RALEIGH --  It’s the battle between an incumbent and long standing part of NC's political scene.  In a district drawn safety for republicans, the fight for North Carolina’s 2nd congressional district is a toss-up.  We take a look at the candidates and why they are running for this office.

 

GEORGE HOLDING:

These days you can see George Holding walking the halls up in the nation’s capital, but North Carolina is home, and has it has been for his entire life.

Holding is the youngest of five siblings.  He lost his father at a young age, but says his mother used it as an opportunity to help him spread his wings

“Unfortunately, my dad died when I was about 10 years old,” says Holding. “And my mother thought it would be a good experience for me to go to boarding school and grow up a little quicker than I was growing up at home.  And I spent five years up in Massachusetts, and I can tell you, I never want to experience another ‘Mass winter’.”

He came back home for college at Wake Forest University.

“My oldest daughter just went away to college, and she just decided to go to Chapel Hill.  We wanted her to go to Wake, but she decided Chapel Hill.  But we've got three more children- so we still have time to recruit one to Wake Forest,” he jokes.

Holding has now been in public life for some time, getting his first brush with politics in the 90's working for then Senator Jesse Helms.

“Senator Helms, when a new member would come on to his staff, he would always give them a little talk,” says Holding. “And he said number one: keep your priorities straight and make your family come before work. And number two: don't make a career out of Washington.”

From there, he went on to serve in the US Attorney's Office, being appointed to the top position in 2006.

“We had a lot of tough cases,” says Holding, “and I think we tried to be fair. And I think that is the record that I left behind.”        

Holding says he had other plans when he left the US Attorney’s Office, but the opportunity to run for elected office couldn't be passed up. He says he tries to live up to his ideal of a good member of congress by doing the work every day. And by living up to advice he still remembers from his dad.

“One: honesty.  Even if it hurts.  Always tell the truth,” says Holding.  “I can hear my dad.  One time, I didn't tell the truth.  I guess I was about 7 years old and it didn't work out so well.  And my father made sure I learned the lesson, in his quiet and strong way, that honesty is always the best policy.  And then my father also used to always say that ‘fools names and fools faces always appear in public places’.  So, I think about that often.  Sometimes I am criticized for that, not doing it over the camera as often as some other members are.  And so I don't try to chase the outrage of the day, and have an opinion, and start yelling about the latest outrage of the day. I try to be more of a moderating force amongst my colleagues.”

To learn more about Holdings campaign you can visit his website.

 

LINDA COLEMAN:

Linda Coleman is no newcomer to North Carolina's political scene.

“I got involved when my son was in middle school and Wake County was growing just faster than it is growing now,” Coleman says of her first elected seat on the Wake Board of Commissions. “We have about 64 people per day moving in to the county. Well, at that time we had about 100 per day moving into Wake County. And so you can imagine when people move to Wake County they bring their kids with them. And so the schools became extremely overcrowded.”

From a seat on the Wake County Board of Commission, she moved on to serve in the state house, until Governor Bev Perdue pulled her into her cabinet.

“I started out in state government in state personnel,” says Coleman. “And the joy of that, and the wonder of that, is that is where I ended my career. But, I ended my career in the same place that I started my career.  But, I ended it at the top. Because I was the HR Director for the state of North Carolina.”

A high honor for a girl who grew up in southeast North Carolina, going to a segregated high school.  She says she was close with her 9 siblings and part of a close knit community.

“I spent my summers working tobacco, handing tobacco,” remembers Coleman. :”That was the summer job that most of the teenagers had.  So, that was pretty rough.  That is not a job that I would ever want to do again.  It was hard work, and it was of course during the hottest months of the summer.

Coleman has suffered a few political defeats in recent years, but she says this run for congress is a great fit for her and what she wants to do.

“Because, I believe I have a record of supporting families in all that I have done through the years. Solving problems. I believe I can build the kind of relationships with the members of congress that will allow us to get past the gridlock we have now or just having one segment of a population heard,” says Coleman.  “I think that in order for laws to be effective, that they have to be more inclusive. And that's what I want to bring to congress.”

The mother of two and grandmother of two says should she be elected to serve the folks of the 2nd district, she will take lessons to Washington with her that she learned as a child.

“Because of my background and upbringing in the church, do onto others as you would have them do onto you,” she says. “So, just because someone did something nasty or ugly to you, you can't waste that time getting back. Because that is a lot of negative energy and you don't have time to concentrate on the positive things.  So you leave the past in the past and let it go.”

If you would like to learn more about Coleman’s campaign, you can visit her website.