries, but always fail to mention how those raises have not benefited the most experienced educators, and how the state still ranks in bottom 20% of states in teacher pay and per-student pay.
Of course, Barefoot doesn’t want any light shed on the unconstitutionality of laws he either supported or sponsored, like those on same-sex marriage, magistrate recusal, HB2, tax reform, and the gerrymandering of Wake County commissioner districts.
You progressives have such an eloquent and sophisticated way of expressing your hatred for those who don’t agree with your political opinions. Must make you feel really good.
“The environmentalists are on the attack again – and this time, Russia is in the mix.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Rasmussen stated last week that the Russians are “secretly” joining forces with extreme liberal environmental groups to spread misinformation regarding energy exploration by funding “anti-fracking groups.”
Their goal – maintain dependence on Russian natural gas.
You see, liberal environmentalists are outraged at the thought of US energy independence – in fact, they have already poured over $1 million dollars into negative attack ads against our campaign, smearing me for supporting a bipartisan, clean energy jobs plan. Will you donate $25, $50, $100, $500, or more right NOW so that we can fight back against these extremists?
It is time to set the record straight and get this campaign rolling with our own TV ads. We can’t let liberal, out-of-state special interests-even interests as far a field as Moscow and the Kremlin mislead the people of our district. That’s why I’m coming to you right now.
Please consider making a generous donation so that the truth can be heard.
Thank you for your continued support.”
A Chad Barefoot fundraising e-mail
Enough said.
Like I said. A dirtball…..
A “dirtball?” What an erudite vocabulary. And how very “progressive.”
Oh, I’m sorry.
Should have called him a prevaricating, mean-spirited, and closed-minded troglodyte.
Chad Barefoot is from the toxic waste wing of the Republican Party. A bible college graduate, Barefoot, one of the youngest senators in the General Assembly, has been a project of far right big money including Art Pope and the Koch Brothers. Barefoot supports the polluters who support him. Even though North Carolina is not known as a large source of the type of fuel which would justify large-scale fracking operations. Barefoot pushed through the state’s first fracking bill ever to pass the General Assembly. He has had the luxury of large amounts of money in his previous campaigns waging some of the most expensive campaigns in small districts.
He defeated Democrat Sarah Crawford two years ago for the 18th District seat. Barefoot painted an ugly picture of Crawford’s husband, a lobbyist, suggesting that Crawford’s husband was some fat cat in a smoky back room working nefarious schemes to profit himself and his fat cat clients. In fact, Barefoot was working the nefarious schemes with corporate polluters and taking their money. Barefoot’s ad budget was more than triple Crawford’s $1 million. So he was able to smear her husband with a false impression using money provided to him by polluters. It was true that Crawford’s husband worked as a lobbyist, but he was lobbyist for clean air and water. Barefoot’s money allowed his lies to capture the airwaves and create a false impression. Barefoot opposes clean air, clean water and clean campaigns.
Barefoot is also a supporter of the job-killing, reputation-destroying, idiotic HB2 which is causing businesses around the globe to recoil and run from North Carolina on racist grounds.
Chad Barefoot’s money advantage allows him to support filthy air, polluted water and wretched campaign ads which do not go near the truth. Just like Jesus.
Amen, Jay.
Barefoot is a dirtbag. He should be criticized (and made to pay at the voting booth) for leading the charge to have the state gerrymander local Wake Commission districts, which so far, the courts have found illegal. He should also be bashed for his full support of HB2, of the now unconstitutional state marriage amendment (as ruled so by the SCOTUS), and for the magistrates SSM marriage recusal law (which I believe will ultimately be thrown out by the courts, too, on discrimination grounds). He is a social issue reactionary, who has one of the lowest annual “legislative effectiveness” ratings among the media, lobbyists and her Senate colleagues. His ads against Crawford in 2014 were bold-faced lies, and those ads that attacked her spouse’s livelihood were abhorrent and hateful. He makes my skin crawl and he’s gotta go!