Archived News

McCrory goes to WNC

Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory stopped in Sylva Thursday, Aug. 30, to meet with area supporters and planned to attend a fundraising event on Friday, Aug. 31, with U.S. congressional candidate Mark Meadows of Cashiers.

McCrory, the former mayor of Charlotte, spoke to a small crowd of Republican supporters at the Jackson County GOP headquarters, saying he was ready to get rid of the “good ole boy, good ole girl system” that has dominated North Carolina.

McCrory is running against current Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton to replace current Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue, who decided not to run for re-election.

His speech focused mostly on education and jobs. McCrory said too many jobs are moving across the border to Tennessee and Georgia.

“You have to make things. You have to grow things,” McCrory said.

He also emphasized that colleges and universities need to teach skills that meet the demands of the market, like mechanics.

“You are incentivized to teach what students want, not what the market needs,” McCrory said, giving examples such as political science, sociology and journalism. McCrory added that he measures a college or university’s success by the number of their graduates who are employed.

Smokey Mountain News Logo
SUPPORT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM
Go to top
Payment Information

/

At our inception 20 years ago, we chose to be different. Unlike other news organizations, we made the decision to provide in-depth, regional reporting free to anyone who wanted access to it. We don’t plan to change that model. Support from our readers will help us maintain and strengthen the editorial independence that is crucial to our mission to help make Western North Carolina a better place to call home. If you are able, please support The Smoky Mountain News.

The Smoky Mountain News is a wholly private corporation. Reader contributions support the journalistic mission of SMN to remain independent. Your support of SMN does not constitute a charitable donation. If you have a question about contributing to SMN, please contact us.