SC Congressman says Bob Etheridge
Stood with President Obama on tough votes
Rep. Jim Clyburn urges supporting Etheridge for Governor
South Carolina Representative Jim Clyburn is urging North Carolina voters to support his former colleague, Bob Etheridge, in his campaign for Governor.
Clyburn, the third ranking member of the Democratic leadership in Congress, said this week that Etheridge was “a strong supporter of President Obama’s economic policies” when he served in Congress. And, he said, Etheridge “helped write the President’s new health care law.”
“Now, Bob is running for Governor, because the Republican-controlled legislature cut education in North Carolina by a billion dollars and is jeopardizing the future of North Carolina’s children,” the South Carolina Congressman said.
Bob Etheridge served from 1989 to 1996 as the state’s superintendent of schools. “When Bob Etheridge was head of the state school system, North Carolina made real progress,” Clyburn said, adding that “student test scores went up more than any other state, more teachers were hired, and class sizes were reduced.”
Etheridge is the front-runner in the Democratic race for Governor going into the early voting period that started April 19 and runs through noon on May 5. Every independent poll taken since the campaign began in February has shown Etheridge leading by ten or more percentage points. The Democratic Primary is May 8.
Speaking to a group of supporters recently, Etheridge said he was proud of his support of President Obama on the tough votes like providing health care for all Americans and helping the nation begin its recovery from the recession. “I took a stand. I did not run away from the tough issues. Representative Clyburn called the health care bill ‘the 21st Century civil rights bill,’ and the politics of that vote were ugly. I’m proud of that vote because doing the right thing even in the face of fierce political opposition is the ultimate test of leadership.”
“I believe my demonstrated leadership distinguishes me from my opponents in this race,” Etheridge told his supporters. “As Governor, I will stand up to those forces that would block our growth, backpedal our progress and stop us from realizing the future that our citizens want, need and deserve.”.
Representative Clyburn said he was supporting his friend and former colleague because he had been such a strong supporter of the president’s and because “Bob Etheridge will get North Carolina’s schools back on track.”
Congressman Etheridge began his career in public service when he was a Harnett County businessman, became a county commissioner and pushed through the improvement and consolidation of the county’s high schools. He continued to support his family as a businessman as he served ten years in the state legislature.
Etheridge served eight years as the North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction, and was elected to Congress from the state’s second district, serving for fourteen years.
He and his wife of 46 years, Faye, have three grown children and eight grandchildren. He remains an active member of the Leaflet Presbyterian Church where he is an elder and long-time Sunday School teacher.
