Al is an upstanding, respected and successful businessman, a family man and community advocate from Brevard. If elected, Al will work hard to serve the needs of the people in Jackson, Transylvania and Swain counties. He will vote to expand Medicaid to help working families have healthcare while creating jobs and strengthening rural economies. 

Al knows we don’t have a shortage of teachers, rather a shortage of people that are willing to be underpaid, overworked and disrespected. He knows how hard teachers work and how important they are to our children’s education. He believes our climate is changing, that we still have a chance to change things and leave our planet better than we found it. Al believes our democracy is important!

Al’s opponent, incumbent Mike Clampitt, has proclaimed being a proud Oath Keeper for years. He only spoke out to say he didn’t condone the Oath Keeper participation in the January 6, 2021 insurrection after his name publicly appeared on a leaked Oath Keeper membership list in the fall of 2021. Clampitt is now saying he hasn’t been a dues-paying member of the group for several years. It seems to me being a member, at any point, of a group like the Oath Keepers that has consistently espoused extreme conspiratorial anti-government rhetoric since its founding should be disqualifying. Publicly distancing one’s self from the group only after a failed coup shouldn’t absolve them from the consequences of past membership. 

Can we really trust Clampitt to uphold our fragile democracy? Vote for democracy. Vote for Al Platt for N.C. House District 119!

Carolyn Cagle

Sylva