Republican Salisbury Editor Post Trys To Smear Rachel

Serving historic Rowan County, North Carolina since 1905

The Salisbury Post

September 10, 2006

Learn about judicial races sooner, not later Judges' races appear at or near the end of the ballot when elections roll around, and that's where they fall in voters' awareness, too. Way, way down at the bottom. After working your way through all the local races on the ballot, you come across the judicial races you forgot existed and think, "Who are these people?" Eenie, meenie, minie ....

This is one election year when voters should think of the judicial races first. Rowan County has a race for one of its Superior Court judgeships - John Holshouser vs. Don Sayers. The Salisbury attorneys are vying to replace Judge Larry Ford, who is retiring. There's little risk this race will languish in obscurity. Holshouser was county attorney for years until he stepped down amid (and washed his hands of) the Common Sense brouhaha. Sayers has served as attorney to at least a couple of high-profile boards - the school board now and, formerly, the Landis Board of Aldermen. That also involved a resignation in protest of board actions or demeanor. Holshouser and Sayers are well-known. But how many people know Rusty Duke, Sarah Parker, Rachel Hunter, Mark Martin, Ann Marie Calabria, Robin Hudson, Eric Levinson and Patricia Timmons-Goodson? OK, you've heard of Mark Martin, but this one is not a NASCAR driver. He's one of the eight candidates this fall for four seats on the N.C. Supreme Court - the majority of the court. That includes the chief justice. You'll see those names on the ballot this fall. Plus four more names on the ballot for N.C. Court of Appeals. Who are these people?

They're smart attorneys and judges, for the most part, people vying for some of the top jobs in their profession. One of the races is so pivotal that all living former chief justices of the N.C. Supreme Court, Republican and Democratic, have taken an unprecedented step by endorsing someone. That's Mark Martin, associate justice of the N.C. Supreme Court. He has served on the Superior Court level and on the state Court of Appeals. In his run for re-election, he has been challenged by a Durham attorney, Rachel Lee Hunter, whom the former chief justices do not want to see on the Supreme Court. "While we, as a group, do not necessarily agree on every political question confronting society," the chief justices say in a letter to attorneys, "we do agree unanimously that persons who serve on the highest court in this state should have impeccable legal credentials, unquestionable judicial demeanor and temperament, and unquestionable integrity." Martin is the one, the former chief justices say.

What they don't say is that the Republican and Democratic parties have put as much distance between themselves and Hunter as possible for several reasons, including erratic behavior, lack of judicial experience and questionable judgment. She was a Republican when she ran for the Court of Appeals in 2004 and lost. Though judicial races are now nonpartisan in North Carolina, she has since registered as a Democrat. The state GOP chairman has called her unstable and unqualified. Though the Democratic chairman has not been able to bring himself to endorse her opponent, Republican Martin, he has called on the party's leadership to withhold endorsement in race.

The final straw for the Democrats was Hunter's slam on perennial candidate Vernon Robinson, who is black, for returning to the GOP . "Like a good slave, he has returned to the plantation," Hunter said in a mass e-mail. She later toned it down to say his behavior was like that of an Uncle Tom.

She sought to have her name listed as "Madame Justice" on the ballot, but the state Board of Elections thought better of that. "Madame Looney Tunes" might be a better name, one newspaper editorial suggested.

She discussed her recent brain surgery when she addressed the N.C. Bar Association in July. "I explained that while the tumor has left the right side of my face paralyzed, the surgeons did not remove part of my brain but only the tumor itself," her Web site says. "Thus, I am neither as irrational nor as crazy as claimed by some in the media, but can think, reason and write as well the rest of the attorneys. I just am not as attractive as I once was." Judge for yourself by visiting www.rachelforjustice.com. Martin also has a Web site, www.justicemarkmartin.org. It would be a shame to skip the judicial races on the ballot - this one especially - due to lack of knowledge. By the end of this month, voters should receive in the mail guides from the State Board of Elections about the judicial races. The material will be posted at www.-sboe.state.nc.us very soon. And the Post will do its best to report on these races as well.

It's our duty as voters to elect qualified judges to our courts. If North Carolina winds up with anything less, we'll have only ourselves to blame.

Elizabeth Cook is editor of the Salisbury Post.

Dear Ms. Cook: Editor of the Salisbury Post

You called campaign headquarters on Friday at 9:19 am and advised that you had a deadline of 10:30 a.m., although the story was not published until Sunday. You should have called me directly at my office or allotted me until 5:00 pm on Friday. You are to be commended for trying to educate the voters about judicial races. However, your article contains a few misstatements. First, my name is Rachel Lea Hunter, not Rachel Lee Hunter.

Regarding the former chief justices, have they met me? Talked to me? Visited my website? No. I did not ask anyone for their endorsement. My supporters volunteered their support and come from all walks of life, ranging from attorneys, medical doctors, PhD's, professors and ordinary people.

With respect to the political parties' treatment of me, the NC GOP's conduct is more like that of the Mafiosi on the Sopranos than befits a political party. As for the NC Democratic leader, Jerry Meek, his comments were part of a well-coordinated effort to try and get me to resign from the Democratic Party.

Finally, your article references the Charlotte Observer's commentary. The Charlotte Observer never called and spoke to me. Why don't you do your own research to see if the charges are founded? If you wish to make a real attempt at educating the voters about me and my opponent, I would welcome the opportunity to talk with you at greater length.

Sincerely,
Rachel Lea Hunter