Election 2020 Your Local Candidates
Buck Bayliff is running for NC House District 13.
Buck is a North Carolina native, who was raised in Graham, NC. He met his wife Babs in school, and they have been married for 54 years, with two sons. Babs retired as a career teacher here in NC. Buck attended Elon and Wake Forest. He served as President of the NC College Stores Association, was the Assistant VP of Communications and Project Management at Wake Forest, and was the National President of the Association of College and University Telecom Directors. Buck was also the National Director of Sales at Pinnacle Software in Rochester New York. After living in Phoenix Arizona, Buck and Babs moved back to NC and live in Beaufort.
Website: www.bayliff4nc.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Bayliff4NC/
Libbie Griffin is running for NC Senate, District 2.
Libbie was a real estate agent until the recession, then had a small travel agency. She has been highly involved in local, state, and national politics for many years, and is a well known activist in this area. Libbie began the highly successful Liberal Ladies in Craven County, which just celebrated their 15th anniversary and has a mailing list of over 400 people. Ladies come from Jones, Pamlico, Craven and Carteret County for Libbie’s monthly meetings.
Libbie lives in Craven County.
Website: https://www.griffin4ncsenate.com
Email: [email protected]
Liz Ponder is running to tackle the hard issues that have plagued Carteret County for too long. She is responsive to the needs of the community and will zealously advocate for those who feel that their voices were silenced in the past.
Liz is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While in school, she met her husband Steven, a US Army soldier stationed at Ft. Bragg. Soon after they were married, Steven was transferred to Germany, where he finished 10 years of military service. They returned to the United States and Liz attended law school in Massachusetts. She was privileged to move back to North Carolina in 2017. Liz operates her solo law firm in Morehead City.
When Hurricane Florence hit our beautiful county in 2018, Liz felt compelled to help hurricane victims find temporary housing. She, along with two other ladies, hosted a housing fair at Ann Street Methodist Church. Since then, she has been involved in disaster recovery as the Vice Chair of the Carteret Long Term Recovery Alliance. Liz helps county residents with FEMA appeals, increase insurance payouts, and locating temporary and long term housing. Liz is also actively involved in the Beaufort Middle School Parent Teacher Student Association.
Liz and her husband, Steven, have been married for 15 years. They have 2 wonderful children, Leah and Jacob.
Website: https://www.ponder4carteret.com/
Email: [email protected]
Kathleen Colbert is running for Carteret County Commissioner in District 3.
My family and I moved to Morehead from a small town in Wisconsin when I was 8th grade. I am a graduate of West Carteret High School and East Carolina University where I received at B.S. in social work. After graduating from ECU, I moved to Minnesota, the tundra of the United States. It was there that I fell in love with the counseling profession being an advocate for people from all walks of life. I received an MA in Counseling from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, I worked at a rape crisis center as an intern and was later hired to run the counseling program.I worked with people individually and in groups. I also trained volunteers and interns to do the same. When I moved back to North Carolina, to be close to my newborn nephew, I worked in mental health in various positions. I currently am a therapist at Second Chance Behavioral Health. In all of my positions I have learned to listen and to understand people from their point of view. I’ve learned to work with people from diverse backgrounds – cultural, racial, and socioeconomic status. The thing that makes me most proud is to work with people who are different from me, sometimes starkly, and get big things accomplished. In my therapy practice, I work with people who are different from me, and I see them grow and change because of the relationship we built together. I’ve seen, and been a part of, amazing things that have happened. I am also a member of the Carteret Community Theater who, by the grace of God, is still putting on shows despite having no building as of yet. Kathleen lives in Morehead City.
Email: [email protected]
Rosalie Ruegg is running for Carteret County Commissioner in District 4.
A long-term resident of Emerald Isle, Rosalie grew up on a family farm between Greenville and Washington, NC, which she still owns and operates. By education and years of experience, Rosalie is a practicing economist, who has run a successful economics consulting company from Emerald Isle for the past 20 years. Before that, she was director of the Economic Assessment Office of the U.S. Advanced Technology Program for its first decade, and prior to that she was an Economist in the Building and Fire Office of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and, earlier, a financial economist for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and a college instructor in Economics. She currently is serving her second 4-year term on the National Academy of Sciences and Engineering Committee on Research and Technology in Transportation. Rosalie enjoys daily walks on the beach with her dog, and visiting when the opportunity presents with her two grandkids who are both NC college sophomores. She received degrees from the Woman’s College of UNC (BA, with Honors), the University of Maryland (MA, Woodrow Wilson Fellowship), and The American University (MBA, Specialty in Finance). She received certificates from Georgetown University’s Short-Course Development and Presentation Program and Harvard University’s Executive Leadership Program. Rosalie lives in Emerald Isle.
Email: [email protected]
Lucy Bond is running for Carteret County Board of Education in District 3.
Lucy is a lifelong educator, who was born and raised in Carteret County. She has a Masters of Science degree from ECU in Child Development and Family Relations. Lucy worked in Social Services Child Care, Head Start, and with mental health services for high risk children. She was an elementary school teacher in Wilson, and is National Board Certified. Lucy retired from Craven County Schools. She now works part time in Adult Education at Carteret Community College, is active with the Carteret County Democratic Women and a former CCDW President. She is on the Board of Domestic Violence Services, the Board of the League of Women Voters, an intake worker for Carteret Long Term Recovery, and a member of the local Sierra Club and NAACP. She was Carteret County’s Woman of the Year in 2018. Lucy lives in Morehead City.
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: facebook.com/lucymarinobond
Twitter: @lucymarinobond
Jennifer Johnson is running for the Carteret County Board of Education in District 2.
She is the mother of 3 school aged children. Jennifer was born in NC, and moved back over 10 years ago. She worked in Alaska as a disability advocate, and has worked in a shelter for homeless women and children. She worked as an addiction counselor, specializing in trauma in young women. She worked as a case manager for adults and children with disabilities, which included attending 504 and IEP meetings, and mental health assessments for clients in crisis. Jennifer is active in her children’s schools, and volunteers at Martha’s Mission here in Carteret County. She also serves on the Carteret Smart Start Board of Directors. Jennifer lives in Newport.
Website: facebook.com/Jennifer-Johnson-for-Board-of-Education-District-2
Email: [email protected]
Brenda George is running for Superior Court Judge, Judicial District 3-B (Carteret, Craven, Pamlico).
A North Carolina native, Attorney George is a graduate of the UNC-CH School of Law. She began her career with Legal Services of NC, specializing in housing and employment law. In 1988 she joined the nonpartisan staff of the NC legislature where, until her retirement in 2014, she provided the state’s leading policymakers with objective in-depth analysis of complex legal issues and helped them write laws to accomplish their stated intent. Brenda has a passion for community engagement and serves on the Board of Directors of Discipleship Ministries, a global agency of The United Methodist Church. She and her husband Bernard George, a retired city planner, reside in New Bern.
Website: https://www.bgeorgeforjudge.com/ Email: [email protected]