The two candidates running for the House District 18 seat agreed on some issues last night at WHQR’s candidate forum. Refusing to sign a pledge against raising taxes was one part of the common ground. WHQR’s Sara Wood reports Republican challenger Louis Harmati and Democratic incumbent Susi Hamilton both agree to keep their names off this list.
Unlike some of his fellow Republican party members, Harmati says he won’t sign his name on that kind of promise.
“They asked me to sign the pledge, I refuse to sign any pledge because you don’t know what the future’s going to hold. But my concern is the fact that we’re going to keep taxes low and so we can go ahead and create jobs, because if there are lower taxes, and more people invest in our society in our culture, and businesses then they’re going to bring more business revenue in.”
Democratic incumbent Susi Hamilton says the needs of North Carolina are too unpredictable for her to lock into such an unfair promise. Instead, she offered what she would vow to do.
“I do commit to tax reform. That is coming. And I commit to participating in that discussion. I commit to fighting for the film incentives, I commit to fighting for children and education. And I commit to fighting to make certain that we are adequately funding the state’s infrastructure.”
More than a thousand GOP candidates already signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, vowing to oppose any bill raising taxes. The pledge was started by Americans for Tax Reform.