Jay White announces candidacy for District 82 seat

By: Karen Cimino Wilson | Independent Tribune
Published: January 30, 2012

Cabarrus County commissioner Jay White announced his candidacy Monday for the North Carolina House District 82 seat.

“I think the biggest thing is that we need people with strong leadership in the state house and we need people that are going to represent Cabarrus County in a professional manner and I bring that to the table,” said White, an attorney and partner in the law firm of Hartsell and Williams.

White, who served as chairman of the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners from December 2007 until December 2011, said he wants to use his experience in local government to improve government at the state level.

“I get a firsthand view of the unfunded mandates that get pushed down to the counties and the cities to balance the budget for the state,” White said.

“Here on the local level, we have been operating within our budget and under our budget for a decade,” he said. “I think I can take that to the state level and help there.”

White said he also wants to find ways to help businesses from the General Assembly.

“The biggest thing is to get government regulation out of our lives,” White said. “We have too many regulations from the federal government and the state government telling us what to do. I think that’s onerous to businesses. That keeps them from building and expanding.”

District 82 covers most of western Cabarrus, including part of south Concord. In 2011, White sought appointment to the N.C. House District 82 seat when Republican Jeff Barnhart, also a former Cabarrus County commissioner, stepped down. Barnhart left the General Assembly on Sept. 30 after 11 years in office to join McGuireWoods Consulting as a lobbyist.

The Cabarrus County Republican Party chose Barnhart’s replacement in October, appointing Larry Pittman, who ran against Barnhart in the 2010 Republican primary and lost. Pittman will serve through the end of 2012 and must run for election in November to continue serving.

White said economic development and job creation are two of the most important issues facing the General Assembly.

“We can only solve our economic problems by empowering the private sector, not government,” White said in a statement about his candidacy. “I have seen firsthand just how out-of-touch some government leaders are when it comes to finding real solutions. Now, more than ever before, we need effective leadership that knows how to fix problems, not create new ones.”

White lives in Concord with his wife Darci and their three children who attend Cabarrus County public schools.