Jay Ovittore's blog

If anyone is going to be in the Greensboro area tonight...

Meet & Greet with Jay Ovittore, Candidate for N.C.’s 6th Congressional District
7-9 p.m.
Solaris, 125 Summit Ave, Downtown Greensboro
A chance to meet and talk with Jay Ovittore, candidate for N.C.’s 6th District. Hosted by the Committee for Jay
Ovittore, Luck Davidson, Tom Gilmore and John Whisnant.
Admission: $25; $10 with Student I.D. Payment must be made by check.

Solaris is a Tapas restaurant with great food. The owner is a great chef! Great food and politics.

I did not appear at the YDNC convention and I want you to know why. It has to do with one important board member, but before I get to that... I do want to say I love the YDNC and the YDA. I have been an active member of this organization for years now. I helped throw last years convention in Guilford county, along with Jason Coley and Tony McEwen. I have been told it was the largest YDNC convention in state history. I have taken days off of work to go to the legislature and fight with my brothers and sisters for the Same Day Registration and Voting bill and the Sudanese Divestment bill. I have been in the trenches with this organization. I will continue to be in the trenches.

Cross posted on my campaign blog.

We had the first of three debates between myself and my two primary opponents last night. I thought the debate went well. The questions were quite canned and the format did not allow for rebuttal statements. I will have video of the debate online sometime this week hopefully.

I know I am not supposed to, but the time is right. I am endorsing Jim Neal for US Senate. It was tough for me to do this. I am a candidate and I am not supposed to take sides in any race. Even tougher is the candidate I am opposing here is a friend and a power house in my home county. I thought long and hard about this decision as I know both candidates fairly well.

I am happy to announce a key endorsement of my campaign today. Tom Gilmore, former NC state house representative and former opponent of Howard Coble for the 6th, has formally endorsed my campaign.

Tom says, “This is the year for Howard to be defeated.” I think he is right. Any incumbent is vulnerable this year. Tom says of endorsing me, “It is time for new leadership.” I believe, like Tom, that I am that new leadership.

In the press release I stated that, “I am thrilled and honored to have such a remarkable man lend his weight toward my campaign. He is a man who is notorious for fighting the good fight, a man who has fought for change his entire life. I intend to continue that fight; the fight for what is best for the people.”

Cross posted at my campaign blog.

The first of maybe 3 debates between myself and my two primary opponents has been scheduled. It will be on March 25th at 8pm at Guilford College in the Joseph M. Bryan Jr. Auditorium of the Frank Family Science Center. Greensboro will host the first debate. Word is there will be two more outside of Greensboro. I hope that is the case.

I encourage you all to attend and show your support for me. This will be fun. I love talking about the issues.

I am told there will be press at the debate. I would love to have a cheering section. So please consider coming on out. What else do you have to do on a Tuesday night at 8? Oh yeah- American Idol is not an excuse!

This is cross posted at my campaign blog. I am reposting it here at the request of lcloud. The video is priceless, although the audio is quite low.

My opponent has endorsed Mitt Romney for President. He spoke yesterday on The Hill blog of Romney's Super Bad Tuesday.

Last Wednesday, Yes Weekly conservative columnist Jim Longworth took one of the many attacks I received from the Right-wing attack machine that has apparently put its target on my back. Misinformation and quoting to fit their propaganda was the order of the day.

First let me back up a little. I received a call from N&R reporter Mark Binker about a story he was doing on my opponent's age and tenure in the US House of Representatives. I answered his questions via phone and he wrote this article. On January 2nd a well formulated right wing attack is launched in several areas, all regarding my quotes from the article.

It seems the right wing pundits want to see my primary opponent and not me in the general election. They assure themselves another 70-30 blowout facing him, they fear the unknown and my "not the usual politico" self in a battle facing me. I am in this to win and that is what I plan to do.

Here is Longworth's original attack column. Click through and read it. It's a hoot!

I was offered the opportunity to write a rebuttal to Longworth's piece by Yes Weekly and I did.

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So it's official. I am a candidate for the 6th District.

It has been a hectic couple of months of preparation in advance of the launch of my campaign. I am very excited to start to discuss the issues that effect regular people. I myself am a regular person, and by regular I mean that I was not born with or have ever acquired a silver spoon.

I have had to fight for everything I have in my adult life. I was lucky enough to have wonderfully supportive parents in my childhood and teenage years. I thrived during the Clinton era as the economy was stable and everyone was doing well. After being laid off right before Christmas 4 years ago, I started to recreate myself.

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