Dority stumps for Ballance's congressional seat
By Matt Shaw
Published in News on March 15, 2004 1:59 PM
Greg Dority hopes the second time's the charm.
Dority, of Washington, N.C., announced Thursday at Wayne County Republican Party Headquarters that he will once again run for the U.S. House's 1st Congressional District.
Dority, who also made campaign stops in Greenville and Washington, promised an aggressive campaign centered on job creation and leadership. One possible opponent this fall is the incumbent congressman, U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance, who defeated Dority in 2000. In Wayne County, Ballance, a Democrat, carried 56 percent of the vote.
But Dority says he's up for a rematch.
Dority
"I feel I'm a much stronger candidate than I was two years ago and Frank Ballance is lot weaker," Dority told an audience of about 40 people. "This time, it's going to be a whole lot different."
Ballance is being investigated by federal officials for possible misuse of state and federal money by the John Hyman Foundation, a drug and alcohol counseling center that was founded by Ballance while he was a state legislator.
Dority called the foundation "the equivalent of a political slush fund," which funneled money to Ballance's family and friends, who then often contributed money back to Ballance's campaigns.
"There's little doubt in my mind that Frank Ballance will be indicted by a federal grand jury," Dority said. "I believe he will be found guilty and will go to prison."
The Democratic Party will likely field other candidates to run in the 1st District, a black-majority district that includes about half of Wayne County and most of northeastern North Carolina. Former N.C. Supreme Court Judge G.K. Butterfield of Wilson may run.
Other Republicans have indicated they may run, but none have yet announced.
Dority called job creation his top priority.
North Carolina is suffering from the globalization of the economy, Dority said. That has driven the cost of many items. "A towel at Wal-Mart costs half of what it did five years ago," he said. "That's great, but you can't buy it if you don't have a job."
The U.S. needs to negotiate new agreements with large trading partners, such as China, he said.
He also promised to run a campaign based on leadership.
Dority, 46, is a partner in Sterling Security, a firm that specializes in security issues and communications. He has worked as security director at ABC News' bureau in Washington, D.C. He and his wife, Jayne, have one daughter, Catie, who will enter kindergarten this fall.