SMITHFIELD – Former Senator Allen Wellons says a political flyer mailed to voters is a misleading attack ad. Citizens for a Better NC Senate mailed the flyer to potential voters in state senate District 11, which covers portions of Johnston and Nash counties.
The ad calls Wellons a “shady senator” after his arrest “for trespassing at a Government building.”
His campaign said the piece of mail received by voters attempts to misrepresent an act of civil disobedience that resulted in Senator Wellons arrest for trespassing during a 2013 Moral Monday protest at the North Carolina legislature.
“It is disappointing to see such a low, and false attack against my character. They did get one thing right; I was arrested for trespassing in 2013. But what they do not tell you is it was an act of civil disobedience; 150 North Carolinians and I were arrested that day at a Moral Monday protest. Standing against a legislature that was actively working against the people’s best interest, failing to expand Medicaid, and continuing to deny hundreds of thousands access to the life-saving coverage they need,” stated Senator Wellons. “That day, just as when I first served in the Senate, I was standing up for those that do not have a voice, I was standing up for the rights of every North Carolinian. Everyone deserves access to good, affordable healthcare, and I will fight now, just as I did in the past, to make sure that everyone can access the coverage that they need.”
Wellons, a Democrat, originally served in North Carolina’s State Senate from 1996 until 2002.
His opponent is Republican Lisa Stone Barnes from Nash County. A spokesperson for her campaign, Chris Sinclair, told Johnston County Report, “Lisa has nothing to do with independent groups sending out communications in the campaign for District 11. She’s spending her time talking to the voters in the district about the ever important issues they face – like recovery and relief from COVID-19, education funding, and how to improve the local economy—and fight for more jobs so we can move North Carolina forward.”
Rep. Barnes is completing her first term in the NC House representing Nash and Franklin counties in District 7.
The NC District 11 Senate seat is currently held by Republican Rick Horner. Senator Horner is not seeking re-election in November.
