At least two local politicians — Mecklenburg County Commissioner Bill James and another who requested anonymity — are saying they’ve heard Commission Chair Jennifer Roberts plans to run for State Sen. Dan Clodfelter’s seat next year. Roberts flatly denies the rumor, saying she has no definite plans for 2012, although she added, “If Senator Clodfelter were to step down, I would have to look at this opportunity.” Clodfelter could not be reached to comment on whether he plans to step down.
Roberts announced yesterday that she will leave her post on the county commission in 2012 at the end of her term. With some exceptions — mostly related to letting County King, er, Manager Harry Jones do whatever the hell he wanted — Roberts has served well as commission chair, particularly in light of how cantankerous the current batch of commissioners has been during her tenure, and especially considering that two or three of the commission’s members aren’t exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer.
This article appears in Nov 15-21, 2011.
John,
I am Senator Clodfelter’s campaign manager (since 2006) and I can assure you that Dan has plenty of work remaining to do for his constitutes in North Carolina Senate District 37 and he is not “stepping down”. He is out of town through the end of the week on business.
Regards,
Dan McCorkle
Using Bill James as a source? About like using Jerry Sandusky as a baby sitter.
Jennifer has no plans on running against him and this is just the dirty work of certain actors trying to create trouble. Thanks for getting the truth out there Dan.