Tag: voter registration

Matt Hintz

By Steve Woodward

Matthew Hintz appeared within the ranks of the Moore County Republican Party almost out of thin air, and during the past roughly two years he inspired many of us through his passion and deeply rooted convictions. Often, his passion was mistaken for rage but his friends knew better. Many most likely found their passions wanting by contrast. 

Matt rejoiced in his children and his marriage. When he came to realize that local public education was fraught with peril for young minds, he and Melissa chose to home-school their two boys of school age. He was deeply engaged in their homeschooling activities before earlier this year sending them off to a Christian school.

We worked together on a team that organized the Moore County School Choice Expo last May. By all accounts it was a resounding success, attracting both private and charter schooling advocates, and a steady stream of visitors from the community.

I will certainly miss Matt’s warmth and thoughtfulness. He was indeed a kind soul with a sharp wit and an unassuming presence though his intellect was substantial. In the face of hypocrisy and deceit, Matt was the first to stand up and speak up.

When Matt recognized that thousands of retired military veterans in our midst are unregistered voters, he wrote a powerful radio ad calling on them to fulfill a solemn duty and honor their oaths by voting.

Matt entered God’s eternal kingdom on November 23. We no longer can hear his voice, but let us vow to be his voice.

This broken world too often turns its back on the very individuals best equipped to heal it. Thus, how can we mourn too long when they leave us in search of peace? I pray that Matt is now immersed in peace.  

Signs of our times

By Steve Woodward

After witnessing numerous cases of “mob rule” endorsed by the Democrat Party, the smear campaign against Justice Brett Kavanaugh foremost among them, it is not surprising that Republicans’ campaign signs are being removed every day (or under cover of darkness) across our communities.

This is not a new tactic by the left, but it is rampant in 2018. Last weekend, a fellow citizen was observed offloading a stack of GOP campaign signs, presumably removed from numerous locations. Offloading is perhaps too polite. The signs were dumped at the Moore County Landfill off of Highway 5. A keen observer captured a photo of the perpetrator’s license plate. The photo was sent to local law enforcement.

Republicans do not waste time wallowing in victimhood. Sign removal is a misdemeanor but more than anything it is a pathetic, ineffective strategy. It merely reinforces why getting Republicans and independents out to vote (beginning Oct. 17 with the start of Early Voting) through Nov. 6 is our primary mission. Energizing Republicans is what the new hard left Democrat party seems to do best, starting with anthem kneeling, and continuing with violent anti-police marches, historic statue vandalism (UNC-Chapel Hill), the Kavanaugh assault and, most recently, the exposing of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s false claim of Native American heritage.

In a week when Stormy Daniels was downgraded to a rain shower by a judge who ruled she must pay President Trump’s legal fees, when the Russian collusion hoax is being proven further by the silence of key players, and when the number of job openings nationally surpassed 7 million, and with data out that there are eight times more new manufacturing jobs than during the long Obama era slog, those who bet the ranch on a “blue wave” are planning ranch estate sales.

Locally, Republican campaign signs might be dwindling but motivated Republican voters are surging. In the last official week for regular voter registration ahead of the start of early voting Oct. 17, Republicans have registered a total of about 4,300 new voters statewide (versus about 2,300 Democrats).

In Moore County, Republican voter registration has already exceeded 2016 by nearly 400, with a record 27,691 registered as of Oct. 16. In the latest reporting period, the Moore GOP picked up another 115 registrants compared to 46 Democrat registrants and 89 unaffiliated registrants.

The question for unaffiliated voters across North Carolina, of which currently there are 5,800, is not complicated and it won’t be swayed by yard signs. The question is: Do they want mobs or jobs in 2018 and beyond?