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Cornelius Mayor and business management consultant Jeff Tarte declared his candidacy as a conservative Republican for NC Senate District 41, which has no incumbent under the new district lines drawn by the legislature. During Tarte's tenure as Mayor, Cornelius built an additional new high school, earned an AAA bond rating (the highest available), bolstered the police department to the top 2% nationally (as rated by the international law enforcement rating agency CALEA), and saved $11 million in reserves for major capital projects.
Additionally during Tarte's leadership as Mayor, the town reduced taxes to the lowest rate in the state for towns with a full service police department. Tarte enters the race as a formidable candidate, having already raised $75,000 for his campaign.
"I am running for State Senate because I believe that our taxes are too high and our spending is not correctly prioritized on the services we need most to create lasting job growth, improve roads and create excellent schools," said Tarte. "For example, North Carolina’s businesses, especially those in and around Charlotte, have a difficult time competing when our state’s gas tax is the 6th highest in the country. I reject the idea that we must have a gas tax this high to build good roads."
Tarte continued, "In our state, we have a problem of misplaced spending priorities, not a problem of too little taxes. High taxes are driving up the costs of everything we buy, leaving less in our pockets to make purchases, as well as making it too difficult for our local businesses to compete. We can no longer pretend that we do not need pragmatic and fundamental change to our state government. State government has grown far beyond its constitutional duties and must be cut back."
Tarte's experience in private enterprise prepared him for a unique approach to governing. He believes the best and only way to expand the economy is to shrink government and thereby empower North Carolina businesses to innovate, create and compete. In particular, his private sector experience in strategic planning and management leadership enabled Tarte to build a team in Cornelius that made tough choices to cut taxes during a recession, eliminate wasteful spending, and prioritize needed support for public safety, roads and schools.
Tarte concluded his announcement with a pledge to District 41 voters, "It is no wonder we have a jobs crisis in our state with the way Democrats in Raleigh spent the last decade raising taxes, running up debt, and spending beyond our means. I will oppose that approach in every instance and will fight for the same, sound, conservative principles that have proven to deliver positive results here in Cornelius. Those positive results are exactly what our state needs right now, and I know we can get them if we stick to our conservative, job-creating principles. You can count on me to do that." |
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