Bold Leadership in the NC State House - Ted Davis for NC 20

Summary

In this episode of the NHC GOP podcast, Reuel Sample interviews Representative Ted Davis, Jr. about his re-election campaign and key legislative issues in North Carolina. They discuss the recent immigration bill, the importance of veto overrides, and the impact of school choice on education. Ted shares insights on economic policies that have helped North Carolina maintain a surplus and the need for continued focus on environmental issues, particularly water quality. The conversation emphasizes the importance of Republican unity and the challenges posed by liberal policies.

Takeaways

• The immigration bill aims to hold sheriffs accountable for cooperating with ICE.
• Veto overrides have been a significant achievement for the Republican majority.
• Transgender participation in women's sports raises fairness concerns.
• School choice is essential for parents to decide their children's education.
• Economic policies have led to a surplus in North Carolina.
• Community initiatives are crucial for addressing local issues like opioid addiction.
• Environmental legislation is being pushed by Republicans to ensure clean water.
• The importance of maintaining a supermajority in the legislature is emphasized.
• The podcast highlights the need for informed voting and understanding of legislative actions.

Sound Bites

• "This immigration problem is a very serious problem."
• "We can't have this."
• "I just don't understand this wokeness."

Republicans have the answers.

Check out our website at newhanovergop.org or contact us at podcast@nhcgop.org.

Transcript

Reuel Sample: 0:00

On this episode of the NHC GOP podcast. Before the podcast, you held up your finger. It's the finger with the callus on it that you use to press. There it is.

Ted Davis: 0:10

We were the number one city in the nation for opioid abuse, and that's not much to be proud of. Another thing that we overrode that I just could not fathom that once again, the Liberal Democrats support and that is gender transition and minors. I mean, these children are not 18 years old. Um, I don't think that they're mature enough to decide whether or not they want to happen. Some of this stuff's irreversible. And that is a good point because they don't want competition. But Cooper does not want public schools to have competition. They want it to be the only game in town. And he wants to be able to tell parents, this is where your child is going to go. Seriously will consider voting for me because to me, I don't talk the talk, I walk the walk.

Reuel Sample: 0:54

Welcome to the NHC GOP podcast. I'm Reuel Sample. I am with a man who I can only describe as a statesman of statesmen who gets better looking every time I get to get together with him. Uh, representative Ted Davis. Good evening. Ted. Welcome.

Ted Davis: 1:11

Hey, Reuel. I wish you knew me when I had hair.

Reuel Sample: 1:16

Well, you know, but it makes it look. It makes you look distinguished, sir. It gives you. It gives you that classic look of governance.

Ted Davis: 1:24

I appreciate that. Of course, I could say I had a full set of hair before I got into politics.

Reuel Sample: 1:29

So you are running for reelection for District 20 here in the state of North Carolina. You have done a heck of a lot of work up there in the state. I wanted to start with a big one that has that has hit the hit the airwaves. It's this immigration bill.

News Reporter: 1:53

Enforcement measure would force all sheriffs in North Carolina to cooperate with federal immigration officials, ICE and cracking down on crime. Specifically, the legislation requires that sheriffs temporarily hold up to 48 hours inmates identified as being in the country without legal status, and also considered violent criminals who are arrested for violent felonies or serious misdemeanors, such as assault on a female or violating a protective order.

Speaker Tim Moore: 2:19

North Carolina is dealing with border issues right now. We're dealing with thousands of people who are in the state who shouldn't be here, and we're dealing, unfortunately, with folks who are here who aren't supposed to be here and are committing serious crimes.

Reuel Sample: 2:33

So this is part of the education bill that that we talked about with Senator Lee the other day. This was all part of that, that bill. And this part requires sheriffs to notify ICE. It seems common sense. Ted, why did you have to put this into a bill?

Ted Davis: 2:53

Well, you raise you raise an interesting question. You also raise a good point. The problem was that you had sheriffs. Democrat sheriffs in this state that refused to cooperate with ICE, meaning if there was a person that they had incarcerated and that person had a federal detainer on it, if they were to be released from the local jail, then those sheriffs would not cooperate by keeping those people until the feds could come in and take custody of that individual. And these you have. I mean, you're talking about criminals, serious criminals, murderers, rapists, stealing. And what would happen is these people would be released and they go out and commit more crimes. And so the Republicans said, we can't have this. So we introduced that bill, and it was part of House Bill 10 that you're referring to. And of course, we knew that Governor Cooper was going to veto it. And of course he did so because we now have a supermajority, meaning we have enough Republicans votes in the House and in the Senate that we don't need a Democrat vote to override a veto. We overrode House Bill 10. And, I mean, I just can't believe it. It's just the immigration problem is a very serious problem. I don't think people really appreciate how serious it is, because you look at the crime that they bring in. Look at the drugs that are coming in. The fentanyl that's coming across the borders now. Um, I mean, these are just very, very, very serious issues. And but that's just the big one of the big differences between liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans. The Democrats are happy to let it keep on going on. You know, we Republicans are not. So we're going to go back. Excuse me. October the ninth. Night, and we'll override that veto, and I'll be tickled to death once again to press that green button.

Reuel Sample: 5:02

Every state is a border state. North Carolina Wilmington is one of the biggest trafficking cities in in North Carolina. Uh, and it's it's unbelievable that you folks even have to consider a veto override. This has nothing to do with with the Hispanic population. This is nothing to do with just routine traffic stops. This is about violent criminals who are in our country illegally to begin with, and you're just holding them accountable.

Ted Davis: 5:31

That is correct. But I know that when we heard the bill in committee, I'm on the rules committee, and we heard it before, it went to the floor and the room was full of, of, uh, Hispanics. And they spoke against the bill like it was going to like it was something directed against them or going to deter them living here. I mean, it was just I don't know where they hear all this. I know there's so much misinformation out there. A lot of it is put out by the Liberal Democrats to try to incite people. But anyway, I'm tickled to death that we passed it, and I'm going to be even happier when we overrule it. The veto and this will go into effect, and hopefully we will see a drop in a lot of the criminal activity that's going on by illegal aliens that are in this country.

Reuel Sample: 6:19

This is going. You haven't overridden this yet, but this is going to be yet another series of vetoes before the podcast. You held up your finger. It's the finger with the callus on it that you use to press the. There it is. You have overridden to date 26 vetoes. Is that correct?

Ted Davis: 6:40

26 veto overrides and all that was only done, uh, in this 2023 session. And that's just because we had a Democrat representative to switch parties to being a Republican. That gave us one. We have a supermajority about one person. We have a supermajority in the Senate by one person. And that's why I said earlier it is so important, but I want to get ahead of myself. But yes, we've done 26 veto overrides. And a couple of those things Reuel, um, that I just can't believe that we had to do this in the first place, just like you were talking about with the the ICE is transgender men and women's sports. I mean, this is something that the Liberal Democrats support wholeheartedly. I mean, what is fair about a man competing against women? It's nothing against transgender people. It's just just talking about a fair playing field. You know, you you heard the situation about the lady volleyball player that went to a concussion from a male transgender guy hitting the ball and hitting her in the head. It was so hard. Um, you've heard about the swimmer who came up and talked to us in the legislature that, uh, she and a transgender man were tied. And who they give the award to. They gave it to the man. The transgender man. What's he. What should he be out there competing against? Women in women's sports? But, uh, once again, that was something that we passed. Of course, the governor vetoed it.

Reuel Sample: 8:20

Which is unbelievable. And that is that's a that's a subject I don't care whether you're a Republican or Democrat. If you are a dad and you've got your daughter in sports. What the Democrats want you to believe is that it's okay for a guy to go in and change in the women's locker room and then also, yeah, taking showers. And these are I mean, they still have all their parts and they're in there and, and and they are participating. And in the case of the volleyball student, she still has and will have lifetime problems after a concussion in the in the face from a volleyball from a guy hitting it at her. And the Democrats wanted that to be okay and you folks overrode it.

Ted Davis: 9:15

That's true. I mean, it's all this wokeness that I just do not understand. Another thing that we overrode that I just could not fathom that the once again, the Liberal Democrats support and that is gender transition and minors. I mean, these children are not 18 years old. Um, I don't think that they're mature enough to decide whether or not they want to happen. Some of this stuff is irreversible. Yeah. You know, but this Democrat wokeness. Oh. That's okay. You know, if Johnny wants to be Susie and he's, you know, 17 years old and let let them treat Johnny. So he becomes Susan or Susan become Johnny. I mean, it's just I tell you, I just don't understand. I say sometimes this country is going to hell in a hand bag. I mean, when you've got seriously, when you've got liberal democratic people that want to be in power, that support this kind of stuff, I worry about my grandchildren. And I'm not being facetious when I say that I'm worried sick about the future of my grandchildren with this kind of stuff that they're growing up in. But if we don't keep the Republicans, don't keep control, good conservatives. This is what we're going to be facing.

Reuel Sample: 10:33

And we need to emphasize is that if you're an adult and if you want to live as a transgender or however you want to do that, that's your choice. You're an American, and we will protect your right to live that way.

Ted Davis: 10:45

If you're over 18.

Reuel Sample: 10:46

If you're over 18. But if you're a child. I mean. Some of the things that that are that are happening to these children, they're getting sterilized. They're things are getting done to them. In another age, the folks would go to jail for child abuse. But again, the Democrats are saying this is okay. And that's that's yet another bill that you folks have continued to override, not because you don't like Cooper and because you don't like the Democrats, but you are passing bills that the vast majority of North Carolinians would agree with.

Ted Davis: 11:20

That is correct.

Reuel Sample: 11:21

And we we might as well talk about it now is that there's there's big names at the top of the ticket. Donald Trump and JD Vance and we've got other folks around. But in order to help them get their jobs done, we've got to get Republicans elected at all levels of government. If things go south for us here in North Carolina, we need a good, strong supermajority in both the House and the Senate here in North Carolina.

Ted Davis: 12:47

That's especially true if Josh Stein is governor. Mhm. Because Josh Stein is more liberal than Cooper. And if he does get to be governor, that means he can veto every good conservative Republican bill that we pass. And if we don't have the supermajority in both chambers to overrule that, we will never be able to get a good conservative Republican bill passed into legislation as long as he's the governor. That's how important this election is as far as the House and the Senate. People need to understand that. And please go out and vote for your Republican House members and vote for your Republican senators, because once again, we only have it in both chambers, in each chamber, by one.

Reuel Sample: 13:39

By just one vote. That's just that. That is just too slim. That's just too slim. The another part of that bill that is that you folks are doing that approved.

News Reporter: 13:48

An expansion of those school voucher or opportunity scholarships that would clear a backlog of 55,000 voucher applications covering families of every income level. The bill would boost vouchers by about $463 million. Lawmakers did agree to boost public education enrollment by $92 million.

Reuel Sample: 14:07

That is getting panned by the liberal left, as the Republicans pandering to rich families who want to send their kids to elite schools. But just the opposite is that you folks expanded education here in North Carolina.

Ted Davis: 14:24

The Democrats talk about opportunity scholarships and money that is being funded for the Opportunity scholarships. That is something that is taking away money from public schools and will ruin public schools, Well, especially in the rural areas. And the fact of the matter is, Republicans believe in school choice. In other words, as a parent, you should have the right to decide. Will my child go to public school? Will my child go to private school? Will my child go to a charter school? Or will my child be homeschooled because no one size fits all? The Democrats want you to go to public school and that's it. They don't want you as a parent to have the choice of what to do with your child's education, as it depends on that child's particular set of circumstances. And the proof in the pudding to me is and it's unfortunate, but you got people leaving public schools which says something in and of itself. But when the money was originally appropriated for the opportunity Scholarships, which once again is school choice. It was directed more towards your lower income families. Well, what happened was with the money that was appropriated, it just zapped up. It was gone. And you had thousands upon thousands upon thousands of parents that wanted their children to also have that opportunity. So that is why in the, uh, that House Bill 10 that we're talking about, um, it appropriated more money, uh, $248 million more money so that more children would have the opportunity to participate in that opportunity Scholarship program. One of the differences was, though, the they it was not it was directed not only to your lower income families, but any family could apply for it. And one thing that the Democrats are not telling you is it is on a pay scale. In other words, if someone who makes more money has a child that gets one of those scholarships, they will not get as much as a lower income person would. Once again, the more income the family has, the less money you can get out of that scholarship. And a lot of people say, well, why should taxpayer money go to people of higher incomes for their children? Well, who's been paying this? I mean, who has been paying the taxes to fund the original opportunity scholarships to go to people that make less income? They're not paying taxes or very little taxes. So why shouldn't the people that have been footing the bill be able to get a little skin in the game and be able to have their children at some of the benefit?

Reuel Sample: 17:31

I also I also find it interesting that a lot of the voices against school choice are sending their own kids to private schools.

Ted Davis: 17:41

That's true. That is. So it's I think it's unfortunate that a lot of children or parents want their children to have a choice other than public schools. I hate to say it, but it doesn't make look public. Schools look good. Well, and my my children went to public school. My daughter did go to Saint Mary's, which is a private school here for middle school. But other than that, both of them, as as I did, went to public schools and they got a good education.

Reuel Sample: 18:09

Well, in a way, it's it's it's it's doing a couple of things is that it's, it's not taking money away from local counties is that if they have one less student in the, in the school, that's, that's they have actually more funding for schools. But in the other thing is that we as Republicans, we believe in competition. And this in a way, is fostering competition and excellence, not just in our private schools, but in a way to get public schools performing better.

Ted Davis: 18:37

And that is a good point because they don't want competition. Yeah. Cooper. Cooper does not want public schools to have competition. They want it to be the only game in town. And he wants to be able to tell parents, this is where your child's going to go, and that's it. And it doesn't work like that. Competition is good. You're exactly right. And one thing that Bill also did Reuel is that while it did not give teachers an increase in salary, which personally I wanted, the House passed a mini bill that had that in it, but the Senate would not go along with that part of it. Um, but but what it does, while it may not address, uh, more money to teachers per se, it does provide $95 million in a fund to help K through 12 enrollment growth. Because if that money was not there, let's say a school had 50 people and they were getting funding for that 50 people. And then let's say they get two more students and you got 60 students. Well, they're only getting 50. Funding for the 50. So what this will do will ensure that if you have enrollment growth, that the schools will get funding for that increased enrollment so that they'll have that money to be able to supply for the students.

Reuel Sample: 19:56

And once again, with all the other issues that we've been talking about, this is an issue that crosses party lines. What parent does not want their kids to do better than themselves and getting a good education is the start of it. I don't care who you are, whether you have an R or a D, you want your students to to excel in schools, and the only way to do that is to have an excellent school system.

Ted Davis: 20:23

That is correct. But unfortunately your liberal Democrats and Cooper, they don't want that. They want a they want a one shoe, one shoe fits all. And we catch I catch all kinds of grief every day from people who say, how, how? Why are you taking money away from public schools? Well, please tell me how this takes money away from public schools. It's just more and more of this stuff that that Cooper and the Democrats are feeding the people to get them all riled up and upset. And so they'll vote against Republicans.

Reuel Sample: 20:54

Well, I'm convinced that that one of the reasons is that good governance does not make for good sound bites. Reaction to good governance makes for good sound bites. But what you folks are doing takes some time to understand and digest. But in the end, it's the right process.

Ted Davis: 21:11

And another thing about that bill that we were talking about, that it does, as you know, rural areas that are very much in need of a high speed internet. Mhm. And this bill provides that funding.

Reuel Sample: 21:25

Now see I didn't know that.

Ted Davis: 21:27

Nobody talks about that. Do you think Cooper and the Democrats are going to tell you this stuff, like about the 95 million for the K through 12 enrollment growth funds. They don't talk about that. They're not going to talk about this funding in this particular bill for the high speed internet to the rural areas, which they need desperately to become part of, you know, the state wide system. The money that's in there for that. It's also got money to address the shortfall in Medicaid expansion. They don't talk about that. You know, all they want to harp on is we're not going to support ICE. We you know, we'd rather criminals be released so they can go out and commit more crimes. And we're up against this opportunity scholarships because we don't want that to happen. If people would just do their homework, please. And not believe everything you hear on the internet.

Reuel Sample: 22:18

You could believe this. You could believe this podcast. We're on the internet.

Ted Davis: 22:22

I mean, we're an exception. People read this stuff and they just take everything as being true. They don't look at the facts. They don't look really look behind the scene and see what's really there. And then they just come out with all this stuff and it's just nothing. And they just feed right into what the Democrats are giving to them.

Reuel Sample: 22:46

One of the other things that's on people's mind is the economy. And I'm going to play this. This is from just a few months ago. Let me bring this one up.

News Reporter: 22:53

Economic experts believe we are not out of the woods when it comes to inflation. You see Charlotte today hosting its quarterly economic forecast. Professor of financial economics Doctor John Connaughton says while the data shows inflation has cooled down significantly from its peak in 2022, it has yet to fall to the Federal Reserve's target of 2%. Recently, it has held steady around 3%. He says there are now fewer goods going down in price and more goods rising in price, which could be a sign inflation could make a return later this year.

Reuel Sample: 23:28

My wife just bought eggs today and the price just went up. Yet again. It just goes up and down, up and down. The fed just recently reduced interest rates, but that's probably going to have the reverse effect on on on inflation. Uh, but you and I were talking about before the podcast started is that the Republicans have sort of inflation proofed North Carolina through your economic policies, reserves, lower taxes. Uh, talk more about that.

Ted Davis: 23:59

Right. I know, uh, I guess to give us a comparison point, when I first went to the legislature, I was appointed in 2012, first elected in 2013. Our state was 2.4 billion with a B dollars in debt. That we owe that to the federal government having to pay interest on that. Well, because we we being the Republicans, we reduced your, you know, individual income taxes. We reduced the corporate income, corporate income taxes. We did reg reform. We were able to pay off that debt. I believe it was less than two years and start instead of being in debt under the previous Democrat regime, we started having a surplus and that has built up through the years. And I remember at one point Cooper, when he was governor, chastised the legislature time and time again, said, why have you got all that money over there? Why aren't you spending it? You know, why aren't you buying this? Why aren't you buying that? Well, the proof of the pudding came after we had the hurricanes and some other, other natural disasters. And guess what? Because we had that excess money, that fund, we were able to help people that needed it. And we did not have to raise taxes, and we did not have to cut services. And that's why we keep a surplus, because a lot of people say, like, now, well, you've got all these billions of dollars. Why aren't you increasing teacher pay. Why don't you do this? Or why don't you do that? Well, we don't do that because we're conservatives. And just because you got money don't mean you got to spend it. And like I just said, well, that was proof in the pudding of why we do what we do.

Reuel Sample: 25:47

We find that at all levels of when, when Republicans are in in power here in New Hanover County, we have a surplus in reserve so that when we get hurricanes and we get them all the time, we can do the same exact thing that the state can do is that we can respond without cutting, cutting, cutting services. And we do all that and still cut taxes at the same time. It's it's amazing because what we find is that when you cut income tax, state revenue actually increases, doesn't it?

Ted Davis: 26:22

Well, all of those things together are why in the last the two previous years, we were the number one state in the nation to do business in. We fell to number two. This time it wasn't by much. And the reason was, once again, if you cut taxes and if you you take away reg reform, that really hurts businesses starting here. But I'm not talking about anything that would affect the environment. I'm talking about anything other than that. You have businesses coming here and that's what we've done and that's why our economy is so good. If you look at the announcements that are made almost weekly, you've got businesses that are coming in here and putting huge investments in this state. You've got businesses that are expanding here with big investments in this state. Um, and that is why we are in such good shape that we're in, and that is why we do. We did set aside money in a fund so that if this inflation does hit as bad in a recession as bad as what might happen, there will be money there to keep us going.

Reuel Sample: 27:37

Without having to raise taxes.

Ted Davis: 27:39

Certainly. Yeah, or cut services. But that's being proactive. And that's what Republicans are. We're not we don't react after the fact. We try to as much as we can to be proactive before the fact, like having that money to get ready, like we have another hurricane or any type of natural disaster. And in this case, with the inflation or recession, you know, because if you don't do that and those things happen, then we're going to be in a boatload of trouble.

Reuel Sample: 28:11

Now, you were because you are in a two year term, you have to you have to go through this election cycle every two years. But you have had a lot of things to do over these last two years. What are some of what's some of the legislation that you are most proud of?

Ted Davis: 28:25

One of the local things that I've been very proud of. You mentioned earlier about the drug problem. Uh, unfortunately, we were the number one city in the nation for opioid abuse. Um, and that's not much to be proud of. No, the city of Wilmington came to me and asked me if I would help them to get funding for what was called a pilot, uh, opioid epidemic project. And what it does is if I take an overdose and I am treated usually with Narcan, you know, to bring me back, then I am told about this program. It's run by Coastal Horizons. And what they do is you go to that and hopefully at the end of that course, you will no longer be addicted to opioids, which means you can go get a job, you know, be a productive member of the community, go go to school, whatever you want to do. And I was able to get the funding for that. And I got that for multiple years. And I told the people here that if, you know, if we had a good, good track record maybe 3 or 4 years, then I was going to try to get number one, increased funding. Number two, make it a recurring, which means it would stay in the budget year after year after year after year after year. We wouldn't have to go back every two years, you know, beg, borrow and steal to try to get the money. And also no longer be a pilot project, be a permanent project. And I was able to do all those things, uh, in the last budget. And I'm really proud of that because it's been a hugely successful program. But, um, I've always tried. That's why I got into this is I like helping people. I mean, um, good Shepherd came to me and said, can you get us some money to help us build some shelters for, um, low income families, you know, and I was able to do that. The food bank money for them to, to build their new facility.

Reuel Sample: 30:32

You were also at your you were also at the forefront of our water issue down here in New Hanover County as well.

Ted Davis: 30:37

Yes. And actually, I ran a bill that gave DEQ the first funding that they that they received for dealing with the with the PFAS situation. It was a I had several people that had been there a long time, says the first time they can ever remember an environmental bill passing the House with no votes against it.

Reuel Sample: 31:02

Sponsored by a Republican.

Ted Davis: 31:04

It was sponsored by a Republican. But, um, you know, it's it's the thing that's been disappointing for me is that I've introduced a bill that, bottom line, would hold a polluter responsible for the cost to a public utility to treat the water And in this case, the only one I know of in this area is Chemors. And I got it through the Environment Committee this time. It passed unanimously. We never made it to the House floor because it was getting near the end of the session. But the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce is so against that, as is a business alliance, not the local, but statewide. They are so against that bill. They have lobbyists going out and talking to legislators, and they don't support this bill. It'll hurt business. And what gets me Reuel is that every year since I've been up there, the chamber recognizes pro-business legislators, called them jobs champions. Yes, I've gotten it every year. That business alliance every two years gives pro-business recognition to legislators. I've gotten it every time. And like I said in that committee, when both of them were there opposing, I said, you know what? If I've got a very good track record of being pro-business, if this was not if if this was an anti-business thing, I don't think I'd be up here standing, you know, doing this because I got proof in the pudding by all these recognitions that you people have given me ever since I've been up here. I said this, this is not I said, what business would want to come here if they didn't think the people that worked for them had clean drinking water? Yeah. You know what business would want to stay here and expand if they didn't think that their employees were going to have good drinking water. And it just really disappoints me in our state Chamber of Commerce and also that business alliance that they they really they take that stance that they would rather businesses not have something that might affect them, rather than protecting the people that work for those businesses and are members of those organizations having clean drinking water.

Reuel Sample: 33:22

Well, on the other hand, you are you are fully supported by the National Federation of Independent Business, NFIB that stands and works for small business. You work, you're you're supported you're supported by other small business organizations. Uh, it it's it's flabbergasting that the chamber and other business organizations think it's bad business to have clean water. It's just it's it's it's it's astounding.

Ted Davis: 33:47

I don't get it, but I, I can tell you this. If reelected, the first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to file that bill again. I'm going to be like a pit bull gnawing on your leg. I'm not going to let those people keep me down. Well, that's the ratepayers here and also Brunswick County rule. Their, their, uh, rates went up as New Hanover County. Cape fear public utility authority, both of them because of the equipment that each utility in those two counties have had to spend to clean the water, that these polluters are contaminate, and it's not fair for the ratepayers to have to pay that. The polluters should pay for that.

Reuel Sample: 34:27

Yeah. And and let's, let's make sure that people understand the seriousness of the chemicals that we're talking about. There are some chemicals that will wash out of your system in in days, months or weeks. But these PFAS chemicals, they're called life time chemicals. They don't go. They're forever chemicals. They don't go away. They don't go away. They just build up in your system. And that's what you are fighting to get fixed.

Ted Davis: 34:55

When that thing first came out about Gen X, we didn't know what it was. And make a long story short, I went to Speaker Moore and said, look, this issue is very important. And New Hanover County and it's also important in our surrounding counties. I'd like for you to allow me to form a committee to study this issue, since we don't know what the heck's going on. And he allowed that it was called the River Quality Committee, and I chaired and we had DEQ come in. We had toxicologists come in, all kinds of experts to come in. It was fascinating. And we really, through that committee, learned at least what Gen X is and PFAS is. We toured one of the facilities and they showed us spectrometers how they detect this in the water. It was fascinating. And it was out of that study that that bill that I first filed with the funding, uh, was passed. It's just and it's everywhere. Reuel, it's it's just unbelievable. The more and more they're finding of these, uh, these chemicals that are in there and and you're right, it's very serious. And it's something that we need to deal with. And I do salute Cape Fear public utility authority in the fact that they did put in charcoal filter system that takes out almost all of it, if not all of it. Yes. Um, and I'm very thankful for that. And there are other procedures, you know, as science as we go along. Science is finding more different ways to deal with these things, these chemicals. But, um, it once again, we, the polluters should be responsible.

Reuel Sample: 36:36

Yes, yes. I again, I find it just fascinating that that an environmental bill is coming from the Republicans, but it's not a feel good bill. It is a bill that's going to take some time to get done, but it's going to get done. Now you are running for reelection. What are some of the things that you're looking forward to in your next two years? What's on your plate?

Ted Davis: 36:56

Well, I mean, the thing that that I really look at is, of course, dealing with the inflation and the economy, because I know that's one of the biggest concerns that people have is the concern that I have. So I firmly believe if we can keep our good conservative Republican policies going, will continue to attract the businesses, continue to provide jobs, and of course, that will allow people to be employed, allow people to, you know, to earn money. They spend money, you know, they have the fallout effect of helping everyone and keep us going there. Of course, as we've talked about, cleaning water is a very major concern of mine and something that I want to deal with. I'm worried about the crime and the illegal drugs. A large part, I believe, has to do with illegal immigration. Um, and I want to keep fighting to keep our community safe, our community to live in and to raise our children in. And it's just things come up, like all these bills that that we have are overridden the vetoes on and other bills. Uh, I will keep doing that.

Reuel Sample: 38:09

That finger is going to get more calloused.

Ted Davis: 38:12

You got that right. That's what I'll put a band aid on that thing. If I have. And that's that's once again, it's one of the biggest fears I have that if Stein wins and we don't have that supermajority, then we're just going to landlocked. We're not going to be able to do anything.

Reuel Sample: 38:32

Again, we need every Republican to vote for Republicans up and down the ballot, because that's the only way we can get it done.

Ted Davis: 38:40

You're absolutely correct. And locally, we need the school board. We need the county commissioners. I mean, from the top to the bottom, we really do. Because look at the stuff that's going on in our schools. Yep.

Reuel Sample: 38:55

Representative Ted Davis, Junior, running for district 20, state representative. Sir, I'm going to give you the last word.

Ted Davis: 39:01

I'm just thank you for allowing me to be here. Um, I just hope that people, uh, Republicans and I. And I hope those that are independents and those Democrats that aren't haven't drunk enough of the Kool-Aid of the of the liberal wokeness seriously will consider voting for me. Because to me, I don't talk the talk. I walk the walk. All you got to do is look at my website t e d d a v I s f o r or NC house.org and you will see everything about me. All the bills I've done in the years I've been up there, all the appropriations I've gotten, all the awards I've gotten recognitions, I've got all the committees I've chaired, uh, all of those things. And it's just once again, I don't talk the talk. I walk the walk. And I'd like to continue to walk that walk for the people here in New Hanover County.

Reuel Sample: 40:00

I am honored to know you as both a fellow Republican and as a good friend. Thank you for joining us tonight for the podcast. All the best to you, sir.

Ted Davis: 40:10

Thank you Reuel.