Reece Gardner: Early voting begins tomorrow

Some fantastic news this past weekend was the revelation about the emergence of an antibody coronavirus drug developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly and Company. President Trump credits this drug for his rapid healing from COVID-19, and he issued this statement: "People will get immediately better, and hundreds of thousands of American lives will be saved. This is better than the vaccine and it is now being sent to all our hospitals. It will wipe out the Virus." 

The President concluded by saying, "I am done with my treatment, and I am not taking anything!"  Folks, this is wonderful news about a treatment which we pray will come soon into full fruition. On the election front, Early Voting will begin tomorrow, October 15, and run through Saturday, Oct., 31, seven days a week.  For now, I want to concentrate on the races for the N.C. Supreme Court. 

Partisan affiliations of the candidates are now listed, which reveals that Democrats now have a 6-1 majority on the Court. Three of the seven seats are up for election this year, including the chief justice's seat. If Republicans win all three seats, it will get them to a 3-4 minority on the court which, while still a minority, might give them the advantage in 2022 when two more Democrat justices are up for re-election. Candidates for this year are: Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, Democrat, is being opposed by Justice Paul Newby, Republican. For N.C. Supreme Court Seat 2, NC Appeals Court Judge Lucy Inman, Democrat, faces NC Court of Appeals Judge Phil Berger, Jr., Republican, and for Supreme Court Seat 4, Justice Mark Davis is opposed by private-practice lawyer and former State Senator Tamara Barringer, Republican.

Philosophically speaking, Newby, Berger, and Barringer appear to be the most conservative. All contests on the ballot this year are very important, but the races for the N.C. Supreme Court are ultra-important. As John Guze, director of legal studies at the John Locke Foundation pointed out, voters need to keep in mind that the NC Supreme Court has become a super-legislature as a result of judicial doctrines adopted in the second half of the 20th century. 

Guze maintains that the court has the power to uphold unconstitutional laws if a majority of the justices approve of them, and to change the meaning of laws - and the Constitution - in order to advance the court majority's preferences.  Let's be sure to not overlook these judicial contests on our ballots. Next week, space permitting, I plan to comment on other contests, such as NC Court of Appeals, NC State Senate, NC House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives, NC District Court Judge, and other state & county contests.

Now to close with this:  A man drives to the local mall. He drives around and around for quite some time, struggling to find a parking space. "Lord," he prays, "I can't stand this. If you will open a space up for me, I promise to give up drinking and go to Mass every Sunday." Suddenly, the clouds part and the sun shines on an empty parking spot. Without hesitation, the man says, "Never mind, found one!"

Have a WONDERFUL day!