10.19 Indy Week

WE KNOW WHY

What motivated a 15-year-old to shoot his brother and four neighbors in a quiet suburban community doesn’t matter. It happened because he had a gun.

By Leigh Tauss, p.6

Raleigh |

| Chapel

Raleigh

& CULTURE

SPENCER GRIFFITH AND JORDAN LAWRENCE

Hill

BY P.J. MORALES

Last week,

"Excellent article with sensitivity to populations that have been a part of Durham’s past," commenter BARBARA HARRIS wrote." My hope is that we learn from it and be inclusive in planning for the future.

Much to my dismay I see no signs that we have learned, massive crawl continues with the raping of the landscape and traffic jams.

There are no services, highways or other infrastructure to support the sprawl. The lost of trees alone is astounding and breaks my heart."

Some readers suggested that such displacement is inevitable.

"Neighborhoods change over time," commenter FRED DIETRICH emailed. "This is

inevitable. Currently there are many companies bringing high paying jobs to the area, some of these jobs are going to current Durham residents, to young people who grew up in Durham and are now returning, to newcomers to the area. These people are looking for housing. The areas that Nate Barker points out in his Op-Ed have the potential to be fabulous, livable, walkable, diverse neighborhoods, and we should celebrate that and be glad that people are willing to make their homes in these areas."

"Heck, if my property value went up 5x-10x like in some of the Durham and Raleigh neighborhoods we’re talking about, cashing in might be the best choice for my

family. These transactions are multifaceted and while there are big ugly corporate faces behind some of the deals, there are also lots of regular people causing (or allowing) gentrification ," commenter IAIN BURNETT wrote.

"While Nate makes some great points, he leaves out a couple key points in how to start fixing this. From what we understand: Half of the affordable housing money approved in 2019 still sits with City Council to approve spending almost 3 years later," STEPHEN KNILL wrote. "Free that up and see more progress. Too much of the money is being spent on planning and consultants versus actual rehab and construction."

COVER

by Jay Rembert via

by Nicole Pajor

Kevin Morby performs at Motorco Music Hall on Friday, Oct. 21. See calendar, page 28.)

PHOTO BY CHANTAL ANDERSON

QUICKBAIT State of the Races

BY JASMINE GALLUP jgallup@indyweek.com

Of the 435 seats in the U.S. House, only 85 are competitive races this year, according to the Cook Political Report. Control of the House will likely be determined by the 31 tossup races, one of which is in North Carolina. The U.S. Senate is a different story, with 35 of 50 seats up for grabs. Even with a majority of seats in contention this year, however, experts say control of the legislature will likely go to Republicans.

The race between Republican incumbent Tedd Budd and Democrat Cheri Beasley is almost a true toss-up. In the most recent polling from FiveThirtyEight, Budd is edging ahead with 45.4% of the vote, just ahead of Beasley with 43.8% of the vote.

Raleigh 15 MINUTES

DaQuanta Copeland, 42

Candidate for Raleigh mayor

BY JASMINE GALLUP jgallup@indyweek.com

What made you decide to run for mayor?

Being a longtime advocate of 25-plus years here in Raleigh, there’s just a great need. As a community advocate … I’ve worked with families who were sleeping in cars and business owners who were just trying to connect with the community. Also, I’m vice chair of the Health and Human Services Board of Wake County.

What matters most to you as a candidate?

The environment, housing, transportation, police accountability, gentrification, communication. All of those things tie together and equal quality of life. But the one thing that’s really hurting the community across the board, no matter what your income level is, is housing and housing affordability.

Do you agree with the council’s current strategy to address affordable housing?

No. Our current mayor talks about 5,700 housing units and wanting to do more, but we’re losing affordable housing by the thousands. So the depletion is nowhere [near] touching what you’re bragging about doing.

When you show up to a property that she’s talking about, you realize that it’s running for $2,400 a month, the buying price is starting out at $350,000 for 1,500 square feet. Who is that supposed to be affordable for? Surely not the general population of Raleigh.

The current council has allowed us to lose true affordable housing. Housing affordability and affordable housing is not the same. Affordable housing, which people are crying and begging for, is where you’re guaranteed to not spend more than a third of your income on housing.

What’s your plan to tackle affordable housing?

We should work with those property owners who are truly providing affordable housing. And some of the grant money and bonds should go into protecting

[affordable housing] and enforcing a certain amount. Raleigh is growing at a very rapid rate. We need to provide true incentives on the back end for property owners who are attempting to take the higher cost [of affordable housing] or sell [their property].

[Developers] are buying people out of Raleigh. We should make the benefit of affordable housing more enticing than a developer dangling a check. Because if someone is actually providing affordable housing, that means they understand the need.

If we blanketed that property owner so that the families didn’t have to eat that higher cost that they can’t afford, then we as a city, we will take care of our business owners as well as taking care of our family.

Why should people vote for you?

I’m the only candidate in this race who has been a resource in this community even when I needed the same resources. I’m the only candidate in this race who doesn’t require a title to care. When I’m just a mom, when I’m just DaQuanta, when I’m just a worker, I still care. When I see the need, it’s for me to help be the solution.

And I’m the only candidate that can truly stand and say “We’re going to do this together, and the only way it’s going to be successful is if we are together.” I’m not telling anybody what they need other than the fact that you need DaQuanta Copeland and DaQuanta needs you to pull it off.

YOUR WEEK. EVERY WEDNESDAY.

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We Know Why

What motivated a 15-year-old to shoot his brother and four neighbors in a quiet suburban community doesn’t matter. It happened because he had guns.

BY LEIGH TAUSS backtalk@indyweek.com

Tragedy strikes and everyone asks the same question: Why?

Why, after Knightdale High School was dismissed Thursday afternoon and students were bused back to their respective subur ban homes, did 15-year-old Austin Thomp son, a baby-faced sophomore, allegedly shoot and kill his own brother in his home in Hedingham before walking outside to slaughter four neighbors?

Why did Thompson supposedly wear all camouflage while carrying out the massa cre, which occurred on his terrifying path along a popular walking trail that twists through the golf courses that span the typ ically quiet, peaceful neighborhood?

Why, after an hours-long manhunt and standoff with police, did Thompson end up in critical condition, with life-threat ening injuries, from which he still remains hospitalized?

Why did any of this have to happen?

It didn’t. And the only answer that mat ters is the simplest.

It happened because he had guns.

“We must stop this mindless violence in America. We must address gun violence,” Raleigh mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said in a press conference just hours after the mass shooting, her face stricken with grief and anguish. “We have much to do, and tonight we have much to mourn.”

This week, the Raleigh community contin ued to reel from last week’s massacre, which left five residents dead, including an off-duty police officer, and two more injured. The vic tims range in age from 16 to 52.

James Roger Thompson, a junior at Knightdale High School, was found dead inside the family’s modest 1,200-squarefoot home. Two doors down, Nicole Con nors was killed on her front porch and found by her husband, who’d gone out to buy light bulbs and returned to find his wife

already deceased, their beloved dog Sami shot dead at her feet. Raleigh police officer Gabriel Torres was on his way to work when he was killed. Ultramarathoner and mother of three Susan Karnatz was running along the greenway when she was shot. Mary Marshall was on the phone with her fiancé when she heard gunshots and went chasing after her dog who’d slipped out of its collar, when she encountered the gunman.

Why did any of them have to die?

That’s the question The News & Observer posed to readers Sunday, publishing a front page honoring the victims whose names were spelled out in white over a background inked in solid black, a single word hanging above the names of the dead: Why?

There was no reporting on the front page, but the inside pages of the nationally owned print newspaper contained detailed coverage from journalists that spent the weekend tirelessly reporting the massacre as it unfolded and the devastation left in its wake. Heartbreaking stories revealed the lives of the victims and the unspeakable grief of loved ones left behind. Editorials called out how routine such massacres have become in the United States.

The United States has more guns than anywhere else in the world. There are more guns than there are people: 393 million guns in a country of 330 million people, according to Bloomberg News. That’s a lit tle over 120 guns per every 100 people, by far the largest ratio in the world (the sec ond is Yemen, which has about 53 guns for every 100 people). Since the pandemic, gun ownership has been on the rise. In 2020, background checks for firearm purchases jumped 40 percent from the previous year.

In 2022 so far, there have been 35,424 deaths due to gun violence according to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive, a national database dedicated to tracking

gun violence in the United States. There have been 545 mass shootings. In North Carolina, from 2014 through 2022, there have been 5,325 gun deaths and 112 mass shootings. On Sunday, a two-year-old in Benson shot himself with his father’s hand gun and died. Again this weekend, Heding ham was set on edge when police respond ed to shots fired inside another residence in the neighborhood.

Every day there are more shootings, more dead, more families left mourning, and more communities devastated. But of course, no article or editorial from the past few days comes close to answering the all-consum ing question of “Why?”

Along gun, one caller told dispatchers in one of the many 911 calls that flood ed the city just after five p.m., was what the white male shooter was seen holding as he traversed familiar streets. Moments later, police cars swarmed the neighbor hood and officers shouted to residents to shelter inside from an active shooter. For nearly four hours, the community waited in terror, not knowing if death would come to their doorstep, too.

By nine p.m., city officials confirmed the gunman was “contained but not in custody.” Shortly thereafter, Austin Thompson, who police radio traffic indicated was located

in a barn about a mile northeast of where the shooting started, would be taken to the hospital. WRAL reports that the suspect had a second firearm in addition to a shot gun, according to radio traffic. The threat was over, but it would be hours before the flashing red and blue lights of police cruis ers and sounds of helicopter blades circling overhead would leave the neighborhood.

Latecia Morse lives across the street from the shooter and can see the yellow police tape that still ropes off the Thompson home from her front doorstep.

Morse steps out onto the porch with me while her granddaughter paws at the screen door from inside. The day is idyllic, warm, and sunny, the leaves on the trees still a vivacious green.

“This is the first time I’ve been outside since it happened,” Morse says. “I just want ed to make sure it was safe. When some thing like this happens it makes you ner vous about going out.”

She’s not alone. A few houses away, Michelle Cole says she now looks up and down the street on the way to check her mailbox.

“Everybody seems like they are trying to get back to life as usual, but the energy is off,” Cole says.

Morse says she remembers seeing the Thompson boys often, but no one memo

PHOTO COURTESY OF UNSPLASH

ry stands out. She never spoke directly to them but recalled they’d ride bicycles in circles in the driveway but never wander beyond the boundaries of the property.

“They didn’t come out of the driveway …. They were confined to the area,” Morse says. “They seemed pretty normal.”

For two days, I knock on doors and inter view shell-shocked neighbors while report ing for national news outlets, trying to gather any detail I can about the shooter, the main priority for the national publica tions. Few are to be found.

Tracey Howard, Connors’s widower, who lives just two doors down from the Thomp sons, says the boy was quiet and described antisocial behavior. Lavarius Thompson (no relation), another resident six houses down, says he noticed “something disturb ing” about the teenager but didn’t go into detail about what exactly.

Most neighbors never spoke to the boys. The most intimate glimpse into their lives was a peek inside the front door to the Thompson home left briefly ajar by offi cers investigating. Three photos hang on the wall next to the door, containing the dark silhouettes of what appear to be two children. In all likelihood, two boys.

Two photos of the accused teen killer have been circulating online. One is a photo taken on the front porch of the home, where Austin Thompson stands next to his brother James, who is just a year older but several inches taller. Both boys are wear ing black athletic T-shirts. James flashes a forced half smile, while Austin’s mouth is clamped shut, his brow slightly furrowed above beady eyes.

The other photo is Austin Thompson’s yearbook photo. His dark eyes stare omi nously at the camera, lips slightly pursed.

Do those lips contain the answers we seek? What would they tell us? What would we ask?

Was Austin Thompson the victim of bul lying? Was he radicalized on the internet? What kind of music did he listen to? What video games did he play?

Did anyone think to ask him, “Are you OK?”

Mental health and violence in the media are important discussions to have—and ones we should keep having—but do not mistake them for why.

Is “Why?” even a relevant question anymore?

Austin Thompson’s parents have not spoken to the media since the horrific kill ing spree. One reporter told me the father, Alan Thompson, answered a phone call

but promptly hung up. Howard told me Alan Thompson was a friendly face in the neighborhood, eager to say hi or chat about sports.

According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, Alan Thompson is a reg istered Republican and has voted in the last five Republican primaries, including the most recent one in May.

Early voting for the November election begins this week. At the top of the bal lot, for a U.S. Senate seat, residents will be faced with one of the state’s most compet itive and impactful races, which pits Repub lican congressman and gun shop owner Ted Budd against former chief justice of the state supreme court Cheri Beasley, pro ponent of measures that would curb gun violence.

After the shooting, Beasley tweeted to her 62,000 followers, “We all have a responsi bility to prevent avoidable tragedies like last night from happening in other communities.”

Budd tweeted that he was “praying” for the victims and police officers, before quick ly pivoting to the topic of “#Bidenflation.”

Polling puts Beasley and Budd neck in neck in a race that may determine what party controls the U.S. Senate: the party pushing for gun control or the one fighting it tooth and nail.

By Monday, the national press had mostly moved on. News vans no longer scoured the neighborhood. About 150 people attended a vigil for the victims, lighting candles and shedding tears.

Back in Hedingham, yellow police tape is still wrapped around the Thompson res idence. It’s quiet, as residents say it usually is. On the golf course just a few hundred feet away from the home where the ram page began, a group of men are teeing off. Down the street, a couple walks their pug and pushes a baby stroller. A heart-shaped balloon dances in the wind at the bricked entrance to the neighborhood, surrounded by the many flowers and candles left by mourners to honor the dead.

Wake County district attorney Lorrin Freeman says she plans to charge Austin Thompson as an adult—that is, if he sur vives. Thompson was still clinging to life from a hospital bed Tuesday when this paper went to print.

Police are expected to release a five-day report Thursday. It will have a detailed nar rative of events but likely few answers to satisfy our national obsession with “Why?”

Why are we even asking anymore?

We know why.

It’s because of all the guns. W

Back in Service

This year, military veterans are serving the country in another way— at the polls.

BY LIA SALVATIERRA backtalk@indyweek.com

Army intelligence veteran James Hardaway retired in 2021 after 27 years. Yet his service continues: this election season, he’s working the polls.

Hardaway just completed his poll worker training as a computer technician in Wake County where he will pro cess voters in all different scenarios—such as registering and certifying them—as they enter the polling locations.

“I actually felt more confident after the training than I did going in,” Hardaway says “Numerous times through out the day there were comments from the trainers about how we were to remain nonpartisan.”

He found the job well suited for veterans like him.

“It’s kind of well within our wheelhouse,” Hardaway says. “The vast majority of veterans that I know are apolitical and nonpartisan and are able to—whatever their political leanings or beliefs are—keep those at bay, and not let those sorts of ideas influence how they do this job. Vet erans are absolutely well equipped to do this.”

Hardaway decided to sign up after hearing the call for election officials from the campaign Vet the Vote, a proj ect of the nonpartisan nonprofit organization We the

Veterans, a group founded to organize veterans and mili tary members around democracy building at home. Once retired, Hardaway relocated back to Cary and is currently pursuing his master’s degree in education at North Car olina State University. The focus of his thesis is media literacy, grounded in his interest in combating misinfor mation and disinformation. He found We the Veterans through this work.

The past few election cycles have seen widespread mis information and disinformation propagated concerning the integrity of the election process. These narratives strain local boards of elections attempting to administer safe elections and retain poll workers. Initiatives like Vet the Vote are finding ways to counter untrue narratives, such as Donald Trump’s “Big Lie,” and restore trust in elections. The specific campaign aims to remedy the two fold problem of a staffing shortage and declining faith in elections by recruiting veterans and military family mem bers as election workers.

Vet the Vote is focused on its goal of recruiting 100,000 election officials nationwide. This new roster of election

officials presents the special opportunity to educate indi viduals on the process of administering elections and in doing so, override conspiracies and distrust by leading citi zens to the understanding that the process is free and fair.

As of October 7, the campaign has reported the registra tion of 60,000 individuals via their website. Over 2,900 of those have registered in North Carolina, says Ingrid Sundlee, Vet the Vote’s director of civic engagement.

“Once we were able to get the VA, to talk about Vet the Vote, and importantly, the need for poll workers across the country, the veteran and military family communi ty proved exactly what we’ve been saying,” says Christa Sperling, the Asheville-based co-founder of Vet the Vote. “They signed up in droves to support this and to support their communities.”

Individuals can sign up to be an election official on the Vet the Vote website, which in North Carolina directs interested poll workers to the 2022 Democracy Heroes form. The form requires applicants to indicate their name, county, registration, and mailing and physical address as well as some preferences concerning shifts.

Most importantly, poll workers are distinct from poll observers who are designated by respective county par ties. Poll workers administer elections, and are to remain neutral during their training and work.

In North Carolina, a WRAL news poll from earlier this month found that only 39 percent of 677 likely voters in the state have full confidence that their votes will be counted accurately.

“There is more attention on election processes than ever, at least partly due to rampant mis- and disinforma tion,” says Patrick Gannon, public information director for the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE).

“The state board and county boards of elections are focused intently on conducting the 2022 general elec tion,” he continues, “implementing tried and true pro cesses and procedures that work to ensure every eligible voter’s ballot counts.”

For co-founder Sperling, an Air Force veteran, the ini tiative’s focus on veterans is an organic fit due to their propensity for service. Yet, she says, there’s also a sec ondary reason.

The veteran community has been preyed on by groups spreading mis- and disinformation.

“The veteran community isn’t any more vulnerable to misinformation than the rest of society, but they are tar

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PEXELS

geted by bad actors who seek to disrupt our democratic processes/sow division because their voices tend to lend credibil ity,” Sperling says via email.

Sperling says she believes that the cam paign has the potential to not only restore trust among veterans, but also among the general public.

“[Veterans] are one of the most trusted groups in the United States and also they are geographically diverse,” she explains. “They are diverse, just generally as a group coming from all walks of life.”

Sperling says that the campaign is push ing civics, not politics. She hopes what starts as a campaign will cement as a new civic norm and way for this community to continue defending democracy.

“Those are two different things,” Sper ling says. “Civics is really about knowing how your government works and how the process works, and getting involved in your local community, at every level. That’s real ly what we’re trying to instill by this Vet the Vote campaign.”

To Hardaway, who is registered as an independent, it’s clear that the veter an community is targeted by political agendas and those spreading mis- and disinformation.

A survey conducted in 2019 by the Viet nam Veterans of America found evidence of this both during and after the 2016 elec tions. The study “documented persistent, pervasive, and coordinated online target ing of American servicemembers, veterans, and their families by foreign entities who seek to disrupt American democracy.”

And those attacks, Hardaway believes, are still a threat.

“There are organizations out there— militias, alt-right groups—who target us because we bring a certain brand to the table,” Hardaway explains. “And at the same time, we are potentially vulnerable to misinformation.”

Hardaway says that veterans have both skill sets and perceived political leanings that bad actors capitalize on.

“People think that because we partici pated or were part of the military for so long, that we lean to one political party or another … people tend to take advantage of those leanings,” Hardaway says.

“If you look at the people who have been indicted for the January 6 crimes and in the Capitol, a large portion of those peo ple had ties to alt-right groups or orga nizations,” he says. “If you dig into those reports that were released recently, they’ve

recruited from and target specifically the veteran community.”

Hardaway says that a lot of extremist organizations are seeking skill sets that veterans have honed over years.

“That could be anything from know ing how to use weapons and explosives to basic leadership skills, organizational skills, public speaking skills, public affairs,” he says. “All these skills can be found in the military, and are honed over years of training. If these extremist organizations can get people who have those skills into their groups, then they save a ton of time and effort trying to train [for those] skills, as we can bring those and go to work immediately.”

Gannon says that he has not received reports of particular counties that are still in need of poll workers.

Last election cycle, in 2020, the North Carolina Board of Elections (NCSBE) actu ally won an award for recruiting, retain ing, and training poll workers through their Democracy Heroes campaign that also called on citizens to staff the polls.

But this season, a number of coun ties are dealing with distrust in elec tions. In September and October, coun ties have reported that their local boards of elections officials are already strained responding to election equipment misin formation, as reported by North Carolina Public Radio and NC Policy Watch.

Nationally, one out of five local election officials reported their intent to retire from their duties by the 2024 Presidential Elec tion, citing attacks on election systems by political leaders as well as intensified stress, according to a survey by the Bren nan Center for Justice.

The Wake County Board of Elections, despite being equipped with enough poll workers for the upcoming elec tions, reported a cascade of intimida tion, threats, and a deluge of public records requests.

Surry County has also reported prob lems with election deniers specifically con cerned about voting machinery. In April, Reuters reported, Michella Huff, director of the Surry County Board of Elections, was threatened with termination by Surry County GOP leader William Keith Senter for refusing to allow him to illegally access election equipment to confirm conspira cies of fraud.

Huff said that although individuals have stopped demanding access to machinery, they do continue attending Surry Coun ty Board of Commissioners meetings to demand the removal of certain voting machines like the DS200 and electronic poll books.

As of October 7, Huff noted, the coun ty’s last scheduled election official training went by without filling all necessary poll worker positions. Surry County still needs 15 more poll workers.

Angie Harrison, the deputy director of the Surry County Board of Elections, said that part of the challenge has been reject ing interested candidates who fail the county’s non-partisan screening process.

“You just have to be a little more cau tious as to whether or not there’s a parti san agenda,” Harrison said.

That is where Hardaway and Sper ling say they believe veterans can step in, if not for this election cycle, then in the future.

For now, nationally and regionally as the push continues, Sperling is hopeful that they can meet their goal of 100,000 newly registered veteran poll workers by November.

“Over the last several months, we’ve been really kind of bootstrapping it as an organization and just trying, you know, finding ways to reach this community,” Sperling says. “We know that if we put out the call, veterans and military family members will answer it. They will serve their communities.” W

“[Veterans] are one of the most trusted groups in the United States and they are geographically diverse. They are diverse just generally, coming from all walks of life.”

voter guide

voter guide

Federal & North Carolina

U.S. Senate

Cheri Beasley Judicial races

(elected statewide)

Supreme Court Justice Seat 3

Lucy Inman Supreme Court Justice Seat 5

Sam J. Ervin IV

NC Court of Appeals Seat 8

Carolyn J. Thompson NC Court of Appeals Seat 9

Brad A. Salmon NC Court of Appeals Seat 10

Gale M. Adams

NC Court of Appeals Seat 11

Darren Jackson

Local Races

Durham County

U.S. House 4

Valerie P. Foushee

NC Senate District 20

Natalie S. Murdock

NC Senate District 22

Mike Woodard

NC House District 2

Ray Je ers

NC House District 29

Vernetta Alston

NC House District 30

Marcia Morey

NC House District 31 Zack Hawkins

Durham DA

Satana Deberry

Durham Clerk of Superior Court

Aminah Thompson Durham Sheriff Clarence Birkhead

Durham Soil & Water District Supervisor David Harris NC Superior Court Judge District 14B, Seat 1

Brian C. Wilks

NC District Court 14, Seat 1 Dave Hall

NC District Court 14, Seat 2

Doretta L. Walker NC District Court 14, Seat 3

Kevin E. Jones

NC District Court 14, Seat 4

Dorothy H. Mitchell NC District Court 14, Seat 5

Clayton Jones NC District Court 14, Seat 6

Amanda L. Maris

Durham County School Bonds

Vote YES

Durham County Community College Bonds

Vote YES

Durham County Museum Bonds

Vote YES

Orange County

U.S. House 4

Valerie P. Foushee

NC Senate District 23 Graig R. Meyer

NC House District 50 Renee Price

NC House District 56 Allen Buansi

Orange DA Je Nieman

Orange Sheriff Charles Blackwood

Orange Clerk of Superior Court Mark Kleinschmidt

Orange Register of Deeds

Mark H. Chilton

NC Superior Court 15B, Seat 1

Alyson A. Grine

NC Superior Court 15B, Seat 2

Allen Baddour

NC District Court 15B, Seat 1 C. Todd Roper

Orange Board of Commissioners At Large

Sally Greene

Orange Board of Commissioners District 1

Jamezetta R. Bedford

Orange Board of Commissioners District 1 (unexpired term) Anna Richards

Orange Board of Commissioners District 2 Earl McKee

Orange Soil & Water District Supervisor W. Chris Hogan

Wake County

U.S. House 2

Deborah K. Ross U.S. House 13 Wiley Nickel NC Senate District 13 Lisa Grafstein

NC Senate District 14 Dan Blue

NC Senate District 15 Jay J. Chaudhuri

NC Senate District 16 Gale Adcock

NC Senate District 17 Sydney Batch

NC Senate District 18 Mary Wills Bode

NC House District 11 Allison A. Dahle

NC House District 21 Ya Liu

NC House District 33 Rosa U. Gill

NC House District 34 Tim Longest

NC House District 35 Terence Everitt

NC House District 36 Julie von Haefen

NC House District 37 Christine Kelly NC House District 38 Abe Jones

NC House District 39 James A. Roberson

NC House District 40 Joe John

NC House District 41 Maria Cervania

NC House District 49 Cynthia Ball

NC House District 66 Sarah Crawford

Wake DA

Nancy (Lorrin) Freeman

Wake Sheriff Willie Rowe

Wake Clerk of Superior Court Blair Williams

Wake Board of County Commissioners Dist. 1 Donald Mial

Wake Board of County Commissioners Dist. 2 Matt Calabria

Wake Board of County Commissioners Dist. 3 Cheryl Stallings

Wake Board of County Commissioners Dist. 7 Vickie Adamson

Wake Soil & Water Conservation District Supervisor Jenna Wadsworth Alex Baldwin

Wake County Board of Education Dist. 1 Ben Clapsaddle

Wake County Board of Education Dist. 2 Monika JohnsonHostler

Wake County Board of Education Dist. 3 Doug Hammack

Wake County Board of Education Dist. 4 Tara Waters

Wake County Board of Education Dist. 5 Lynn Edmonds

Wake County Board of Education Dist. 6 Sam Hershey

Wake County Board of Education Dist. 7 Chris Heagarty

Wake County Board of Education Dist. 8 Lindsay Maha ey

Wake County Board of Education Dist. 9 Tyler Swanson

Wake School Bonds Vote YES

Wake Tech Bonds Vote YES

NC Superior Court District 10A, Seat 1 Paul C. Ridgeway

NC District Court District 10A, Seat 3 (unexpired)

Cynthia B. Kenney

NC District Court District 10B, Seat 1 David K. Baker

NC District Court District 10D, Seat 1 Margaret Eagles

NC District Court District 10D, Seat 4 (unexpired)

Rhonda Graham Young

NC District Court District 10E, Seat 1 Sam Hamadani

NC District Court District 10E, Seat 2 Louis Meyer

NC District Court District 10F, Seat 1 Jennifer Bedford

endorsements

U.S. Senate & congressional races U.S. Senate & congressional races

U.S. Senate Cheri Beasley (D)

For the first time in almost a decade, North Carolinians have a fighting chance at electing a senator who actually cares about us. We do not want to mess this one up.

The INDY unflinchingly endorses Cheri Beasley, a former chief justice of the state supreme court, whose sensible-yet-spirited approach to leadership will not play a pivotal role not only in passing key legislation—her priorities include expanding Medicare, protecting reproductive freedoms, and improving housing affordability—but in steadying our country’s teetering democracy.

Welcome to our 2022 general election endorsements and voter guide. Here you will find endorsements of political candidates whom our staff of writers and editors have decided deserve your vote following months of reporting. We reviewed the candidates’ platforms and their comments at debates and public forums, secured public records, and interviewed sources and community members. Please note several candidates running unopposed in November were omitted from these write-ups, but they appear in our clip-out voting guide if they've earned our endorsement.

So many important issues hinge on the outcome of the election this year—from preserving abortion access to curbing gun violence to fully funding public education—that casting a ballot is more important than ever. It's no exaggeration to say that democracy is on the line.

Thank you for continuing to look to INDY Week as a resource to help inform your vote.

Due to last week’s terrible mass shooting, we will release our endorsements for Raleigh’s municipal election on October 26.

—The INDY Week editorial team

U.S. House 02

Deborah Ross

When Deborah Ross was first elected to the U.S. House in 2020, she became the first Democratic Party candidate elected in over a decade to represent the state’s 2nd Congressional District.

The civil rights lawyer was first elected in 2002 to serve in the NC House, where she worked to protect voting rights, provide access to affordable housing, and raise the minimum wage for state employees. The incumbent lists her top priorities as lowering prescription drug prices, pursuing racial justice under the law, investing in infrastructure, and combating climate change.

Republican challenger Christine Villaverde promises to fight any taxpayer initiative to expand abortion and says that “progressives have imposed a destructive Critical Race Theory curriculum” that “attempts to rewrite history” and indoctrinates students with “toxic messaging” that divides the country.

CRT isn’t taught in North Carolina’s public schools, but hey, never let the truth get in the way of a divisive political campaign.

U.S. House 04

In her two decades on the bench, Beasley ruled with an even hand while acknowledging—and taking steps to combat—the entrenched inequities of the criminal justice system, and during her senatorial campaign, she has shown to be principled and hardworking, standing by her promise to not accept corporate PAC donations and engaging with voters in every county in the state.

“She is independent and bold, even in the face of colleagues who say, ‘That’s not the way I see it,’” Patricia TimmonsGoodson, a retired NC Supreme Court justice, told the INDY last month.

Beasley’s opponent, on the other hand, raises more red flags than a matador convention. In his six years as a U.S. congressman, Ted Budd, who is endorsed by Donald Trump, has consistently voted and behaved in ways that benefit his corporate backers while harming his central North Carolinian constituents, and he recently cosponsored a nationwide abortion ban that would violate the basic human rights of millions of people.

A gun store owner in an era marked by mass shootings, and a Trump endorsee in a country still reeling from the January 6 insurrection, Budd’s platform and voting record are incongruous with the needs of our nation; his time in Congress must come to an end.

Valerie Foushee

An Orange County native with over two decades of experience in public office, state senator Valerie Foushee has vowed that she will work to enhance equity in education, reform the criminal justice system, expand healthcare access, and combat environmental racism if elected to the U.S. House—and based on her record of fighting for progressive rights as a school board member, county commissioner, and state legislator, we believe her. The INDY endorses Foushee as the best candidate to fill Rep. David Price’s vacant seat.

We do have some qualms with Foushee’s acceptance of $2.4 million in Super PAC contributions in the months leading up to the May primary. The INDY plans to monitor whether Foushee’s corporate backers have an undue influence on the way she votes in Congress and encourages our readers to do the same.

But Foushee is far and away the better candidate than her challenger, nurse Courtney Geels. Geels has no political experience and wants to defund Planned Parenthood, eliminate vaccine mandates in healthcare facilities, and other nonsense.

Federal & North Carolina

U.S. House 13 Wiley Nickel

Of all the congressional contests in the country this November, this race—which will be decided by swing voters in District 13’s rural battleground—is one of the few true toss-ups and will play a major role in determining the balance of power in the U.S. House.

The INDY endorses Wiley Nickel, a state senator and criminal defense attorney who worked as a White House staffer for Barack Obama. While some of Nickel’s stances are a bit moderate for our taste, his voting record in the General Assembly is solidly progressive, as are his priorities for Congress, which include funding community safety programs and improving housing affordability.

Nickel’s opponent, Trump-endorsed political newcomer Bo Hines, is hard to take seriously (if you missed his “banana republic” gaffe, look it up)—but he’s dangerous nonetheless. Hines has supported a total ban on abortion with no exceptions and touts a host of other far-right stances that are out of step with the ideals of most North Carolinians.

Supreme Court Justice Seat 3 Lucy Inman

For Seat 3, the INDY endorses Lucy Inman, a oneterm appellate court judge who has received a slew of endorsements from retired jurists across the political spectrum. Inman has authored more than 500 court opinions, including concurring and dissenting opinions that the state Supreme Court has adopted. Inman also has experience as a trial judge, working in courthouses across the state. We see Inman to be an incisive, even-handed judge and trust her to uphold the constitutional rights of North Carolinians.

Inman is running against her appellate court benchmate Justice Richard Dietz. In his eight years as an appellate judge, Dietz has never written a dissenting opinion, which he attributes to his “consensus building” skills. But that makes us worry that Dietz won’t speak up if other Supreme Court justices try to take our rights away.

Inman is the better candidate with more, and more diverse, judicial experience.

Supreme Court Justice Seat 5 Sam J. Ervin IV

Sam J. Ervin IV was elected to the state’s highest court in 2014. He says that his judicial philosophy is centered on fairness.

Ervin says voters can choose judges who are fair and impartial or a

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court system that’s little more than a partisan political institution.

“I decided to run for re-election because I believe that you deserve a Supreme Court where every case is decided based solely on the law and the facts,” Ervin says on his campaign website, “not on a judge’s partisan politics or ideological beliefs.”

Ervin’s challenger, Curtis “Trey” Allen is a Robeson County native, Marine Corps veteran, and law professor at UNCChapel Hill. Allen says that he is a constitutional originalist and without an ounce of irony asserts on his campaign website: “When judges issue rulings based on their political views they exceed their authority and abuse the public’s trust.”

NC Court of Appeals 08

Carolyn Thompson

Carolyn J. Thompson amassed over two decades on the bench and presided over thousands of cases as a district and superior court judge.

“Each case deserved and received my thoughtful preparation, respect and knowledge of the law,” she states on her website.

Thompson points to her record as an attorney representing victims of domestic violence and, as district court judge, changing the court calendar so that domestic violence cases could be heard separately from other civil cases.

Thompson says she is “committed to serving with integrity, fairness, and impartiality.”

Her opponent Julee Flood is native of Florida who moved to North Carolina in 2003. Flood, who cofounded with her husband a “multistate veterinary business,” says her judicial philosophy is rooted in fairness. She believes in judicial restraint, consistency in applying the law, and adhering to the original language of the state and federal constitutions “as originally written and understood.”

NC Court of Appeals 09

Brad Salmon

Late last year, Gov. Roy Cooper appointed Brad Salmon to serve as district court judge to Judicial District 11, which covers Johnston, Harnett, and Lee Counties.

“Brad Salmon has demonstrated leadership skills and legal knowledge throughout his career,” Cooper stated. Salmon was a member of the NC House in 2015–16. He sponsored bills on behalf of military veterans coping with posttraumatic stress and to protect the elderly from exploitation.

Salmon is challenging incumbent Donna Stroud, who was first elected in 2006. Stroud describes herself on her campaign website as “NC’s first conservative to serve as Chief Justice on the Nc Court of Appeals.”

Stroud promises to continue her work of “enforcing the law as it is written and upholding the Constitutions of the United States and North Carolina.”

NC Court of Appeals 10 Gale Adams

Last year in May, state and national news outlets reported that state appeals court incumbent John Marsh Tyson had been summoned to court in Cumberland County after he was accused of aiming his sports utility vehicle at Black Lives Matter protesters in downtown Fayetteville.

One month later, charges were dismissed against Tyson, who was last elected to the court of appeals in 2014 and had previously won election in 2000 but was not reelected in 2008.

Challenger Gale Adams says she was raised in the tobacco fields of Warren County and worked multiple jobs to pay her way through law school.

She went on to serve in the armed forces as a judge advocate general and later as a private attorney, assistant prosecutor, and federal public defender before she was elected in 2012 to serve as resident senior judge in Cumberland County.

“Then and now, I approach cases carefully and thoughtfully with the resolve to render a fair and equitable decision for all concern,” she states on her website.

NC Court of Appeals 11 Darren Jackson

Former NC House minority leader Darren Jackson was appointed to a state court of appeals seat that was left vacant when Phil Berger Jr. was elected to the state supreme court.

Jackson has garnered endorsements from the NC Association of Educators, the NC Association of Women Attorneys, and the Black Political Caucus of CharlotteMecklenburg.

Jackson, on his campaign website, says that he has written at least 11 dissents during his brief tenure with the state court of appeals.

“Although writing a dissent often means more work for me and my staff, I think it’s important that when I disagree with the majority opinion to express why I believe that,” states Jackson, who adds that a dissent from the court of appeals also provides the losing party the right to file an appeal with the state supreme court.

Jackson’s challenger Michael Stadling is a former Mecklenburg County prosecutor, district court judge, and current judge advocate officer with the U.S. Air Force.

In February, Stadling also reported in his year-end report that he had raised $171,306, a total that his website describes as “a modern record in state history.”

With endorsements from the NC Police Benevolent Association and the NC Fraternal Order of Police, Stadling says he will uphold the Constitution, defend law and order, and protect American values.

Local Races

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NC Senate District 20

Natalie Murdock

We only have good things to say about incumbent Natalie Murdock, a North Carolina native who founded a forward-thinking communications firm and served on Durham’s Soil and Water Conservation board before joining the state senate in 2020. In the General Assembly, Murdock has proven to be a bright and effective representative whose expertise as a small business owner and environmental advocate has given her an edge in helping to pass legislation that incentivizes renewable energy systems and supports business owners and their workers.

Murdock’s opponent, retired programmer Alvin Reed, is a far-right candidate whose views do not reflect the values of the progressive 20th District.

NC Senate District 22

Mike Woodard

The General Assembly would do well to hold on to Mike Woodard, a former Durham City Council member with five state senate terms under his belt. We particularly like how Woodard advocates for workers and small businesses; he supports raising the minimum wage, recognizing that even “$15 per hour is still not providing a living wage” in places like Durham, and has sponsored legislation that would open doors for purveyors struggling to operate under archaic state liquor laws. We don’t agree with Woodard’s statement that a 20-week abortion cutoff is “about right” but prefer this stance to that of his opponent, Larry Coleman, an unqualified candidate who supports harsher abortion restrictions.

NC House District 2

Ray Jeffers

Seeking his first term in the General Assembly, Jeffers brings a wealth of knowledge to this north Durham County house district, which includes all of Person County. For more than a decade, Jeffers has served as a county commissioner in Person, most recently as its chair, and in 2013 became the youngest person to serve as president of the NC Association of County Commissioners. He faces Republican incumbent Larry Yarborough, a candidate he knows well. In 2014, Yarborough defeated Jeffers for the house district by 14 percentage points.

Sheriff Clarence Birkhead

When incumbent Durham County sheriff Clarence Birkhead was first elected in 2019, he was one of seven Black sheriffs elected to the position in the state’s largest counties.

Birkhead, who won his primary with more than 80 percent of the vote, is being challenged by retired FBI agent and Durham native Maria Jocys.

From the onset of Jocys announcing her campaign, the race has been contentious.

Birkhead has endorsements from the city’s most influential political action committees and a list of first-term accomplishments that include rejecting ICE detainers that “target marginalized communities” and banning “no-knock warrants.”

Soon after retiring from the FBI in December, Jocys started a website and persuaded 4 percent of Durham’s registered voters to sign a petition that would allow her to run as an unaffiliated sheriff’s candidate. Jocys has introduced a “six-point reform agenda” that includes a “total ban” on no-knock warrants. She also questions whether the incumbent has banned “no-knock” warrants as he says he has.

Jocys’s experience working for the FBI definitely qualifies her for the job as sheriff. But as a Durham native, she’s not very well known in the community, and it’s not clear what her contributions have been. So while his tenure as sheriff has been problematic at times, we’re sticking with Birkhead for another term.

Soil and Water District Supervisor David Harris

As worsening floods pose threats to Durham’s land and water quality, we throw our support behind incumbent supervisor David Harris, a Rougemont native with farming roots and a long history of environmental preservation efforts.

We don’t know enough about the race’s other candidate, Mark Waller, to make an endorsement, but assuming Waller wins the board’s second open seat—and he should, as he's the only other candidate running—we look forward to meeting him.

NC House District 30 Marcia Morey

Morey is a Democratic stalwart in this Northwest Durham district, which she’s served since 2017. A retired judge, Morey came to Raleigh with a reformer’s approach to criminal justice and helped champion the legislature’s “Raise the Age” initiative into law. Gun safety, voting rights, public school funding, workers’ rights, and reproductive freedom are among her legislative priorities as she pursues her fourth term. This is a slam-dunk endorsement in a reliably liberal district that Republicans have no realistic chance of flipping anytime soon.

NC House District 31

Zack Hawkins

The state GOP didn’t even bother to fund an opponent in the race for this house district, which stretches across Southeast Durham. First elected to the house in 2018 with a whopping 81 percent of the vote, Hawkins is seeking a third term. His lone opponent is Libertarian Sean Haugh, whom he handily bested for the seat two years ago. Hawkins, a former Durham public high school teacher with deep roots in the community, is an easy endorsement in a district he’s represented honorably.

Races

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Durham County School Bonds

Vote YES

endorsements

Given the historical underfunding of North Carolina public schools—and given the past three years that educators have experienced—the INDY is excited at the opportunity to endorse this $423.5 million referendum, which will back much-needed renovations for 14 existing Durham schools and fund the construction of a new elementary school in Hope Valley, both of which will help the school system adapt to the city’s rapid population growth. The referendum will also underwrite costs for a new Durham School of the Arts campus, as the magnet school’s current downtown campus is centered on a decaying 100-year-old building with windowless basement classrooms and a host of safety and security risks.

Durham County Community College Bonds

Vote YES

Durham Technical Community College intends to use the bulk of this $112.7 million referendum to construct new training centers for its health and life sciences programs, an initiative that the INDY staunchly supports. As companies bring job opportunities for life sciences researchers, and as Duke Health seeks new workers amid its ongoing staff shortages, it is imperative that Durham offers accessible training facilities to its existing residents. With this bond, Durham Tech would ensure that community members have avenues to high-paying jobs and provide a diverse, localized workforce pipeline.

Durham County Museum Bonds

Vote YES

Given that Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has expressed a desire to remove science curricula from elementary school classrooms, it is critically important that we channel resources toward accessible learning environments like the Museum of Life and Science. The INDY wholeheartedly endorses this $14 million referendum, which will help expand and modernize the museum’s facilities with exhibits centered on climate change and other pressing scientific challenges. These funds will play an integral role in equipping and energizing the next generation for all that lies ahead.

Local Races

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Soil and Water District Supervisor W. Chris Hogan

This race has two candidates and two open seats, but we don’t know much about Richal Vanhook, so we’re offering our full support to incumbent W. Chris Hogan. As the climate grows increasingly extreme and unpredictable, we trust Hogan, a longtime board member with deep roots in Orange County agriculture, to stand up for both farmers and the natural environment.

NC House District 50

Renée Price

Renée Price, who chairs the Orange County Board of Commissioners, says that if she is elected in her quest to serve in the General Assembly, she will “rise up and speak out” to help “assure our freedoms and justice.”

Price says she will protect voting rights and address climate change, along with criminal justice reform. She describes education as a bridge builder that breaks down barriers and cross-cultural understanding. Her Republican opponent, Charles Lopez of Mebane, is a human resources manager, who says “the right are under attack” and “voter integrity” is a nonpartisan issue.

“Did Donald Trump really lose to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election?” he asks on his campaign website. “Our democracy is under threat when people no longer have confidence in its elections.” The choice here is clear.

NC House District 56

Allen Buansi (unopposed)

Civil rights attorney Allen Buansi proved to be an energetic and equity-minded leader during his four years on the Chapel Hill town council, where he successfully worked to increase the town’s affordable housing fund, pass a nondiscrimination ordinance, and issue a comprehensive climate action plan. We look forward to following Buansi’s next chapter in the General Assembly.

NC Senate District 13 Lisa Grafstein

With all the politics in the air, it’s hard to find a candidate you can truly care about, but Lisa Grafstein fits the bill. The 55-year-old civil rights attorney has spent decades fighting for the little guy and has an overwhelmingly progressive stance on worker’s rights, health care, and election integrity. Not only does she want to raise the minimum wage, but she’s unabashed about supporting unions. Grafstein also shares the worries of women everywhere regarding Roe v. Wade and says she will make protecting abortion rights a priority. Finally, she’s in support of a nonpartisan redistricting commission and has the expertise to fight for her case. In this race, Grafstein is the clear choice over her Republican opponent, David Bankert, and Libertarian Michael Munger.

NC Senate District 14 Dan Blue

Blue is a four-decade liberal stalwart in the General Assembly, a man with arguably unmatched institutional knowledge of state government as well as his southern Wake County district. He’s well deserving of his role as senate minority leader. First elected to the legislature in 1980, Blue rose as high as house speaker during his 20-plus years in the lower chamber before moving on to the state senate, where he seeks a seventh term. No need to beat a dead horse here. Few are as deserving of another term.

NC Senate District 15 Jay J. Chaudhuri

The senate Democratic whip is seeking his fourth term in office, and we see no reason he shouldn’t have the honor. An attorney by trade, Chaudhuri was a trusted liberal voice and adviser at the highest levels of state government for nearly four decades, including stints as special counsel to then attorney general Roy Cooper and former state treasurer Janet Cowell. Chaudhuri is a safe, knowledgeable, and well-liked face within Democratic circles who is best positioned to represent this left-leaning district again.

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NC Senate District 16 Gale Adcock

A retired nurse, Adcock is seeking the seat left open by Wiley Nickel’s departure in his pursuit of a congressional seat. Adcock brings experience as a legislator as well as deep knowledge of this western Wake County area, which she has represented since 2015 as a state house member. As you’d expect from someone with three decades of experience as a nurse practitioner, Adcock’s priorities as a lawmaker include ensuring quality access to health care, which includes pushing lawmakers to (finally) expand Medicaid.

NC Senate District 17

Sydney Batch

Appointed to the senate by Governor Cooper in January 2021 following the resignation of fellow Democrat Sam Searcy, Batch served the equivalent of a full two-year term during her first stint in the upper chamber. Before joining the senate, she represented one of the county’s more right-leaning areas in southern Wake as a house member from District 37. An attorney by trade, Batch’s legislative priorities include strong public school funding and healthcare affordability. She’s also a champion of clean drinking water, the pursuit of which is a never-ending battle in the state.

NC Senate District 18

Mary Willis Bode

A relative newcomer to state politics, Bode is seeking a first term in the General Assembly against an opponent with more name recognition: E.C. Sykes, the Republican nominee for secretary of state two years ago. While new to the process of running for state office, Bode isn’t new to the hard work of making North Carolina better. Her experience includes past and present leadership roles within good-government nonprofits and coalitions, such as North Carolinians for Redistricting Reform and the voter outreach group New North Carolina Project.

NC House District 11

Allison Dahle (unopposed)

Dahle is running unopposed for a third term in NC House District 11, a reliably left-leaning district that encompasses the campus of NC State University. The state GOP knew better than to put up a fight here.

NC House District 21

Ya Liu

Liu knows this Cary/Morrisville–area district as well as anyone and has a great story to boot. As she details on her website, Liu arrived in the United States nearly two decades ago “with no money, no connections,” and knowing “very little English.”

From humble beginnings, she went on to join the faculty at Duke Law School with doctoral degrees in sociology and law. As a current member of the Cary Town Council, Liu is well versed in the concerns and challenges facing this booming area of Wake County.

NC House District 29 Vernetta Alston (unopposed)

A progressive firebrand with the ability to work across the aisle, Alston has accomplished a lot in her two years as a state representative, including securing funds to improve prison conditions and building bipartisan support for affordable housing research. Alston previously served as a Durham City Council member and an advocate for the wrongfully convicted, both of which get her some bonus points.

NC House District 33

Rosa Gill

A former high school teacher with more than two decades of political experience, Rosa Gill has been an effective advocate for public education during her 13 years in the General Assembly. If reelected, Gill has vowed to fight for a fully funded Leandro plan, higher teacher pay, and workplace training that enables teachers to meet the needs of diverse student populations.

We don’t know much about Gill’s opponents, Republican Stephanie Dingee and Libertarian Chris Costello, but Costello recently told The News & Observer that he supports expanding the state’s school voucher program—which would leave public schools even more desperately underfunded than they already are—so we’re sticking with Gill on this one.

NC House District 34

Tim Longest

Longest, a 31-year-old attorney and state supreme court law clerk, was chosen by the Wake County Democratic Party to replace incumbent Grier Martin on the ballot after Martin dropped out last summer to accept a job at the Pentagon. A member of Raleigh’s Human Relations Commission, Longest has a strong background in civil rights advocacy, having provided legal aid to groups such as the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and the NAACP. Protecting women’s reproductive freedom, expanding Medicaid, and funding public education are Longest’s top legislative priorities should he win this Northwest Raleigh district.

NC House District 35 Terence Everitt

Everitt is seeking a third term in Wake County’s northeasternmost house district. An attorney and owner of a Wake Forest private practice that specializes in working with small businesses, Everitt has done little to disappoint since we first endorsed him in 2018. Like fellow Democrats, Everitt is running on a pro–public education, pro-Medicaid, and pro–reproductive rights platform. His district boundaries are mostly unchanged under the state’s post-redistricting map, and Everitt has earned the right to continue representing his constituents in Raleigh.

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NC House District 36

Julie von Haefen

INDY endorsements

This southwest Wake County house district has little resemblance to the district von Haefen first won in 2018 and won again in 2020. The newly drawn maps brought a larger conservative constituency and a well-funded Republican challenger in John Harris, a “decisively pro-life” candidate whose top priority is cutting taxes, according to his website. Von Haefen, meanwhile, wants to protect reproductive freedom, expand Medicaid, and strengthen public education. The race could be close. We’re endorsing von Haefen and urging voters to turn out.

NC House District 37

Christine Kelly

In the southernmost part of Wake County, almost anyone would be a better choice than Erin Paré, the Republican incumbent who forced a teacher to resign over classroom flashcards. Paré has spent her years in office touting “parental rights,” condemning “critical race theory,” and joining Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson in a series of increasingly horrific public statements. Luckily, her challenger, Holly Springs native Christine Kelly, isn’t just anyone. Kelly, a former town council member, is an advocate of the Leandro plan and universal health care and says she will work with Republicans to bring those issues back to the table. She’s also a strong proponent of building up infrastructure and transportation in rapidly developing areas like Holly Springs.

NC House District 38

Abe Jones

The General Assembly is full of driven go-getters, but few have the résumé of first-term house member Abe Jones: Harvard Law graduate. Assistant U.S. attorney. Assistant state attorney general. Wake County Superior Court judge. Wake County commissioner. The 70-year-old Jones represents a district that encompasses the heart of downtown Raleigh, a district he will almost assuredly win again. Republicans didn’t bother offering up a challenger.

NC House District 39

James A. Roberson

Roberson was handpicked by Wake County Democrats in January 2021 to replace Darren Jackson, who left for a post on the NC Court of Appeals, and is running for another two years in the General Assembly. Roberson was mayor of Knightdale for four years before leaving to accept this seat in Wake’s westernmost district. A former senior dean at Wake Tech Community College, Roberson is a champion of the state’s community college system and has worked to only strengthen its role as an engine of workforce development during his time in Raleigh.

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NC House District 40

Joe John

If there was an “EGOT” equivalent for state officials, it would be awarded to Joe John, the only person in history who has served in all three branches of North Carolina government. His unique set of experiences has given him an edge in fighting for constitutional checks and balances; since joining the General Assembly eight years ago, John has fought to preserve the independence of the judiciary and made significant advancements toward abolishing partisan gerrymandering. John’s challenger is Marilyn Avila, a former state representative who lost her seat after cosponsoring the abhorrent House Bill 2 in 2016. We’d like to keep her away from our law books.

NC House District 41

Maria Cervania

Cervania earned our endorsement two years ago for the District 3 seat on the Wake County Commission, which she ultimately won, and she earned our endorsement again. This time, Cervania is running to represent this Cary/Apex–area house district, a seat currently held by state senate candidate Gale Adcock. A public transit advocate with a track record of working on LGBTQ and women’s rights issues, Cervania’s legislative priorities include protecting reproductive freedom, improving healthcare access, and strengthening public school funding.

NC House District 49

Cynthia Ball

The bitterly partisan world of state politics needs more certified mediators like Ball, who is running for a fourth term in the house. She’s a refreshing lawmaker who looks to find legislative common ground with colleagues across the aisle, and that approach has paid off in bipartisan legislation to address gaps in public school funding. Expanding Medicaid and protecting reproductive health are also legislative priorities for Ball, who appears likely to hold this Northwest Raleigh district again.

NC House District 66

Sarah Crawford

Elected to the state senate two years ago, Crawford is hoping to relocate to the house after redistricting drastically altered the boundaries of Senate District 18. Keeping Crawford in the General Assembly is all that matters. She entered state politics after years of distinguished work within the nonprofit sector, most recently as CEO of Tammy Lynn Center for Developmental Disabilities. Her top legislative concerns include ensuring affordable and equitable health care and spurring investment in public education, and we see no reason she shouldn’t continue pursuing these goals with a new title.

INDY endorsements

Sheriff Willie Rowe

In Wake County’s quest to elect another Democratic sheriff, Rowe is an excellent candidate against Republican Donnie Harrison, who is trying to reclaim his seat and add to his 16 years in office. Rowe doesn’t have only plans for reform but a wealth of experience that will make it easy for him to jump in and get started. After 28 years spent working in the Wake County sheriff’s office, Rowe is well versed in developing policy, managing budgets, and supervising staff.

Rowe’s long record of community service also proves he’s dedicated to including voters in the decision-making process. As a deacon at First Baptist Church, Rowe has worked to increase affordable housing, reduce homelessness, and reach out to at-risk youth. If elected, Rowe plans to hold weekly meetings with community members, he says. Most importantly, he’s dedicated to using education, awareness, and education to prevent crime rather than mass arrests to punish it.

DA

Lorrin Freeman

Incumbent Lorrin Freeman is already the de facto winner in the race for district attorney after winning the Democratic primary back in May, but her reelection isn’t official yet. Although her tenure has been troubled by several incidents of police violence, we’re endorsing her for a third term. Freeman hasn’t been as progressive as some advocates would like in prosecuting law enforcement officers involved in use-of-force incidents. But since her election in 2014, she has moved the district attorney’s office forward.

Freeman has helped reduce recidivism by investing in programs to help people reenter the community after imprisonment. One of her biggest accomplishments is the ongoing assistance the office provides in restoring driver’s licenses and expunging criminal records. Freeman has also created diversion programs for people dealing with addiction and expanded teams to prosecute domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual assualt. Freeman’s opponent Jeff Dobson got his law degree in 2019 and is a Republican. Pass.

Wake Soil & Water Conservation District Supervisor Jenna Wadsworth & Alex Baldwin

Wadsworth and Baldwin earned our endorsements in this five-candidate race for two seats on the board of supervisors, which oversees the conservation and preservation of the county’s natural resources. Wadsworth is the current vice chair of the board and a former Democratic nominee for state agriculture commissioner. Baldwin, a newcomer, would be a welcome addition to the board, bringing expertise as a licensed soil scientist, which is professional training that no other candidate or sitting board member possesses.

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Local Races INDY endorsements

WAKE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS BOND

Vote YES

The funds from Wake County’s $530.7 million bond would build five new schools and renovate seven existing schools in 2024 and 2025. The bond calls for new elementary schools in Apex, Fuquay-Varina, and Wendell, along with a middle school in Morrisville and a high school in the West Cary–Morrisville communities.

The initiative would be funded by the addition of 1¢ to property tax, or $10 for every $100,000 of assessed value. During the 2024 fiscal year, a Wake County homeowner with an average assessed home value of $337,000 would see an additional $33.70 on their annual property tax bill. We support Wake’s public schools and encourage our readers to vote yes.

WAKE COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOND

Vote YES

With a growing and aging population who will need more health and wellness services, Wake County voters will consider Wake County Community College’s “Workforce Forward Bond,” a $353.2 million initiative that proposes to expand Wake Tech’s Perry Health Sciences campus with the construction of a 120,000-square-foot facility that will house its nursing program, and potentially, mental health, physical, occupational, and respiratory therapy programs. The building would also feature a “simulation hospital” to support the nursing program, according to the Wake Tech website.

The funds would also build a permanent 34-acre site for Wake Tech’s Western Wake campus, and a cyber-sciences center at the school’s RTP campus. We support the bond and encourage readers to vote yes.

Board of County Commissioners

Seat

Donald Mial

District 1 candidate Donald Mial is a retired military officer and longtime public servant who is currently secretary with Raleigh’s board of adjustment. Mial, who formerly served as a member with Wake County’s board of elections, points to his “Big 3 Brochure” that prioritizes education, safety, and health. He says he wants to focus on retaining teachers, expanding access to pre-K programs, and closing the achievement gap. He also wants to improve county law enforcement along with other first responder services and the ongoing need for affordable housing.

Mial’s Republican opponent, Chanel N. Harris, has a scant online campaign presence. We’re not exactly sure what her platform is, and she was not immediately available for comment.

Seat 2

Matt Calabria

In Matt Calabria’s eight years on the Wake County Board of Commissioners, he’s proven himself to be one of the most progressive and forward-thinking members. During his time in office, Calabria led the charge to protect LGBTQ residents from employment discrimination—cowriting a nondiscrimination ordinance now adopted by six municipalities including Raleigh, Cary, and Apex. Calabria also worked to create a living wage for county workers, writing the law that raised their pay to at least $13.50 an hour.

The commissioner is an enthusiastic advocate of housing affordability, pledging to create a long-term tax relief program for overburdened property owners. He’s a supporter of public transportation and has worked to increase teacher pay, give county workers paid parental leave, and combat the opioid epidemic. We wholeheartedly endorse Calabria for a third term over his opponent, Mark McMains.

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Cheryl Stallings

“Healthy” and “sustainable” are the keywords that define Cheryl Stallings’s campaign to win a seat on the Wake County Board of Commissioners. Stallings, who currently serves on Apex’s town council, is a licensed psychologist whose platform calls for an economic climate that will attract diverse, good-paying jobs to Wake County. She wants to promote housing affordability projects and initiatives that will help end homelessness. She wants more private investment in education, advocates for affordable medical and mental health care, the county’s clean energy goals, and protection of green spaces.

Stallings says she thinks diverse recreational and performing arts events are essential for enjoyment, education, and relationship building.

Stallings’s opponent Irina Comer’s platform is heavy on rhetoric, light on details. The self-described first-generation Russian immigrant, businesswoman, and political outsider wants to “restore freedom to Wake County residents” and “protect our children from bureaucratic overreach.” Comer says the government’s “first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.”.

Seat 7

Vickie Adamson (unopposed)

Incumbent Vickie Adamson is seeking a third term and running unopposed in District 7. Adamson is chair of the board’s affordable housing committee that last year built the most affordable housing units in Wake County’s history, according to her campaign website. Adamson also supports a cost-effective regional transit system that includes local circulators, along with safe schools with an emphasis on support for students and teachers. She’s running unopposed but we’re happy to endorse Adamson for another term.

District 2 Monika Johnson-Hostler

Monika Johnson-Hostler, first elected to the school board in 2013, is an experienced, consistent advocate for students and teachers. During her time on the board, Johnson-Hostler helped lead the charge to reduce student suspensions and racial disparities in student discipline. If reelected, she plans to continue that work by identifying ways to resolve behavioral problems while keeping children in school and on track to graduate, she says.

Like our other endorsees, Johnson-Hostler is an advocate for more social workers, school counselors, and nurses. She also supports raising pay for teachers by increasing Wake County’s contribution to their salaries. As the state’s Republican legislature makes consistent cuts to the education budget, Johnson-Hostler is fighting to keep qualified and experienced teachers in Wake County. She plans to continue lobbying the state for more school funding. One of her opponents, Monica Ruiz, is openly homophobic, calling gender fluidity a “false idea.” The other, Dorian Hamilton, lacks Johnson-Hostler’s wealth of experience.

District 3 Doug Hammack

Doug Hammack says he credits his success in life to investment in education, and plans to continue the board’s work in funding teachers and schools. One of the major problems Wake County is facing this year is a loss of qualified teachers, in part due to the coronavirus pandemic and in part due to consistent pay cuts. Hammack pledges to support teacher pay raises and teachers themselves as what he calls a “toxic narrative” takes over school board elections. He also wants to expand the county’s teaching fellows program to help recruit more qualified teachers.

If elected, Hammack says he wants to be aggressive in addressing staff shortages, hiring counselors and social workers, and training staff and school resource officers to support students. He’s also the only rational choice against two Republicans, including Wing Ng, whose platform raises some major red flags.

District 4

Tara Waters

Board of Education

District 1

Ben Clapsaddle

In the messy, overpoliticized races for Wake County school board, we’re supporting candidates with proven experience, liberal values, and no association with the so-called “parental rights” movement, which has mostly come down against mask mandates, inclusive education practices, and teachers.

Ben Clapsaddle, an army veteran and training director at Fort Bragg, is an advocate for raising teacher pay, hiring more school counselors and support staff, and investing in resources for children with disabilities. He’s also in support of the practical needs of our growing county, like school repair and construction. Clapsaddle—who has been endorsed by the Wake County Association of Educators and his predecessor, Heather Scott—is an easy pick over his conservative opponent Cheryl Caulfield, a Moms for Liberty supporter who considers information about gender identity “age inappropriate.”

Tara Waters, a parent with a passion for equity and inclusion, will face her first election this year after she was appointed to the District 4 seat in March. Waters was appointed to fill the seat after longtime board member Keith Sutton resigned in 2021 to become the superintendent of Warren County Public Schools. Waters says closing the achievement gap between white and minority students is her priority, and she supports implicit bias training for staff and teachers. Waters is also dedicated to parent and community outreach, currently overseeing a Raleigh volunteer program.

District 5

Lynn Edmonds

Edmonds is running to replace Jim Martin, an outspoken liberal who has actively advocated for raising teacher pay and renovating aging schools. Martin’s blunt comments have often drawn criticism from parents and sometimes other board members, but he always pushed issues forward. Edmonds, who has been endorsed by Martin, is another champion of public schools. As the director of outreach for Public Schools First NC, she’s spent years lobbying the legislature to fully fund the Leandro plan and raise teacher pay. If elected, Edmonds says she’ll prioritize attracting qualified staff, expanding equity across the district, and supporting curriculum integrity and the “freedom to read.” Not only does Edmonds have a progressive agenda, but she has the experience to back it up.

Local Races INDY endorsements

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District 6

Sam Hershey

Sam Hershey, an entrepreneur and former high school sports coach, is running to replace yet another longtime board member, Christine Kushner, who is stepping down. Kushner has thrown her support behind Hershey. Hershey says he’s focused on addressing the county’s teacher shortage, remediating COVID-19 learning loss, and improving school funding. He’s in support of hiring enough social workers to staff every school full-time, as well as reducing the need for school resource officers over the long term by investing in more support services. One notable campaign promise is Hershey’s pledge to work toward using solar power in schools.

District 7

Chris Heagarty

Chris Heagarty, the current vice chair of the school board, has served on the board since 2018 and helped guide the district through the coronavirus pandemic. During his tenure, Heagarty helped lead the charge to renovate aging schools and build new schools to keep up with the growing student population. He has advocated for higher teacher pay and hiring more social workers. If reelected, Heagarty says he’ll focus on helping students catch up on their education after the COVID pandemic by working on a district-wide intensive tutoring program. Heagarty also wants to continue to work toward protecting students from intolerance and bullying, he says.

District 8 Lindsay Mahaffey

Lindsay Mahaffey, chair of the school board, was first elected in 2016, and has been a leader in public education for the last six years. During her time on the board, she’s helped expand the pre-K programs to give more children a head start on learning, increased pay for school support staff, and put a $537 million bond on the ballot this November that will help the district build four new schools and make HVAC and safety improvements to schools countywide. Many of the district’s schools were built more than 30 years ago and need updates to remain effective learning environments, Mahaffey says. Mahaffey also touts the district’s 90 percent graduation rate, up from 80 percent in 2018. If reelected, she aims to expand tutoring programs to help students with learning loss and increase the number of social workers in schools. Her opponent, Steve Bergstrom, went on national news to tout helping get an elementary school teacher to leave her job over flashcards and is firmly on the parental choice, book-banning train.

District 9

Tyler Swanson

Tyler Swanson, a former Wake County schoolteacher, is a refreshingly young and downto-earth candidate. Having experienced the emotional and financial strains of teaching firsthand, he’s committed to improving working conditions for teachers, he says. One of Swanson’s priorities is school safety, which he wants to improve by adding more school counselors and nurses. Swanson is also an unabashed supporter of the Leandro plan and wants to move forward with the county’s new equity policies. He says it’s important to give students a sense of belonging, regardless of race, religion, gender, gender expression, or sexual orientation. Swanson will bring a breath of fresh air to the board’s efforts to improve schools, and he’s the only rational choice against Republican Michele Morrow, a conspiracy theorist who called mass shootings “fake event[s],” talked about the “One World Order,” and implied “Satan is coming” in the form of the “Muslim movement” in America.

M U S IC

Circle of Friends

Carrboro label Sleepy Cat Records elevates its easygoing camaraderie at its biggest label showcase yet.

BY NICK MCGREGOR arts@indyweek.com

Great record labels are typically built around a central organizing principle. For some labels, that’s genre; for others, it’s geographic location. For Carrboro’s small but mighty Sleepy Cat Records, it’s a vibe: laid-back, familial, and creatively resourceful. Founded in 2019 by longtime friends and musical partners Saman Khoujinian and Gabe Anderson, Sleepy Cat Records elevates that ethos onto its biggest stage yet this Saturday, October 22, with Sleepy Fest 2022. Eleven musical acts—ranging from folk and old-time to indie rock and electro-pop—join 13 artists and makers and six food and beverage vendors for 10 hours of blissed-out joy at Down Yonder Farm in Hillsborough.

“Saman and I have always enjoyed organiz ing events and experiences in fun, refreshing ways,” Anderson tells INDY Week on a brisk Wednesday morning at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro. “With 11 unique artists that have put stuff out with Sleepy Cat, it just made sense. It’s a critical amount to put on a party.”

Low-key celebration and easygoing camara derie also permeate the Sleepy Cat aura. The pandemic was hard on everyone in the label’s orbit, most of whom operate in a decidedly DIY lane and thrive on collaboration. That puts them in line with other Triangle labels like Merge Records and Potluck Foundation, which might function at different scales but share a tight-knit sense of connection.

“Sleepy Cat’s general mindset is communi ty oriented,” Khoujinian says. “We’re all pret ty chill musicians—folks who make music simply because they enjoy making music.”

One Sleepy Cat artist, Steph Stewart, has become such an integral part of that community she now finds herself easing into a bigger role with the label. She sug

gested Down Yonder Farm as a prime spot for the festival, brought on the 22 local sponsors, and recruited Raleigh jill-of-alltrades Cameron Laws, program director at Artsplosure, as an operational partner. Stewart will also headline Sleepy Fest with her band, Blue Cactus.

“It’s really exciting to have Steph come on,” Anderson says. “We have so much trust in her understanding of the Sleepy Cat brand and vision—she can make the calls and run with it.” Khoujinian goes fur ther: “Steph kind of taught Gabe and I how to run the label. When Blue Cactus came along, we realized, ‘Oh, we have to run a business! Let’s make this legit if we’re going to actually provide value to our friends.’”

Stewart deflects such praise, reminding them of Sleepy Fest’s early roots in Dr. Pop lar’s Back and Forth, a DIY two-stage shin dig that bounced back and forth between Anderson and Khoujinian’s house on West Poplar Street, where their band T. Gold was based, and the house behind it, where folk quartet Mipso lived. As we talk, all three smile and finish each other’s sentences as they reminisce about those early days root ed in ingenuity and awe.

Khoujinian and Anderson first cultivated that vibe as teenagers playing punk rock and studying Afro-Cuban jazz in Miami. They moved to North Carolina in 2009 and 2011, respectively, falling in immedi ately with the Triangle’s thriving folk, Amer icana, and indie rock scene.

Along the way, they quietly accumulated more knowledge: Khoujinian taught him self audio engineering, producing, mixing, and mastering, while Anderson extended years of experience working for his family’s Pilates business into “vision blasting” down

every possible music industry avenue: proj ect management, graphic design, website development, sync licensing, vinyl produc tion, digital marketing, art direction, and more.

“As we built a visual universe for our own art, the label became an extension of that thread,” Anderson says. “We created a place for our music and then found that all our friends wanted to put music out, too. We haven’t done a ton of seeking; there’s just such a demand of good artists here. Luckily, we happen to like all their music—and like them as people.”

Khoujinian describes Sleepy Cat as a home base for some of those people and a stepping stone for others. Yes, the label is a functioning business, with revenue and expenses—Anderson’s meticulous spread sheets prove it. But they’re in it for enjoy ment, engagement, and empowerment more than anything; as the Sleepy Cat web site says, “We are a small business run by 2 sweeties … friends making art.”

The Triangle music scene’s growth has been marked by this kind of self-suste nance, with access to more local studios, producers, and labels, as with Sylvan Esso’s trifecta—Betty’s, Nick Sanborn and Ame lia Heath behind the dial, and their Psychic Hotline label.

“I don’t think we have the bandwidth to work with someone who’s deeply career ori ented or wants to be the dominant pop star of all time,” Khoujinian says. “It’s more ‘Here’s the scale at which we can operate.

If we can make a little money making the music we love, that’s great.’ Our friends understand that. And if they don’t, they can leave. [Laughs] In fact, we encourage them to! We’ll be here if they strike out, which we hope they don’t.”

Currently, finished albums by Sleepy Cat alumni (and Sleepy Fest performers) Libby Rodenbough and Chessa Rich are being shopped to bigger outlets. Lou Hazel—the musical pseudonym for Chris Frisina, who serves as Sleepy Cat’s unofficial photog rapher and graphic designer—has another record nearly finished, too.

“Yes, we’d love to put it out,” Ander son says. “It really represents our vibe. But I’m polyamorous, so getting a taste of other labels very much resonates with me: ‘Please, date somebody else for a little bit!’ It’s an honest, healthy exchange we have with our friends.”

As individuals, Khoujinian and Ander son are open to those kinds of educational exchanges: they’ve learned how to make, record, and produce music—and then mar ket and license it. They’ve learned how to build back-end support systems for con templative artists like Jay Hammond of Trippers & Askers—and facilitate the bold creative ideas of big thinkers like Owen Fitz Gerald. They’ve learned when to go along for the ride with established musicians like Rodenbough and Blue Cactus, who are responsible for Sleepy Cat’s two best-sell ing releases—2020’s Spectacle of Love and 2021’s Stranger Again, respectively. And

SLEEPY FEST 2022 ft. Blue Cactus, Chessa Rich, Joseph Decosimo, Libby Rodenbough, Lou Hazel, Magic Al, Nightblooms, Owen FitzGerald, Sunsp.t, T. Gold, and Tripper & Askers Down Yonder Farm, Hillsborough | Saturday, October 22, 12 – 11 PM | Tickets start at $35

Sleepy Cat founders Gabe Anderson and Saman Khoujinian

PHOTO BY BRETT VILLENA

they’ve learned how to strike out into new territory, as with Joseph Decosimo’s forth coming album While You Were Slumbering, which broadens the Sleepy Cat universe into old-time and bluegrass.

“It’s been fun to see what our value is to each artist individually,” Anderson says. “Some, like Owen, have clarity and intention about every detail and image. Some, like Joseph, are teaching us.”

Khoujinian mentions combing public domain databases for songs Decosimo learned from elderly Cumberland Plateau pickers—many of which only exist within the families that have passed them down for generations. Anderson raves about Decosimo’s meticulous liner notes and his insistence on using Bandcamp as a promo tional platform, something Sleepy Cat had never done before.

It’s hard to resist the duo’s excitement about what they’ve achieved and what lies ahead once they pull off Sleepy Fest 2022. They’re passionate about giving artists a fair financial and contractual shake while expanding the Sleepy Cat universe outward to include more diverse artists (“non–white dudes,” Anderson emphasizes).

They rave about the potential of the com pilation model, best exemplified in Sleepy Cat’s summer 2022 release Cruisin’! Full of B-sides, covers, home recordings, and one-off collabs between artists, the ninesong sampler is stylistically divergent and straight-up joyous.

“That’s the main ethos behind the label— being a platform for generating new music,” Khoujinian says. “If we do those compila tions consistently enough, 10 or 20 years down the road, we’ll have a massive archive of music.”

Other ideas they toss around include more music videos, more studio time at go-to spots like Big Fish Small Pond Music and Bedtown Studios, more opportunities for artists to produce their own music— and, as revenue increases, more chances to be financial benefactors for promising young artists.

“One day, we’d love to basically fund the records that we want to see in the world,” Khoujinian says. “To some extent, that is an old-school label model—‘We’ve got the money, you’re just the talent!’”

Laughing, Anderson interjects, “The big question is, how do we get that money in a sustainable, nonexploitative way?”

Khoujinian grins and finishes: “It’s more about loving and trusting somebody’s cre ative vision enough to help them from the ground up. If we can be the vehicle for music that would otherwise not have come into existence, I’m satisfied.” W

M U S IC

MIGHTMARE: CRUEL LIARS | HHHH [Kill Rock Stars; Oct. 14]

Marking Lines

Two new local albums probe the new and the familiar.

BY SPENCER GRIFFITH AND JORDAN LAWRENCE arts@indyweek.com

As pandemic projects continue to start seeing the light of day, Cruel Liars—the eight-track debut from Mightmare— may prove itself to be one of the most rewarding, revealing new sides of Sarah Shook’s personality, both musical and otherwise. Shook was newly sober in the first year of the pandemic, and had another album already finished— Nightroamer , recorded in early 2020 with the Dis armers but awaiting a release under more favorable touring conditions—and found themself explor ing, and recording, Cruel Liars nearly entirely on their own.

Shook—who’s begun using the first name River in person al and professional settings, including Mightmare’s promo tional materials—built their musical identity as the country outlaw Sarah. For more than a decade, they’ve led a trio of fiery outfits leaning heavily on cow-punk and honky-tonk, but Mightmare finds Shook distancing themselves from those expected backgrounds by swapping their twang for more adventurous textures.

Echoes of Shook’s high lonesome croon shade album open er “Come What May,” revealing early that they’d be ditching their familiar confines while casting their trademark vocals in a haunted setting accented by accordion and harp. Eerie key boards and an ominous drum loop set a brooding backdrop for the title track, which Shook matches by ruminating on how “love’s end descends us into hell” as layered harmonies build intensity.

On the album’s penultimate track, Shook reveals a new kind of vulnerability. The breezy, lovestruck pop ditty “Easy” feels borderline giddy as they sing affirmations like “You deserve love, don’t you ever forget it” that diverge from the rest of the album’s darker lyricism. Although a sharp contrast in terms of style, the sparse closer “Sure Thing” similarly finds Shook taking bigger risks, resulting in bigger payoffs.

There’s a twinge of twang marking lines that would fit neat ly on a Disarmers record, as when the lyrics “Ain’t gonna be no memory gonna haunt me down tonight” are sung atop a som ber piano and strings that are eventually joined by a propulsive programmed beat and electric guitar accents, heightening the drama.

Clocking in under a half hour, Cruel Liars doesn’t overstay its welcome. It feels like an intriguing taste of the new rewards to come if Shook continues to explore other musical avenues, no matter the name. —S.G.

“This is my yard, my street, my neighborhood, my home. This is the music of a space I occupy.”

These words from Carrboro’s John Harrison describe Low Key Companion, the latest album from his increasingly prolific and far-flung project Jphono1.

Across the last decade, Harrison has charted a course through indie rock that bends and sparkles somewhere between Pavement and Creedence Clearwater Revival into headier territories—such as the interga lactic jazz of this year’s Arcing Phase to Phase, a collaborative EP with Paling Light, and his improvisatory drone duo Tacoma Park.

Like that second project, Low Key Companion explores the human feedback between what we perceive and what we feel. The album, through the inclusion of both raw field recordings and intimately emotional melodies, oscillates between serenity and unease, fre quently and impressively occupying both at once. It evokes the way comfortably familiar environs spark bittersweet thoughts, which change the way we feel about a given environment.

The instrumental album pendulums through guitar-girded “improvisational porch jams” both acoustic and electric and beat-forward electro pieces, giving it a scattered feel that makes for a somewhat challenging listen. It’s hard not to wish Harrison had developed either mode at greater length, as the seven twoto-seven-minute snippets glimpse places one could happily get lost in for a half hour or more.

But the album’s keen sense of place and perception unites and elevates its odds-and-sods assemblage. Pedal steel (contributed by Nathan Golub) wavers between contentment and unease in the opening “Backyard at Bug Harbor,” underpinned by crunching leaves and, eventually, a skittering, scratching sound that resem bles both insects and a Geiger counter, prompting poignant con fusion about whether this is all meant to resemble the natural world or some intrusion into it.

Various instrumental lines from acoustic guitar and banjo meet and tangle on “Taco Ma Park” (which features guitar contributions from Tacoma Park’s Ben Felton), rotating through beaming inter ludes, driving rhythms, and minor key contortions, like the varied emotions of flipping through an old photo album. Ominous synth billows near the end, and the instruments coalesce into an over whelming swell, as overlapping thoughts crescendo into anxiety.

The beatscape of “Poppy Patrol” starts out airy and carefree before foreboding technological scrapes insert themselves, even tually erupting into a cavalcade of caustic brightness, neatly evok ing moments when your environment—or at least your perception of it—suddenly overwhelms. Our space shapes our thoughts. Our thoughts change how we experience our space. And Low Key Companion gets a lot of mileage out of probing the in-between.

J.L. W

JPHONO1: LOW KEY COMPANION | HHH1/2 [Potluck; Oct. 21]

F O O D & D R I N K

Apples to Apples

North Carolina cideries like Botanist & Barrel and James Creek Cider House see a gentle new craft cider renaissance.

BY P.J. MORALES food@indyweek.com

Right outside of Danville, Virginia, there’s an orchard where Kether Smith’s grandfather used to spend his days picking apples.

Now, Smith and her team at Botanist & Barrel Cidery and Winery in Cedar Grove, North Carolina, grow much of their own produce, while also buying apples from that same orchard.

“We’ve worked with them from the very beginning,” said Smith, partner and head cidermaker. ‘It’s kind of a fun little thing.”

Don’t let that word “craft” fool you, though—Botanist & Barrel’s operation might be smaller, but it’s not small.

It certainly doesn’t feel small as you venture through their farmhouse, past the juicer that presses dozens of apples a minute, to enter the 65-degree cold-fermenting room, where four 2,000-liter tankers sit on the left, full to the brim with aging cider. On the right, a bevy of 50-gallon

barrels once used for wines and spirits impart their past flavors on the ciders inside.

Botanist & Barrel’s ciders are distributed to stores in the Carolinas, Georgia, and even California, with the cidery also offering a “cider club” subscription that ships products to customers nationwide four times a year. In this space, craft doesn’t always mean “small”—it means different, varied, unique.

“It can vary from batch to batch,” Smith said. “So we have to teach people, you know, this is the apple of this season from this orchard with this weather, and it’s going to change and it’s going to vary. Things are gonna be slight ly different, and we embrace those differences.”

Hard ciders have experienced massive growth in popu larity in recent years. Though only making up 1–2 percent of the current U.S. alcohol market as of 2021, hard cider’s profit for the fiscal period ending in December 2020 was

$494.4 million. That represents an 11 percent increase in profits over that year, according to the Food Institute. According to a Market Data Forecast report, the industry is projected to have a continued average growth rate of 10.1 percent each year through 2026.

While millennials and baby boomers currently make up 69 percent of cider drinkers, according to a report from the American Cider Association, 20 percent of Gen Z–ers identify as cider drinkers. With the average age of cider drinkers getting younger, two-thirds of cider drinkers going to bars weekly, and more Gen Z–ers hitting drinking age, the potential for growth is clear.

That growth will come from people like Sophie Gilliam, a UNC-Chapel Hill senior who goes out at least twice a week. To her, it’s the light taste and easy drinking of cider that makes it her go-to.

“You go up, all your friends are ordering it, and you’re like, ‘That sounds good!’” Gilliam said. “And everyone ends up kind of sipping on the same thing. It’s just way more fun to drink.”

Much of cider’s market share is taken up by large com panies such as Angry Orchard and Bold Rock, but Angry Orchard’s market share decreased year over year in 2021, according to SevenFifty Daily, which covers the alcoholic beverage industry.

Even if large cideries continue to dominate the market, it’s only good news for craft cidermakers like Smith—as the big boys open the doors, the craft makers can squeeze in and find their niche. Most of the well-known national brands, for example, tend to add sugar and carbonation.

“We used to joke that those are what we would call ‘gate way ciders,’” said David Thornton, the co-owner of James Creek Cider House in Cameron, North Carolina. “We don’t make anything that’s as sweet as what you’ll see on the shelves at the supermarket.”

Thornton and his wife and business partner, Ann Marie Thornton, launched their cider in 2016 and are currently running two labels—their James Creek small-batch ciders made with entirely self-grown produce and their Stargazer label made with a mix of differently sourced apples.

“There’s a bunch of local craft breweries who have our cider on tap,” Ann Marie Thornton said. “And I think their clientele is looking for that taste experience or is looking for something original. And so our cider fits into the whole profile of what they’re offering.”

Being craft means embracing the differences that arise

Ann Marie Thorton weighs apples that she also sells alongside the James Creek ciders. PHOTO BY KAITLYN DANG

BOTANIST & BARREL

105 Persimmon Hill Lane, Cedar Grove, NC | 919-644-7777 | botanistandbarrel.com

in each batch, even in the face of poten tial crises.

Last year, the Thorntons, along with the rest of North Carolina, were struck by a “lousy” apple harvest brought on by a mix of factors including cold tempera tures. What apples did grow weren’t suit able for any of the three seasonal ciders James Creek usually puts out, so instead the Thorntons embraced the differences and put out a Whippoorwill blend with their “weird” apples.

The label was so successful that the Thorntons continued to produce it even after harvests improved.

“Try to try something from five or six dif ferent barrels, and you’ll see that there really is quite a range of what these apples can do, and that’s really fun,” David Thornton said.

To Mattie Beason, the East Coast region manager at Stem Ciders and Boulder Beer in Colorado, the most obvious of those drawing factors is the perceived healthiness of ciders. Though most ciders have a similar calorie count to a glass of wine, they do have a lower percentage of alcohol by volume, and their natural origin appeals to younger consumers more focused on health.

“They have what appears to be a much larger interest in taking care of them selves, their minds, and their bodies than the older generations have in the past,” Beason said. “And so they’re looking for things that are healthy, but still enjoyable, both taste-wise and [in] effect.”

Max Palmer, another UNC-Chapel Hill senior, agreed. Though he only really goes out to drink once a week, it’s always a cider that you’ll find in his glass. When he goes out, Palmer said, he wants something light er in alcohol level that still lets him feel social and like he’s drinking.

“It’s like, that’s made from apples rather than malted barley or wheat, or other stuff like that,” Palmer said. “So I don’t know. Part of me feels like if people are typically asked to like, go get a cider, it’s seen as a more like laid-back activity rather than ‘Oh, let’s go to a bar and get a beer.’”

In David Thornton’s own words, even with its biggest players accounted for, hard cider is still “a flea bite” on the alcoholic beverage industry.

With Gen Z aging into its alcohol and leaning harder on hard cider than its pre decessors, that flea bite might become a big enough platform for the big boys and the craft cideries to take a stronger hold of the market. W

This piece was originally published by UNC Media Hub.

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C U LT U R E CA L E N DA R

Please check with local venues for their health and safety protocols.

Tipping the Scales: A DJ Dance Party and Fundraiser for the Durham Neighbors Project $5. Sat, Oct. 22, 10 p.m. Rubies on Five Points, Durham.

XOXOK Sat, Oct. 22, 7:30 p.m. The Oak House, Durham.

Yep Roc 25 $15+. Sat, Oct. 22, 6 p.m. Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro.

The Amernet String Quartet $31. Sun, Oct. 23, 2 p.m. NCMA, Raleigh.

Eastside Bluegrass Sun, Oct. 23, 4 p.m. Bond Brothers Eastside, Cary.

musicPusha T $35. Wed, Oct. 19, 7 p.m. The Ritz, Raleigh.

The Black Angels $23. Wed, Oct. 19, 9 p.m. Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro.

Blends With Friends (Open Decks) Wed, Oct. 19, 8 p.m. The Pinhook, Durham.

Frankie and the Witch Fingers $15. Wed, Oct. 19, 8 p.m. Cat’s Cradle Back Room, Carrboro.

Joe Satriani: Earth Tour $53+. Wed, Oct. 19, 8 p.m. The Carolina Theatre, Durham.

The Marías Present: CINEMA $25. Wed, Oct. 19, 8 p.m. Haw River Ballroom, Saxapahaw.

2nd Annual Dinero P Day $10. Thurs, Oct. 20, 9 p.m. The Pinhook, Durham.

Alex Cameron $18. Thurs, Oct. 20, 8 p.m. Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro.

James Armstrong $15. Thurs, Oct. 20, 7:30 p.m. Blue Note Grill, Durham.

Koe Wetzel $64+. Thurs, Oct. 20, 6:30 p.m. Red Hat Amphitheater, Raleigh.

North Carolina Symphony: Rachmaninoff

Piano Concerto No. 2 Oct. 21 and 22, 8 p.m. Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Raleigh.

DakhaBrakha $30+. Fri, Oct. 21, 8 p.m. Stewart Theatre, Raleigh.

The Dominican Jazz Project $15+. Fri, Oct. 21, 8 p.m. Sharp Nine Gallery, Durham.

An Evening with Perpetual Groove $23+. Fri, Oct. 21, 9 p.m. Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh.

HIPPO CAMPUS $99. Fri, Oct. 21, 7 p.m. The Ritz, Raleigh.

Jon Spencer & the HITmakers $20. Fri, Oct. 21, 8 p.m. Cat’s Cradle Back Room, Carrboro.

Kevin Morby $25. Fri, Oct. 21, 9 p.m. Motorco Music Hall, Durham.

Urban Thoughtz $20. Fri, Oct. 21, 8 p.m. The Fruit, Durham.

Vacant Company $10. Fri, Oct. 21, 9 p.m. The Pinhook, Durham.

The Wallflowers $43+. Fri, Oct. 21, 8 p.m. The Carolina Theatre, Durham.

Acoustic Syndicate and Blue Dogs $17. Sat, Oct. 22, 8:30 p.m. Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh.

Brent Cobb and Hayes Carll: Gettin’ Together Tour $23+. Sat, Oct. 22, 8 p.m. The Carolina Theatre, Durham.

A Century of Black Song Sat, Oct. 22, 8 p.m. Nelson Music Room, Durham.

Day Shift (A Day Party) Sat, Oct. 22, 2:30 p.m. The Fruit, Durham.

Giselle la Trent the Gazellephant $8. Sat, Oct. 22, 11 a.m. Cary Arts Center, Cary.

Grande Gato Sat, Oct. 22, 5 p.m. City Plaza Main Stage, Raleigh.

Jon Ward Beyle / Love & Valor $10. Sat, Oct. 22, 8 p.m. Local 506, Chapel Hill.

Masteria $20. Sat, Oct. 22, 10 p.m. The Fruit, Durham.

Piper Rockelle $25+. Sat, Oct. 22, 12 p.m. Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh.

Queer Agenda $7. Sat, Oct. 22, 11:55 p.m. The Pinhook, Durham.

The Sheepdogs $18. Sat, Oct. 22, 9 p.m. Motorco Music Hall, Durham.

Stephen Gordon: Another Letter to Thelonious $25. Sat, Oct. 22, 8 p.m. Sharp Nine Gallery, Durham.

Jim White $15. Sun, Oct. 23, 8 p.m. Cat’s Cradle Back Room, Carrboro.

Panchiko $22. Sun, Oct. 23, 8 p.m. Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro.

The Paranoyds $12. Sun, Oct. 23, 8 p.m. The Pinhook, Durham.

Rumours of Fleetwood Mac $35+. Sun, Oct. 23, 8 p.m. The Carolina Theatre, Durham.

Weird Al Yankovic SOLD OUT. Sun, Oct. 23, 8 p.m. Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Raleigh.

Lonnie Walker / Thomas Dollbaum / Pope $10. Mon, Oct. 24, 8 p.m. The Fruit, Durham.

Narrow Head $15. Mon, Oct. 24, 8 p.m. Cat’s Cradle Back Room, Carrboro.

Nathan Gray & the Iron Roses $12. Mon, Oct. 24, 8 p.m. The Pinhook, Durham.

Bands at Brookside Tues, Oct. 25, 5 p.m. Brookside Bodega, Raleigh.

Melt Banana $20. Tues, Oct. 25, 8 p.m. Local 506, Chapel Hill.

North Carolina Jazz Reportory Orchestra $25. Tues, Oct. 25, 8 p.m. Sharp Nine Gallery, Durham.

Pile: Dripping Ten Year Anniversary Tour $18. Tues, Oct. 25, 8 p.m. Cat’s Cradle Back Room, Carrboro.

Whitney $20+. Tues, Oct. 25, 8 p.m. Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro.

Youth League Tues, Oct. 25, 8:30 p.m. Rubies on Five Points, Durham.

like to plan ahead?

The Paranoyds perform at the Pinhook on Sunday, October 23.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PINHOOK

Pusha T performs at the Ritz on Wednesday, October 19. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE RITZ

OUR COMPLETE COMMUNITY CALENDAR: INDYWEEK.COM

like to ahead?

C U LT U R E CA L E N DA R

Motorco Music Hall hosts a fear-themed Monti StorySLAM on Wednesday, October 19.

Artful Story Time Wed, Oct. 19, 10:30 a.m. NCMA, Raleigh.

pagePoetry Reading with Chris Abbate, Jan Herrington, and Stan Absher Sun, Oct. 23, 2 p.m. Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh.

May-lee Chai: Tomorrow in Shanghai Wed, Oct. 19, 5:30 p.m. Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill.

Annie $25+. Oct. 18-23, various times. DPAC, Durham.

ChavoRucos Tour:

ALL THE WAY $23. Oct. 7-23, various times. The Justice Theater Project, Raleigh.

Carolina Ballet: Dracula $48+. Oct. 13-30, various times. Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Raleigh.

stage art

The Monti StorySLAM: FEAR $12. Wed, Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m. Motorco Music Hall, Durham.

The Crucible $27. Oct. 20-30, various times. Titmus Theatre, Raleigh.

Fuddy Meers $25. Oct. 20-28, various times. Burning Coal Theatre, Raleigh.

Adal Ramones and Adrian Uribe $77+. Sat, Oct. 22, 9 p.m. Raleigh Memorial Auditorium, Raleigh.

The Hidden Truth of Black Wall Street $71+. Sun, Oct. 23, 10 a.m.

Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Raleigh.

Blue Man Group $42+. Oct. 24 and 25, 7:30 p.m. Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Raleigh.

The Emperor’s New Clothes $8. Tues, Oct. 25, 9:45 and 11:20 a.m. The Carolina Theatre, Durham.

Danielle Keats Citron: The Fight for Privacy Thurs, Oct. 20, 5:30 p.m. Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill.

Shane McCrae Poetry Reading Thurs, Oct. 20, 7 p.m. St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church, Durham.

Rosita StevensHolsey: Pauli Murray Sat, Oct. 22, 1 p.m. North Carolina Museum of History, Raleigh.

Ronny Someck: Bridges between East and West Mon, Oct. 24, 5:30 p.m. Graham Memorial Hall, Chapel Hill.

Timber Hawkeye: The Opposite of Namaste Mon, Oct. 24, 7 p.m. Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh.

Nabil Ayers: My Life in the Sunshine Tues, Oct. 25, 5:30 p.m. Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill.

Absher,

Exhibition Opening: Silver Harvest: A History of Now Fri, Oct. 21, 6 p.m. Durham Arts Council, Durham.

Artist’s Talk: Sacred & Profane Love Machines Sun, Oct. 23, 2 p.m. Power Plant Gallery, Durham.

Experimental Drawing in the Dark Sun, Oct. 23, 2 p.m. The Nasher, Durham

Mute the (Dominant) Mic: Toward Mindful Museum Spaces Sun, Oct. 23, 2 p.m. NCMA, Raleigh.

screen

Shin Godzilla $8. Wed, Oct. 19, 7 p.m. The Carolina Theatre, Durham.

Film Fest 919 $20+. Oct. 19-23, various times. Silverspot Cinema, Chapel Hill.

New Day Films Celebration Oct. 19-22, various times. Rubenstein Arts Center, Durham.

Double Feature: Akira and Audition $10. Fri, Oct. 21, 7 p.m. The Carolina Theatre, Durham.

OUTTA THE MUCK Tues, Oct. 25, 7 p.m. The Carolina Theatre, Durham.

Movie Party: Shaun of the Dead $24. Tues, Oct. 25, 7 p.m. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Raleigh.

YOUR CALENDAR

PHOTO COURTESY OF MOTORCO

© Puzzles by Pappocom