Tarheel Dems

archived: 4 - 10 Jun, 2006         Back                 Next

                        DEMOCRATS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE 

Democrats made the difference in passing the minimum wage increase in the State House of Representatives last week.  House Bill 2714 passed; Ayes 72,   Noes: 43,   Not Voting: 1,   Excused Absent 4, raising the minimum wage by $1.00 to $6.15 per hour.   EVERY Democrat voting voted for the increase.  Only 11 Republicans voted for the increase, with 43 Republicans voting No.   

The vote should dispel the belief by some that Part does not make a difference.  If Republicans were the majority in the State House the minimum wage will would never have passed committee to come to a vote, much less passed on a vote of the full House.  

Carefully note that the 9 of the 11 Republicans voting for the bill are from mountain counties: Starnes, Walker, Wilson and Sherrill; or coastal counties; Stiller, Justice, Preston, Walker and West, but none from metropolitan areas.  One would suspect that these nine Republicans, from areas that rely on the tourist industry which has a large number of minimum wage jobs, were “inoculating” themselves from future Democratic Party attacks that they had voted against a living minimum wage for a large number of their constituents.   

The two Republicans;  Howard and Moore, not from coastal or mountain counties are from the textile piedmont, where concerns over job losses and citizens forced to take lower paying jobs may have led their “inoculating” themselves as well.    

The Senate passed an increase as a part of the State budget making a direct analysis more difficult.  However, in the Senate, all Democrats voted for the budget containing a minimum wage increase and only six Republicans voted for the budget.  

In the upcoming elections, Democrats across the State need to be making the case that it is the Democratic Party that made the difference for hard working families in North Carolina.  If Republicans had been in the majority, many North Carolinians would have been left working for a minimum wage that only ensured wages below the poverty line.                        

Party

District

Representative

Vote

District Counties

 

 

 

 

 

Dem

3

Alice Graham Underhill

Yea

Craven, Pamlico

Dem

63

Alice L. Bordsen

Yea

Alamance

Dem

58

Alma Adams

Yea

Guilford

Dem

6

Arthur Williams

Yea

Beaufort, Pitt

Dem

102

Becky Carney

Yea

Mecklenburg

Dem

33

Bernard Allen

Yea

Wake

Dem

101

Beverly M. Earle

Yea

Mecklenburg

Dem

50

Bill Faison

Yea

Caswell, Orange

Dem

1

Bill Owens

Yea

Camden, Currituck, Pasquotank, Tyrrell

Dem

112

Bob England, M.D.

Yea

Cleveland, Rutherford

Dem

115

Bruce Goforth

Yea

Buncombe

Dem

38

Deborah K. Ross

Yea

Wake

Dem

20

Dewey L. Hill

Yea

Brunswick, Columbus

Dem

46

Douglas Y. Yongue

Yea

Hoke, Robeson, Scotland

Dem

99

Drew Saunders

Yea

Mecklenburg

Dem

60

Earl Jones

Yea

Guilford

Dem

72

Earline W. Parmon

Yea

Forsyth

Dem

22

Edd Nye

Yea

Bladen, Cumberland

Dem

8

Edith D. Warren

Yea

Martin, Pitt

Dem

7

Edward Jones 

Yea

Halifax, Nash

Dem

48

Garland E. Pierce

Yea

Hoke, Robeson, Scotland

Dem

34

Grier Martin

Yea

Wake

Dem

31

Henry M. Michaux, Jr.

Yea

Durham

Dem

5

Howard J. Hunter, Jr.

Yea

Bertie, Gates, Hertford, Perquimans

Dem

81

Hugh Holliman

Yea

Davidson

Dem

100

James B. Black

Yea

Mecklenburg

Dem

32

James W. Crawford, Jr.

Yea

Granville, Vance

Dem

24

Jean Farmer-Butterfield

Yea

Edgecombe, Wilson

Dem

35

Jennifer Weiss

Yea

Wake

Dem

90

Jim Harrell, III

Yea

Alleghany, Surry

Dem

54

Joe Hackney

Yea

Chatham, Moore, Orange

Dem

23

Joe P. Tolson

Yea

Edgecombe, Wilson

Dem

21

Larry M. Bell

Yea

Sampson, Wayne

Dem

71

Larry Womble

Absent

Forsyth

Dem

39

Linda Coleman

Yea

Wake

Dem

77

Lorene Coates

Yea

Rowan

Dem

49

Lucy T. Allen

Yea

Franklin, Halifax, Nash

Dem

59

Maggie Jeffus

Yea

Guilford

Dem

44

Margaret Highsmith Dickson

Yea

Cumberland

Dem

9

Marian N. McLawhorn

Yea

Pitt

Dem

106

Martha B. Alexander

Yea

Mecklenburg

Dem

42

Marvin W. Lucas

Yea

Cumberland

Dem

43

Mary E. McAllister

Yea

Cumberland

Dem

66

Melanie Wade Goodwin

Yea

Montgomery, Richmond

Dem

27

Michael H. Wray

Yea

Northampton, Vance, Warren

Dem

65

Nelson Cole

Yea

Rockingham

Dem

30

Paul Luebke

Yea

Durham

Dem

29

Paul Miller

Yea

Durham

Dem

57

Pricey Harrison

Yea

Guilford

Dem

69

Pryor Gibson

Yea

Anson, Union

Dem

119

R. Phillip Haire

Yea

Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain

Dem

118

Ray Rapp

Yea

Haywood, Madison, Yancey

Dem

45

Rick Glazier

Yea

Cumberland

Dem

47

Ronnie Sutton

Yea

Robeson

Dem

4

Russell E. Tucker

Yea

Duplin, Onslow

Dem

114

Susan C. Fisher

Yea

Buncombe

Dem

18

Thomas E. Wright

Yea

New Hanover, Pender

Dem

2

Timothy L. Spear 

Yea

Chowan, Dare, Hyde, Washington

Dem

56

Verla Insko

Yea

Orange

Dem

55

W. A. (Winkie) Wilkins

Yea

Durham, Person

Dem

107

W. Pete Cunningham

Yea

Mecklenburg

Dem

86

Walter G. Church, Sr.

Yea

Burke

Dem

12

William L. Wainwright

Yea

Craven, Lenoir

Rep

70

Arlie F. Culp

No

Randolph

Rep

25

Bill Daughtridge

No

Nash

Rep

17

Bonner L. Stiller

Yea

Brunswick

Rep

91

Bryan R. Holloway

No

Rockingham, Stokes

Rep

16

Carolyn H. Justice

Yea

New Hanover, Pender

Rep

117

Carolyn K. Justus

No

Henderson

Rep

64

Cary D. Allred

No

Alamance

Rep

68

Curtis Blackwood

No

Union

Rep

74

Dale R. Folwell

No

Forsyth

Rep

19

Daniel F. McComas

No

New Hanover

Rep

67

David Almond

No

Montgomery, Stanly, Union

Rep

53

David R. Lewis

Yea

Harnett

Rep

110

Debbie A. Clary

No

Cleveland, Gaston

Rep

105

Doug Vinson

Not Voting

Mecklenburg

Rep

87

Edgar V. Starnes

Yea

Caldwell

Rep

76

Fred F. Steen, II

No

Rowan

Rep

14

George G. Cleveland

No