THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 2, 1996 TAG: 9606020058
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 136 lines
There's more to democracy than electing senators and presidents.
There's more to North Carolina state government than the General Assembly and the governor's mansion.
And if you're a registered voter, there's more work to be done in the spring primary.
Nominations for the Republican candidate for agriculture commissioner and the Democratic candidate for secretary of state are still up for grabs in a second primary election scheduled for Tuesday.
The runoff consists of the top two candidates for each office after the May 7 primary. For agriculture commissioner, the contest is between Tom Davidson of Durham, a sales representative for an agricultural chemical company, and retired professor R.C. ``Dick'' Gray of Cary. Both Republicans want to unseat longtime Democratic Commissioner James A. Graham in November.
Democratic secretary of state hopefuls are Buies Creek attorney Elaine F. Marshall and Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation program officer Valeria Lynch Lee of Winston-Salem. The winner Tuesday will face noted former racecar driver Richard Petty, a Republican, for the seat this fall.
These aren't the most high-profile jobs in state government. And runoff races in cases such as this generally don't draw an excited electorate. But the work of the secretary of state and agriculture commissioner touches all North Carolinians in many ways, every day.
Graham, 74, is seeking his ninth term running the Agriculture Department. He thinks his job is pretty important.
``The main purpose of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture is to protect and promote a steady flow of food and fiber in North Carolina,'' Graham said last week.
To that end, the department sponsors agricultural research, helps promote small farms, inspects and regulates industries, checks grocery store scales and gasoline pumps, monitors livestock health and maintains food and drug standards.
``We enforce fertilizer law, seed law, pesticide law,'' Graham said, running through a list of duties. ``When you buy a pound of meat, you've gotta be sure you get a pound of meat.
``We inspect sanitary conditions of many types of businesses, such as bakeries . . . We're concerned about the environment - our air, our water and our soil.''
Agriculture, Graham said, is North Carolina's No. 1 industry, employing 20 percent of the state's work force and creating 26 percent of its income. Agriculture is responsible for roughly $42 billion of the state's annual economy.
``Agriculture is more important today than it ever has been,'' Graham said. ``I personally think it's one of the most important jobs in state government.''
Davidson, 45, says such an important department needs some new blood.
``I think it's time for a change,'' Davidson said last week. ``Jim Graham's been in there for about 32 years. Probably if he hasn't got it done in 32 years, he won't get it done.''
Graham's 1,300-member department should be smaller, Davidson said. ``I think we need to look into the efficiency of this bureaucratic empire,'' he said. ``I want to see if I can cut it.''
Davidson, who was raised on a South Carolina farm and has two agriculture degrees from Clemson University, said the Agriculture Department isn't taking a strong enough stand against possible FDA regulation of tobacco.
He thinks the state should look for new opportunities for North Carolina agriculture, like using crops and livestock for medicines. And he says the department ought to find an entrepreneur who will clean up hog waste at the farmers'expense.
R.C. ``Dick'' Gray, Davidson's primary opponent, is also hungry for change.
``It's about time we have a commissioner of agriculture who is proactive and does something to retain the family farms of North Carolina,'' Gray said.
Gray, 67, is a retired animal science professor who spent the last 10 years of his career in Africa. His 10-point platform includes downsizing the Agriculture Department, pushing to bring the Global TransPark under the department's control, adding funds for agricultural research, beefing up enforcement of environmental laws and working to make the agriculture commissioner an appointed job.
``The job of the commissioner of agriculture, in my opinion, is to be an educator, not a politician,'' Gray said.
Gray's most unusual proposal has drawn some attention to the commissioner campaign. As a substitute for the tobacco crop, Gray has suggested legalizing hemp fiber, which can be used to make clothing and other products but comes from the same plant that produces marijuana.
The Secretary of State's Office is a huge compiler and deliverer of information, particularly of facts dealing with state businesses and land records.
The office also oversees hundreds of laws regulating the formation and record keeping of more than 320,000 corporations and other businesses in North Carolina.
Among other jobs, the secretary of state advises counties on land records, enforces securities laws, commissions notaries public and publishes information for the General Assembly and the general public.
Elaine Marshall, 50, a former state senator, is calling for better customer service from the department.
``I'm campaigning on a platform of bringing some technology to the office,'' she said by car phone Friday on a campaign trip to Sampson County. ``There are a lot of frustrations about using the Secretary of State's office.'' Marshall noted the regular busy signals that greet callers seeking information from the Corporations Division. She said she would push to put the division on the Internet, so that people can find public-record information through their computers.
Other services also should be available electronically, Marshall said.
``We ought to be able to file our corporations on-line,'' she said. ``That would make the Secretary of State's office open 24 hours a day, so to speak.''
Marshall also said the office should require groups that lobby the General Assembly to disclose their affiliations by filing mission statements.
Valeria Lynch Lee is a Halifax County native who has served on the University of North Carolina Board of Governors and worked in several broadcasting and economic development organizations.
She is on leave from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, which awards about $10 million in grants to North Carolina groups each year. In her campaign literature, Lee promises to reduce red tape for entrepreneurs, businesses and nonprofit organizations.
``I will work to protect our people from securities fraud, and watch over lobbyists and their activities with the legislature in a fair and even-handed way,'' she says in a brochure.
``I will make sure that notaries public are well trained, that land records are well kept, and that the people of North Carolina have access to useful, helpful, meaningful information about their state government and the laws that are passed.''
Local elections officials said they hope for more than the 2 or 3 percent turnout predicted for the primary Tuesday. Precincts must be open and workers must be paid, regardless of how many people show up.
``Please come vote, folks,'' pleaded Glenda Crane, Pasquotank County elections director.
``We're having to do this and pay all the money. It's their democratic right to vote. And it's a privilege. And, you know, they get to help choose who their leaders are going to be.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphics
VOTE TUESDAY
THE CANDIDATES
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: ELECTION NORTH CAROLINA by CNB