FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RALEIGH (23 Jul 2024) – Brad Hessel, candidate for NC Senate District 18, today announced that he has received the endorsement of the North Carolina Forward Party.

“My campaign and the Forward Party both came into being for essentially the same reason,” stated Hessel. “We share the perception that there is a political climate crisis. And it’s dark and stormy. Too many politicians are telling their supporters that their opponents—and even their opponents’ supporters—are out to get them. And by extension that the only way for them to succeed is for the others to fail. This is just not true! There are perfectly good approaches to addressing the issues that face us today that enable everyone to benefit. 

“So I agree with the Forward Party,” he continued, ”that the best way to deliver for North Carolinians is to get in a room with folks representing all points of view, have a good faith debate over solutions, and engage in practical experimentation and measure the results to see what works and what doesn’t. And in particular, we need to focus on electoral reform in order to re-establish a political system based on self-governance firmly rooted in the principles of a constitutional republic and facilitated through a democratic process.”

“The Forward Party doesn’t enforce adherence to a particular set of policies,” stated Vice Chair MJ Hall. “Rather we believe that candidates and officials should commit themselves to objective and verifiable standards of transparency and accountability, and behave in a way that reflects our core principles and values. Brad Hessel certainly fits the bill.”

“Compared to many of our other candidates,” Hall added, “Brad’s proposals for strengthening our economy, providing more affordable and higher quality healthcare, and improving education generally feature less government involvement. I don’t know how his solutions might work in practice, but there is most definitely room for improvement in all those areas. And given Brad’s commitment to relying on data to determine the effectiveness of proposed solutions and to ensuring that defined, measurable outcomes are a prerequisite for any enacted public policy, he merits a seat at the table.”

The North Carolina Board of Elections have not recognized NC Forward as an official political party, and so there are no Forward Party-registered candidates on the ballot this year. But several 2024 candidates registered with other parties or as independents have received a Forward Party endorsement. For more information, check out the North Carolina Forward Party website.