Dority stresses his opposition to homosexual marriage
By Matt Shaw
Published in News on October 27, 2004 2:02 PM
Republican candidate Greg Dority came to Goldsboro on Tuesday to "endorse" his opponent in the U.S. House's 1st District.
"I encourage you to vote for G.K. Butterfield," Dority told a dozen people at the county Republican headquarters. "That is, if you support homosexual or gay marriage."
U.S. Rep. Butterfield, a Democrat from Wilson, has voted twice this fall against amending the U.S. Constitution to prohibit gay marriage, Dority said.
Butterfield "claims to be a champion of traditional marriage," he continued. "He's saying one thing in his district and voting another way in Washington."
In an interview, Dority said voters have been more interested in the issue of gay marriage than any other this year.
"It's an issue of morality and religion," he said. "So many people have felt like their values are under assault. This is a line in the sand for them."
Dority would support rewriting the Constitution to recognize marriages only among man-woman couples, he said. An amendment is needed to prevent activist judges from allowing other forms of marriage, he said.
If elected, he also pledged to work to improve employment opportunities in eastern North Carolina.
Republicans will control the U.S. House for the next two years, so the 1st District would be better served by electing one, Dority said. "If you're part of the majority, you can get your agenda moving."
One step would be to improve education, he said. The public schools' emphasis in recent years has been on teaching children to pass end-of-grade testing. "That would be great if they could get jobs as professional test-takers," he said. Instead, he would like to see schools emphasize critical thinking.
He also supports President Bush "100 percent" in the war on terrorism, which he termed "the Third World War."
He called high gasoline prices "a tax on our poorest residents."
Dority, of Washington, N.C., is making his third run for Congress. He lost to former Rep. Frank Ballance in his first attempt in the 1st District in 2002. Ballance was later forced to resign and ultimately was charged with misuse of grants.
Butterfield, a former N.C. Supreme Court judge, defeated Dority in a special election in July to replace Ballance.
Wayne County is on the fringe of the 1st District, a black-majority district that spreads into northeastern North Carolina. About half the county's voters, including many in Goldsboro, live in the district.
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 grade-school daughter, Catie.
For more information, go to www.gregdorityforcongress.com.