With Election Day approaching, the race is heating up for local candidates vying for the coveted District 4 congressional seat. Rep. David Price, the Democratic incumbent, and Todd Batchelor, the Republican contender, hope to woo voters on issues such as education, transit and taxation in the district, which crosses the boundaries of Durham, Orange, Wake and Chatham counties and includes both Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Campaign funds have been one clear divider between the two opponents. Price has raised nearly $800,000 in comparison to Batchelor’s approximately $12,000.
Price is a veteran Democrat in Congress—having served since 1986, though not continuously—and a Duke professor of political science. A Tennessee native, he grew-up in a mountain town on the North Carolina border before attending Mars Hill College and later transferred to the University of North Carolina at Chapel HIll on a Morehead Scholarship. After pursuing further degrees at Yale University, he returned to the state to work, first as a professor and then in public service.
“There’s a lot of overlap between the areas I engage in legislatively and the areas I studied in the halls of Duke,” he said.
Price left Congress for a term in 1994 after losing a reelection bid to a Republican challenger—a fact Republican party members say indicates that this year’s race could be highly contested. While Price often relies on his experience in his bid for reelection, challenger Batchelor’s campaign uses his youth as a benefit, explaining that he relates more to the constituents of his congressional district.
“I believe I have the advantage that my campaign is a grassroots campaign,” Batchelor said. “I may be the only candidate running for [the House of Representatives] that has an all volunteer staff.”
Batchelor defeated three Republican rivals for the party’s 2004 nomination. A native to the Triangle, Batchelor graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington eight years ago. Since then, he has devoted himself to public service, including jobs as a party precinct chairman, Wake County Library commissioner and public relations chair for the Kiwanis Club in Holly Springs. Batchelor said he has labored to make himself as accessible to voters as possible and even released his home phone number on both his website and business cards.
Price’s proponents are quick to tout his distinguished legislative record—particularly in education. While in Congress, he authored the Education Affordability Act, which made interest on student loans tax deductible, and the SUCCEED Act, which improved technical education and training programs at community colleges. Price also hopes to promote his Teaching Fellows Act, which encourages students to enter the teaching profession.
Batchelor professed his own hope to change the public education system, in particular reforming President George W. Bush’s “No Child Left Behind Act.”
He said most teachers and parents don’t approve of that legislation. “I believe instead of emphasizing teaching, we are emphasizing testing.”
The candidates are decidedly split on the issue of a new public transit system in the Triangle. A light rail, which would require some federal funding to build, has been proposed to take pressure off local highway congestion.
If North Carolina does not build a transport system and take pressure off the highways, it will experience problems in the future, Price said. “Of course, we will still have most people commuting in their cars, but it’s wrong to say only those who ride the transit system are the only ones who benefit,” he said. “Everyone would benefit [from] less congestion.”
Batchelor argued that the transit system would be a waste of taxpayers’ money.
“I do not believe that 100 percent of the tax payers should have to pay for less than 10 percent of the people who use this,” he said. “It only removes one car in 1,000 off the highway.”
The candidates are also at odds over the difference in the amount of campaign funding. Price has raise more than 30 times as much money as Batchelor.
“Congressman Price has been committed to running a serious campaign,” said Jonathan Pahl, Price’s communications director. “I think it’s just a reflection of his commitment.”
The Batchelor campaign, on the other hand, said this disparity in numbers is an indication of Price’s loyalty to special interest groups. “Nearly 40 percent of David Price’s money comes from political action committees,” Batchelor said, citing lawyers and labor unions as Price’s other sources of money. “My campaign is of the people’s efforts, rather than special interest groups.”
Both candidates are proponents of tax cuts. Price recently voted to extend tax cuts to the middle-class, and Batchelor pledged to make Bush’s tax cuts permanent if he is elected. He also wants to abolish the death tax and the marriage penalty.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.