John Bradford (second from right) with wife Shea and two of his kids, listens as a campaign aide announces his victory Tuesday night at The Rusty Rudder in Cornelius. (Jonathan Cox photo)
| District 98 (all prcts) |
Party | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| John R. Bradford III | REP | 14,513 | 54.97% |
| Natasha Marcus | DEM | 11,889 | 45.03% |
Updated Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2014
Republican John Bradford outpolled Democrat Natasha Marcus by about 10 percentage points to win the vacant 98th District state House of Representatives seat.
Bradford’s supporters – including fellow commissioner Jim Duke and mayor Chuck Travis – gathered at the Rusty Rudder in Cornelius to watch the results of the election come in. An announcement of Bradford’s victory was greeted with raucous applause. Bradford, currently a Cornelius commissioner, ran on a platform that placed the emphasis squarely on cutting regulations and taxes, measures that he says will help businesses succeed in the district.
Despite taking flak from both conservatives and Democrats for his cautious support of the I-77 managed lanes project, Bradford won endorsements from key leaders and groups. Throughout the race he emphasized that once in office he hoped to turn North Carolina into a business powerhouse by removing unnecessary regulatory burdens on small businesses.
Democrat Natasha Marcus thanked supporters early in the evening Tuesday, before results were known. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net/ CorneliusNews.net)
Along with emphasizing accountability for businesses, Bradford wants to hold government offices accountable and reduce inefficiencies. By reducing government spending on ineffective programs, he hopes to free up funding to spend on education.
Republicans have held a majority in the house since 2011, and last term they held a 77-43 majority. The mid-term has reduced/increased their lead by, but they still maintain a strong majority. During the last term, the Republican-controlled state legislature has passed changes to taxes that created a flat income tax rate of 5.4 percent, reduced the corporate tax rate, and cut loopholes out of the tax code.
Bradford will be going to Raleigh after serving 1 1/2 terms as commissioner for the town of Cornelius. He said in an earlier interview that, once elected to higher office, he would demand accountability from government officials and educators alike, in an effort to streamline government services.
Now that he’s been elected, Bradford said that he plans to take a well-deserved break from campaigning. “I’m going to take a break and get off social media for a while,” he said.
Natasha Marcus ran in opposition to the “extreme legislation” she said has been passed by the Republican supermajority. She pointed to state reductions in education spending as one of many extreme policies passed by a legislature unwilling to compromise.
Marcus arrived at T. Mac in Huntersville at around 9pm, where she was greeted by a standing ovation from a room of racially and age-diverse supporters. She recognized several key volunteers and thanked the crowd. But results came in slowly, and she and husband Rob departed at around 10:45pm, before the race was decided.
At around 12:50am, she told DavidsonNews.net/CorneliusNews.net: “I am proud of the campaign we ran and am grateful for all the dedicated volunteers and donors who helped us win more than 11,000 votes as of this time (with one precinct still not reporting as of 12:45am). We kept our campaign positive and worked very hard.”
RELATED COVERAGE
Oct. 21, 2014, “Meet State House candidate John Bradford“
Oct. 21, 2014, “Meet State House candidate Natasha Marcus”
David Boraks contributed to this story.
