November 6, 2025 • 35 mins
Tune in here to this Thursday's edition of Breaking With Brett Jensen!
Breaking Brett Jensen kicks the show off by talking about the surge in voter turnout across Mecklenburg County and what it reveals about the local political landscape. He compares the 2025 election results to 2023, noting that turnout jumped from 15.5% to 22%—a massive 45% increase. While some attribute the rise to the controversial one-cent sales tax referendum, Jensen argues the phenomenon runs deeper, pointing to a broader “Trump effect” that fueled Democratic turnout not only in Charlotte but across North Carolina and even Virginia.
Jensen is joined by Congressman Mark Harris to discuss the recent letter sent to Governor Josh Stein requesting the deployment of the National Guard to Charlotte. Harris explains that the request was prompted by rising violent crime, police staffing shortages, and growing public concern following a string of homicides. He emphasizes that the proposal, supported by the Fraternal Order of Police, aims to provide a short-term solution to restore safety and confidence—particularly in uptown Charlotte—while long-term reforms take shape. Harris notes that similar measures have yielded positive results in other cities and urges Governor Stein to “put politics aside” and listen to law enforcement leaders.
Listen here for all of this and more on Breaking With Brett Jensen.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Hi Oh, Let's go hi oh, Let's go oh, Let's
go oh.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Let's come.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
News Talk eleven Day ninety nine three WBT Brett Jensen
here with you on this Thursday night edition of Breaking
with Brett Jensen. As we go up until seven o'clock tonight,
seven four five, seven eleven. Ten, guys follow me on
Exit Brett Underscore Jensen for all the letters and breaking
news in and around the Sean area.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Because guess what if you.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Follow me on X about thirty forty minutes ago, you
had had some breaking news, breaking news that all the
other Charlotte media failed to report on.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
That's right, I had it. I put it out there.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
They didn't have all the info. And by the way,
my info was probably a little bit more relevant, but
we'll get into that later on. Or otherwise, you can
just go straight to my Twitter feed right now, my
ex feed, I should say, at Brett Underscore Jensen.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Of course, the WBT textallon is driven.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
By liberty Viewick GMC and Lannie is always the one
manning the ship. So if anything decent comes in or whatever,
if you guys want to cuss at me, he'll be
the first one to see it and let me know.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
All right, So we're gonna get into a lot of
things tonight, and Mark Harris, Congressman Mark Harris will be
joining us later and to talk about he and two
other congressmen that signed that letter to Joshtin.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
So I'm going to talk to him specifically about the
letter to.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Josh Diin requesting the National Guard come to Charlotte. So
we'll talk to him about that, and only about that,
by the way, But what we're going to start off to,
and yes, usually I would do this tomorrow or excuse me, yesterday.
Usually I would have done this yesterday, the day after
the election. But obviously Sheriff Gary McFadden was in studio
(02:11):
last night with me and announced on the show that
he was runing for reelection. And by the way, nobody
other the media outlet's give us credit for it. Thanks
thanks for that, nonetheless, But actually waiting a full day
to do a post mortem or an autopsy on the
local election, it actually wound up being a good thing
(02:33):
because it wanted me, let me get some more information
and figure some things out.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
And I did a lot of deep dives.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
So let's start with this in twenty twenty three because
that's what you compared to. You don't compare it to
twenty twenty four because that's a presidential election. Congress county commissioners,
statewide racist, you don't. You only compare twenty twenty five
to twenty twenty three because that's only local. So that
way you get an equal look at voter turnout, winners, losers, whatever.
(03:09):
So that being said, in twenty twenty three, fifteen point
five percent of eligible voters in Melmberg County voted local elections.
Tuesday night, twenty two percent turned out about a forty
five percent increase.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Now we have to figure out why that was.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
And the easy thing to say is, oh, well, it
was a blue wave across America. There was an anti
Trump vote, and I have told people, while that may
be partly true, that is not a hundred percent true.
(03:55):
And then other people have said, oh, well, Melimburg County
they did it because of the one sent sales tax,
and they spent three point four million dollars trying to
get people out there to vote for the one cent
sales tax, which by the way, only passed by eighty
five hundred people, like fifty two percent to forty eight
percent something like that.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
But it wasn't just that. It was a cumulative effect.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
And did the one cent sales tax have the probably
increase in voter turnout in the suburb towns Matthews, mint Hill, Pineville, Cornelius,
hunters Ville, and Davidson probably so probably had a big
impact because everyone in North mech was dead set against it.
(04:43):
We knew people in Matthews were dead set against it.
What we did not know was that mint Hill and
Pineville would also vote against it.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
We did not know that. So all six towns I
believe voted.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Against the one sent sales tax, but there was enough
people inside the city limits of Charlotte that voted for it.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
So did that play a part in it? One hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
But here's why, and a lot of people are just
they're missing the vote on this.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
And it has.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Again it's it's not just the one sent sales tax.
Because if it was just the one sent sales tax,
then why did every blue county in North Carolina have
massive surges in voter turnout. They did have one sent
sales tax referendums for transportation on their ballots. They just
had normal ballots, But Republicans got smoked Wake County. It
(05:45):
was a blood bath in Wake County for Republicans, just
like it was here.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
It was a blood bath here.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
You had people like Kimberly Owens going telling people she
did not expect to win, She had no clue she
was going to win. She had already prepared for herself,
like had no money, spent, no money. Right, it was
a shoe string budget and one by what thirty five
hundred votes over Christop McCary. Democrats came out in full force,
(06:14):
but not just in Mecklenberg County, in every blue county
in the state. They were up fifty percent, one hundred
percent and voter turnout. It was unbelievable, and they did
it statewide. Now is that the Trump effect? That absolutely
is the Trump effect, because it also happened in Virginia
where you have a man who says he wants to
(06:35):
kill children because they're the offspring of Republicans and he
wants to kill them.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
He just got elected to attorney general.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
He did say just once, he tripled down on it,
multiple text messages and phone.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Calls, and just got elected.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
And then people will say, well, why didn't the Republicans
turn out? Where's the motive. What's the motive to turn out?
If you live in the city of Charlotte, what is
the motive to turn out other than voting against the
ones inned sales tax? Because most Republicans I know voted
against it, even though Vicky Sawyer, Republican and senator out
(07:14):
of Meckliboth County, Tricia Cotham, Republican representative out of Mecklinber County,
the Republican GOP excuse me, the Republican North Carolina General
Assembly on the House and the set aside approved it
overwhelmingly along with the Democrat bipartisan support. But it was
brought forth by Tricia Cotham and Vicky Sawyer, and every
(07:36):
Republican that I know voted against it. Everyone, maybe with
the exception of like five or ten. But I also
do a lot of Democrats that were voting against it.
So it barely passed. So the Trump effect, clearly it
had a major role, and just people getting at absolutely
(08:01):
annihilated that no one saw coming, including yours truly and
political pundits that I spoke to people that do this
for a living, because I love to dive deep into
the analytics and deep into the numbers.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
That's my sports background.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
You can see a lot of things when you just
start crunching the numbers, you can see it.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
But nobody saw twenty two percent coming out.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
The highest number that I had heard was right around
twenty percent, and that was from the Alliance, that's what
they're calling themselves. That was the name of the alliance.
That was for the one cent sales tax. That was
like trying to put this together and puts it through
and three point four million dollars in all that.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
They're a consulting firm.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
They believe that they might there might be a twenty
percent turnout, maybe probably closer to nineteen and they got
twenty two percent, twenty two percent and so, but it
wasn't just Meccnburg. So it wasn't just the ones sent
sales tax, Wake, Durham, like Guilford, all of them just massive,
(09:16):
massive turnouts. So when we come back, let's start taking
a look at some of the races individually. Okay, we'll
take a look at some of those and then we'll
break it down and there's gonna be a lot of
things that are I'm about to say that a lot
of people.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Are not gonna be happy with.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
And I'm just gonna go ahead and warn you now,
if you're on the left, you're not gonna be happy.
If you're on the right, there are a lot of
you that aren't gonna be happy. But you know what,
it's just facts, and I can't help you with that.
Facts aren't good, and facts aren't bad. Facts are facts.
Facts aren't racist, facts aren't sexist, Facts aren't homophone.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Facts are facts.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Welcome back to breaking with bred jetson here on this
Thursday night. All right, So we're doing a post mortem,
an autopsy if you will, on election night. So I
gave you some of the reasons why the high turnout, Yes,
once in sales tax, definitely in the towns surrounding Charlotte.
And you know it may have had a small impact
in Charlotte. But when the voter turnout was through the
(10:40):
roof in all the other hard blue counties in North Carolina,
but yet at the exact same time they were pretty
flat and stagnant in all the red counties, that tells
you this was a Donald Trump thing. Clearly a Donald
Trump thing, at least for the city is Charlotte, while
all the other towns were probably being driven by the
ones that sales text because they were all dead set
(11:01):
against it and it barely passed. All right, now, but
let's take a look at some of these individual elections. Okay,
Winter will ask me what the one that I was
surprised the most about, and it is the school board.
There were a couple of things with the school board
that I just did not see happening, didn't see it
happening at all. Let's start with District one. Bill Fountain
(11:26):
lost by five thousand votes up there in District one.
The reason most people thought he was going to win,
including myself, was because he was the lone Republican going
against two Democrats because they don't have primaries, So you
could have had eighty seven people in that race if
you wanted to, and they voted, and you figure, okay,
(11:52):
the Democrats will split the votes.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
And all that no Shirley to Hatch.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Vote outgained Melissa easily the incumbent two to one, almost
two to one, like about one point seventy five to one,
and Bill Fountain just came in with ten thousand votes,
came in second and a very distant second, by fifteen
points twenty nine percent to forty four point eight percent.
(12:23):
Didn't see that one coming, didn't see that one coming
at all. And then you have situation going on, same
thing in uh In District du Da in District six
for the school board, two women, both Democrats, fighting each other,
(12:44):
threatening lawsuits, giving cease and desist, trashing each other, and
Justin Sheeley's standing there and just got just got annihilated,
just got smoked twelve five hundred votes to six thousand,
five hundred votes, fifty percent to twenty six percent of
(13:05):
the vote.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
I didn't see it being that bad.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
I thought there was a chance that he could lose,
but I didn't think it was going.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
To be that bad.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
I said, if Tony Emiel, if she, if she gets
a significant amount of votes, then Justin could win because
you've got two Democrats splitting the vote. Well, just no,
she still got twenty three percent of the vote, and
even with that, Justin still lost by six thousand votes.
(13:37):
And then the school board race that I was most
surprised about was the Lisa Kleine that was a guarantee.
If there was a guarantee in Mecklenburg County, there were
two guarantees who was going to win mayor in Mint
Hill and Lisa Cline being reelected. Those were the two guarantees,
(13:57):
and only one of them happened. The mayor in mint Hill.
Lisa Kline was an unknown three years ago beat a
known Democrat. Had that Democrat three years later actually endorse
her on his Facebook page Shot Observer endorsed Lisa Klein.
Lisa Kline the only Republican on the school board, the
(14:20):
only one, the one of the only women, or one
of the only people, I should say, on the school
board that are actually trying to hold the rest of
the school board people accountable and contracts and not give
contracts to friends and family.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Five hundred thousand dollars contracts at that.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
And it wasn't even close. She lost by six thousand votes.
Nobody saw that coming. Nobody saw that coming.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Christop McCrory loses. Chris McCory. People were really surprised by that.
And I will admit there was always a chance she
could lose. That wasn't the question.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
The question was, you know, if you know, could she
win or if she lost, what it'd be like by like,
you know, one percentage point something like that, right, one point.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
And just not even close.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Lost by four thousand votes, four thousand votes. Nobody saw
that thirteen I want to say it's thirteen or sixteen
thousand more people voted in her district than voted two
years ago. And that had nothing to do with the
one sent sales tax. Nothing because in that district the
(15:49):
light rail and the bus. Nobody uses the light rail
or the bus in that district anyway. Would you might
get helps with your roads.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Yeah, but that had nothing to do with it.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
That one may have been an anti Tark vote because
of the Johnny Jennings situation and once again the anti
Trump vote. There are one thousand more Democrats in that district.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
I believe, then, I believe then Republicans.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
But Tark was able to constantly keep winning, not even
closest time, four thousand votes. Talk won the last two
elections by three hundred and twenty five. When we come back,
we'll take a look at the mayor's race, and we'll
take a look at the city council at large and
some of the surrounding towns. Huntersville bloodbath, Matthews bloodbath. If
(16:46):
you're a Republican, we'll talk about that when we return.
My name is Brett Jenson, and you're listening to Breaking
with Brett Jenson. Welcome back to Breaking with Brett Jensen
on this Thursday night.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
All right, we got Marc Harris coming up shortly, so
I got to zip through this. All right, So let's
take a look at Charlotte.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Mayer's by Lyles got seventy percent of the vote. Terry
Donovan got or twenty five percent of the vote, ninety
two thousand to thirty three thousand, lost by fifty nine
thousand of my math is correct, fifty nine thousand votes,
the top vote getter in the Charlotte The two top
(17:28):
vote getters in the Charlotte City Council at large races,
diplaj Mara and Victoria Wantlington each got more votes than
by Lyles. Edwin Peacock, who came in fifth for Charlotte
City Council at Large, as well as human disaster means
Son Kim, She's a disaster my opinion. Disaster even got
(17:52):
more votes than Terry Donovan in terms of city council
numbers versus mayor rate numbers. But I do find it
interesting that the top two Democrats each got more votes
than by Lyles. Here's the thing, and now with Huntersville
only getting one Republican and Matthew's losing numbers, and people
(18:15):
are questioning whether or not the two people elected in Matthews,
the two Republicans, are actually Republicans. Like there's a whole
thing right. So I will tell you this. If you
are Republican and you live in mecclumber County, you now
(18:36):
have three choices. Well, actually I'll say, I'll say you
live in Charlotte. You now have three choices. If you
live in Charlotte. One stay where you are, but no,
things will never get better. Crime will literally never get better.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
This is the path. I say this a thousand times.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Isaac's heard me say this a thousand times with each
passing day, with about one hundred people moving to Charlotte
with each passing day, and you look at the Democrat
leaders and the people in charge school boards, county commission,
there's literally only one Republican and that's Ed Drakes, not
on County Commission, not on school board, and only Ed
(19:20):
Drags on city Council.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
That's it. One.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
With each passing day, Charlotte is becoming with crime and
the politicians Baltimore, Saint Louis, Memphis, New Orleans, Detroit, Atlanta
every passing day, each passing day, and not so much
Atlanta but the other ones one hundred percent. So you
(19:48):
can either stay where you are and just ignore politics
altogether and be done with it and just stick your
head in the sand and just going to live your
life and not worry about politics. Or you can move
to Cornelius and deal with that traffic all day, every day,
or mint Hill, the only two Republican strongholds left in
(20:10):
Mecklimore County, but space is very, very limited in both
of those places. And your third option move move to
Union County near the near the Mecklimore County line. If
you work in Charlotte, move to your county. A lot
of my best friends live in your county and they
(20:32):
drive into Charlotte, or they live in Lancaster County or
Gaston County, Ardel County, Cabaris County, even Lincoln County and
they come down Highway sixteen. Those are your options. Those
are your options, because there's no use getting upset and
(20:52):
beating your head against a wall and not understanding why
everyone's not voting like you do. They're not going to
they never will. Well in the rest of my life,
I honestly don't know if there will ever be another
Republican mayor in the city of Charlotte, for the remainder
of my life, for the remainder of Isaac's life. And
he's a lot younger than me, I don't know if
(21:16):
there will ever be a Republican mayor in Charlotte. The
last time and at large person or at large candidate
Republican candidate was elected was two thousand and nine.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
You can kiss the baby. That ain't never happening in
my lifetime.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
If you're the Republican party, you have to focus in
on races that you think might be winnable, and guess what,
there are only a few. Maybe you make a big
push in Matthews, maybe you make a big push up
in Huntersville, and you try to get Christoph's Pacari's seat back,
or at least a Klein's seat back.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
That's about it. That's all you got. That's all you got.
So this isn't a mech GOP thing.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
And if anyone blames us on mech GP, you truly
are an idiot. This isn't a mech GOP thing. As
Edwin Peacott told me live during our Tuesday night coverage.
When I'm interviewing him after the loss, his exact quote was,
Abraham Lincoln himself could not have won in Mecklinburg County tonight.
(22:30):
Ronald Reagan would not have won in Mecklinbroke County.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
You either just have to stick your head in the sand,
or you have to move to another county, or if
you can, if you want to stay in Mecklburg, maybe
try Cornelius, maybe try Minhill. Those are your only three options.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
And you have to find candidates that are at willing
to put in the work, do their own fundraising, actually
go to forums, fill out files and set them into
the local paper.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
You have to do that.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
That is out at the polls every single night until
the polls close at seven point thirty. And you have
to raise a ton a ton, a ton a ton
of money. Edwin Peacock raised one hundred and fifty thousand dollars,
was doing TV ads, smoked the other candidates in terms
of fundraising, and just got obliterated.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Obliterated, absolutely got obliterated. So again.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
That's the state of being a Republican in Mecklamore County
and it will not change in your lifetime, maybe Matthews
will flip back and forth. Maybe one day you might
be able to get Huntersville. Although that Huntersville might be
lost forever. It hasn't been close to the last two elections.
Maybe Charlotte gone forever, and the other towns might be
(24:07):
gone forever as well, with the exception of Cornelius in Minhill.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
Welcome back to Breaking with Brett Jensen.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Okay, real quick, before we get into the interview with
Mark Harris, I just want to say this, so I
broke the news earlier that two.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Of the fire fighters.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Or fire people with the Stanley Fire Department that were
charged with felony accounts. They were part time employees, but
they worked full time with Charlotte, and the local media
did not report any of that that they worked for Charlotte.
And you should know that Eric Withers is a division
chief with Charlotte Fire Department and Michael Hollett is a
(24:48):
captain with the Charlotte Fire Department. Every single media outlet
failed to mention that, and apparently they just didn't know.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
And that's why I'm here at wbt TO. It'll keep
you in four all right.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
So joining us now is Mark Harris, a congressman out
of District eight that represents parts of Mechilmore County, Union County,
Cabaras County, and everything going east. First of all, Congressman Harris,
thank you for joining us tonight. And second of all,
what prompted this letter that you signed. Another congressman signed
to send a Josh Stein asking for the National Guard
in Charlotte.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Well, Brett, if you remember back obviously when the Arena
Zarutska murder occurred, it just threw a spotlight on Charlotte,
and I think everybody recognized at that particular time, when
the spotlight was on it, that we had a problem.
And I think what followed that in the days after
(25:43):
were several things that happened. For one, you had the
Vice President that came and spoke over in Concord, and
there he was highlighting law enforcement and supporting them and
standing with him, and I had the privilege of being
with him and speaking at that event that day. And
a question was even asked, when light of what is
(26:03):
happening with the National Guard and the work they're doing
in Washington and looking at other cities, would it come
to Charlotte. And he said that if the invitation was
given if the mayor and the Governor were interested in
the National Guard coming in that he was sure that
the White House would want to support and help that. Well.
(26:25):
It was not long after that that the Paternal Order
of Police actually made a request for the Governor to
bring in the National Guard. They highlighted not only the
rate of homicides and highlighted the increase of assaults with
knives and guns and how did arisen in twenty twenty
(26:45):
five to one hundred and eleven incidents, But they also
pointed out that they were more than two hundred and
seventy plus officers down from the number that they should have.
And it's just a fact that the National Guard does
provide a deterrence in these cities, particularly while more long
(27:06):
term solutions are hopefully found. And I think Charlotte is
one of those prime opportunities for particularly in Uptown, for
the National Guard to be a presence and bring about
that those same results.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Speaking with Congressman Mark kerras So, the FOP wanted the
National Guard only in Uptown. So when you're asking for
the National Guard, are you also only asking them for
to be in Uptown or are you asking them to
be in other parts of Shad as well.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
Oh. I think listen, I stand behind with the Fraternal
Order of Police. Listen, there are folks that are in
the policing business that know far more about what they
need than I know. And so I would lead those
decisions on how many guard is needed. I'd lead that
to the police. I would lead that to the governor
for that matter, and the mayor on once they're called in,
(27:55):
on where their placement would be to be most effective. Oftentimes,
when you have the National Guard there as just that
support base, their mere presence brings a sense of confidence
to people who are downtown. Listen. I've seen it with
my own eyes in Washington, d C. And the time
I've been up there. I think we've seen it in Memphis,
the successes that have happened and so and even in
(28:18):
those places they had Democrat mayors who were resistant to it,
didn't want to do it at all, but yet decided
to cooperate. And now they've seen the successes of it.
And I think, look, what a perfect time. You got
a new police chief that's coming in, giving her an
opportunity to reset. We can hit reset here and bringing
(28:40):
in the Guard for the short term solution to be
that presence, I think makes an awful lot of sense.
And I think again, restoring law and order in our
cities across America is absolutely crucial at this time.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
You put in the letter that you're asking for the
National Guard until at least the criminals are being held accountable.
Do you think that time will ever come where the
criminals are being held accountant as well as the magistrates
and the judges.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
That's a great question. And look, I know the statement
that the governor's spokesman put out began to say all
of the things that they were looking to do to
bring about reforms, Well, that's great, and I think those
are great intentions, great words, but we all know that
the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and
the reality is that we need some action now. We
(29:29):
need to do something to curb the violence and the
murders and the killing that we've seen now. And just
restoring law and order in that way and having the
National Guard as a short term solution, I'm not suggesting
it's a long term solution at all. We make that
clear in the letter, but I do know that other
cities that have deployed the National Guard have seen positive results,
(29:53):
and I have no doubt that Charlotte could also see
those positive results at this time.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Speak of a congressman, Mark carras you know, being that
you were the one that tried to put all of
this together and everything. Was it difficult getting the other
congressman on board? Did you have any pushback or anything
like that?
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Listen, I don't think everybody was willing to perhaps get
on board because nobody wants the spotlight, oftentimes thrown on
their community. And I get that admitting that you have
a problem, admitting that there's a serious situation is oftentimes
the first step to solving that problem and getting the help.
(30:33):
And so I'm grateful for my colleagues that did choose
to sign on. I think there are others that just assume,
you know, turning look the other way and think that, well,
there's got to be a better way. Well, listen, I
want to find that better way, but I want to
do something in the immediate and I think that this
would be a short term solution. Again, if it hadn't
(30:54):
been proven to be working where it has been applied,
then it might be a different story. But I think
that we've got an opportunity for a temporary solution in
bringing the Guard in and see if we can drop
those crime rates. I mean again, you saw in Washington
they went twelve straight days without a single homicide right
(31:14):
after the National Guard showed up. So look, I think
that I would love to be able to get up
each morning and turn on and listen to WBT News
and not hear yet another murder in Uptown or another
murder in Charlotte. I would love to be able to
do that. And I just think that this might be
a short term solution that can again give everybody an
(31:36):
opportunity to get the support that they need. We need
to fill in those gaps where there's two hundred and
seventy five officers short, and this could give us the
time to be able to do that.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
So, now that the letter has been written and signed
by three congressmen, what do you think is the ultimate
thing that happens with Governor Josh Stein.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
Well, I don't know what Josh Stein will do with it.
I mean, he is the governor of the state, and
I hope that he will put the politics aside and
recognize that here's an opportunity to do something good in
the largest city in our state. Here's an opportunity to
let the National Guard or send them in. You mentioned
(32:19):
the statistics of what was happening in October. There was
seven days in October that we had eight homicides. We
had more than an average of one to day, and
then four homicides in twenty four hours in October. So
the rates are the numbers speak for themselves. And what
Josh Stein does with that, I don't know. I hope
(32:41):
he will listen, not to me. He doesn't have to
listen to me because he got a letter from Mark
Harris or my other Republican colleagues. But listen to the
Fraternal Order of Police, Listen to those who are standing
in the gap, who know the business of policing, who
know what's needed is to listen to them. That's the
(33:02):
real key. I wanted to hopefully put the weight of
our leadership as Congressman behind the request that they had made.
And that's really what this is about.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Congressman Marcerris, is there anything else that you'd like to
say to the listeners tonight.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
No, I just thank you for what you're doing and listen,
let's just keep working together and let's get crime down.
For sure.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
Congressman Marc Harris, thank you so much for joining us tonight.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
Thank you. It's a pleasure, all right.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
So again thanks to Congressman Harris for joining me talking
about the letter that he wrote so real quick in
case you missed it. I just want to say, the
big massive voter turnout was two things, the voter referendum
and the Trump and the Trump effect.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
They probably played equal parts.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Especially in the towns that was the voter referendum and
in the city of Shaw it was probably the Trump effect.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
That's what it was, all right. So I've got like
ninety seconds to go here. Today is Isaac's last day.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Isaac is leaving, and this is the last show Isaac
will ever work on. It is it is the last
show as a full time employee of WBT, so Isaac
appreciate it. Isaac just brought me some new eggs, the
last time i'll get eggs from him probably, And with
this chicken coop that we've learned all about the chickens.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
So, by the way, are the chickens good? Be good,
fantastic good? They producing the eggs like they're supposed to
and on.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
That yep, land well right now, got some new new
chicken feed for him seemed to have helped.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
So are you sad to be leaving Breaking with brought Jensen?
It's actually the best part of this day, right I
doped out? I don't doubt that.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
But Isaac will be back here and there doing in
some fill in work every once in a while, like
during the holidays or when people are sick or stuff
like that.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
Ye.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Well, I appreciate everything that you did. You know, I
appreciate you letting me beat you by ten strokes playing golf.
But I also appreciate the eggs and so the fresh eggs.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
But again, I appreciate everything, man, I do too. It's
been a blast. It's been different, that's for sure. See
see Breaking with bretd. Jenson's I don't like any other show.
Oh it's it's unique. It is unique. We'll give you that.
I won't say good or bad, but unique. I can
live with that. That's fair. That's fair, all right. So
that's gonna do it for us tonight. I appreciate everyone
(35:26):
who listening.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
Again thanks to Congressman Mark Harris and also thanks to
Isaac his last night here running the show of Breaking
with Bret Jensen. So until Monday. I'm Brett Jenson and
you've been listening to Breaking with Brett Jenson
Hi Oh, Let's go hi oh, Let's go oh, Let's
go oh.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Let's come.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
News Talk eleven Day ninety nine three WBT Brett Jensen
here with you on this Thursday night edition of Breaking
with Brett Jensen. As we go up until seven o'clock tonight,
seven four five, seven eleven. Ten, guys follow me on
Exit Brett Underscore Jensen for all the letters and breaking
news in and around the Sean area.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Because guess what if you.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Follow me on X about thirty forty minutes ago, you
had had some breaking news, breaking news that all the
other Charlotte media failed to report on.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
That's right, I had it. I put it out there.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
They didn't have all the info. And by the way,
my info was probably a little bit more relevant, but
we'll get into that later on. Or otherwise, you can
just go straight to my Twitter feed right now, my
ex feed, I should say, at Brett Underscore Jensen.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Of course, the WBT textallon is driven.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
By liberty Viewick GMC and Lannie is always the one
manning the ship. So if anything decent comes in or whatever,
if you guys want to cuss at me, he'll be
the first one to see it and let me know.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
All right, So we're gonna get into a lot of
things tonight, and Mark Harris, Congressman Mark Harris will be
joining us later and to talk about he and two
other congressmen that signed that letter to Joshtin.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
So I'm going to talk to him specifically about the
letter to.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Josh Diin requesting the National Guard come to Charlotte. So
we'll talk to him about that, and only about that,
by the way, But what we're going to start off to,
and yes, usually I would do this tomorrow or excuse me, yesterday.
Usually I would have done this yesterday, the day after
the election. But obviously Sheriff Gary McFadden was in studio
(02:11):
last night with me and announced on the show that
he was runing for reelection. And by the way, nobody
other the media outlet's give us credit for it. Thanks
thanks for that, nonetheless, But actually waiting a full day
to do a post mortem or an autopsy on the
local election, it actually wound up being a good thing
(02:33):
because it wanted me, let me get some more information
and figure some things out.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
And I did a lot of deep dives.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
So let's start with this in twenty twenty three because
that's what you compared to. You don't compare it to
twenty twenty four because that's a presidential election. Congress county commissioners,
statewide racist, you don't. You only compare twenty twenty five
to twenty twenty three because that's only local. So that
way you get an equal look at voter turnout, winners, losers, whatever.
(03:09):
So that being said, in twenty twenty three, fifteen point
five percent of eligible voters in Melmberg County voted local elections.
Tuesday night, twenty two percent turned out about a forty
five percent increase.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Now we have to figure out why that was.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
And the easy thing to say is, oh, well, it
was a blue wave across America. There was an anti
Trump vote, and I have told people, while that may
be partly true, that is not a hundred percent true.
(03:55):
And then other people have said, oh, well, Melimburg County
they did it because of the one sent sales tax,
and they spent three point four million dollars trying to
get people out there to vote for the one cent
sales tax, which by the way, only passed by eighty
five hundred people, like fifty two percent to forty eight
percent something like that.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
But it wasn't just that. It was a cumulative effect.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
And did the one cent sales tax have the probably
increase in voter turnout in the suburb towns Matthews, mint Hill, Pineville, Cornelius,
hunters Ville, and Davidson probably so probably had a big
impact because everyone in North mech was dead set against it.
(04:43):
We knew people in Matthews were dead set against it.
What we did not know was that mint Hill and
Pineville would also vote against it.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
We did not know that. So all six towns I
believe voted.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Against the one sent sales tax, but there was enough
people inside the city limits of Charlotte that voted for it.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
So did that play a part in it? One hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
But here's why, and a lot of people are just
they're missing the vote on this.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
And it has.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Again it's it's not just the one sent sales tax.
Because if it was just the one sent sales tax,
then why did every blue county in North Carolina have
massive surges in voter turnout. They did have one sent
sales tax referendums for transportation on their ballots. They just
had normal ballots, But Republicans got smoked Wake County. It
(05:45):
was a blood bath in Wake County for Republicans, just
like it was here.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
It was a blood bath here.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
You had people like Kimberly Owens going telling people she
did not expect to win, She had no clue she
was going to win. She had already prepared for herself,
like had no money, spent, no money. Right, it was
a shoe string budget and one by what thirty five
hundred votes over Christop McCary. Democrats came out in full force,
(06:14):
but not just in Mecklenberg County, in every blue county
in the state. They were up fifty percent, one hundred
percent and voter turnout. It was unbelievable, and they did
it statewide. Now is that the Trump effect? That absolutely
is the Trump effect, because it also happened in Virginia
where you have a man who says he wants to
(06:35):
kill children because they're the offspring of Republicans and he
wants to kill them.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
He just got elected to attorney general.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
He did say just once, he tripled down on it,
multiple text messages and phone.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Calls, and just got elected.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
And then people will say, well, why didn't the Republicans
turn out? Where's the motive. What's the motive to turn out?
If you live in the city of Charlotte, what is
the motive to turn out other than voting against the
ones inned sales tax? Because most Republicans I know voted
against it, even though Vicky Sawyer, Republican and senator out
(07:14):
of Meckliboth County, Tricia Cotham, Republican representative out of Mecklinber County,
the Republican GOP excuse me, the Republican North Carolina General
Assembly on the House and the set aside approved it
overwhelmingly along with the Democrat bipartisan support. But it was
brought forth by Tricia Cotham and Vicky Sawyer, and every
(07:36):
Republican that I know voted against it. Everyone, maybe with
the exception of like five or ten. But I also
do a lot of Democrats that were voting against it.
So it barely passed. So the Trump effect, clearly it
had a major role, and just people getting at absolutely
(08:01):
annihilated that no one saw coming, including yours truly and
political pundits that I spoke to people that do this
for a living, because I love to dive deep into
the analytics and deep into the numbers.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
That's my sports background.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
You can see a lot of things when you just
start crunching the numbers, you can see it.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
But nobody saw twenty two percent coming out.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
The highest number that I had heard was right around
twenty percent, and that was from the Alliance, that's what
they're calling themselves. That was the name of the alliance.
That was for the one cent sales tax. That was
like trying to put this together and puts it through
and three point four million dollars in all that.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
They're a consulting firm.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
They believe that they might there might be a twenty
percent turnout, maybe probably closer to nineteen and they got
twenty two percent, twenty two percent and so, but it
wasn't just Meccnburg. So it wasn't just the ones sent
sales tax, Wake, Durham, like Guilford, all of them just massive,
(09:16):
massive turnouts. So when we come back, let's start taking
a look at some of the races individually. Okay, we'll
take a look at some of those and then we'll
break it down and there's gonna be a lot of
things that are I'm about to say that a lot
of people.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Are not gonna be happy with.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
And I'm just gonna go ahead and warn you now,
if you're on the left, you're not gonna be happy.
If you're on the right, there are a lot of
you that aren't gonna be happy. But you know what,
it's just facts, and I can't help you with that.
Facts aren't good, and facts aren't bad. Facts are facts.
Facts aren't racist, facts aren't sexist, Facts aren't homophone.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Facts are facts.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Welcome back to breaking with bred jetson here on this
Thursday night. All right, So we're doing a post mortem,
an autopsy if you will, on election night. So I
gave you some of the reasons why the high turnout, Yes,
once in sales tax, definitely in the towns surrounding Charlotte.
And you know it may have had a small impact
in Charlotte. But when the voter turnout was through the
(10:40):
roof in all the other hard blue counties in North Carolina,
but yet at the exact same time they were pretty
flat and stagnant in all the red counties, that tells
you this was a Donald Trump thing. Clearly a Donald
Trump thing, at least for the city is Charlotte, while
all the other towns were probably being driven by the
ones that sales text because they were all dead set
(11:01):
against it and it barely passed. All right, now, but
let's take a look at some of these individual elections. Okay,
Winter will ask me what the one that I was
surprised the most about, and it is the school board.
There were a couple of things with the school board
that I just did not see happening, didn't see it
happening at all. Let's start with District one. Bill Fountain
(11:26):
lost by five thousand votes up there in District one.
The reason most people thought he was going to win,
including myself, was because he was the lone Republican going
against two Democrats because they don't have primaries, So you
could have had eighty seven people in that race if
you wanted to, and they voted, and you figure, okay,
(11:52):
the Democrats will split the votes.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
And all that no Shirley to Hatch.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Vote outgained Melissa easily the incumbent two to one, almost
two to one, like about one point seventy five to one,
and Bill Fountain just came in with ten thousand votes,
came in second and a very distant second, by fifteen
points twenty nine percent to forty four point eight percent.
(12:23):
Didn't see that one coming, didn't see that one coming
at all. And then you have situation going on, same
thing in uh In District du Da in District six
for the school board, two women, both Democrats, fighting each other,
(12:44):
threatening lawsuits, giving cease and desist, trashing each other, and
Justin Sheeley's standing there and just got just got annihilated,
just got smoked twelve five hundred votes to six thousand,
five hundred votes, fifty percent to twenty six percent of
(13:05):
the vote.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
I didn't see it being that bad.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
I thought there was a chance that he could lose,
but I didn't think it was going.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
To be that bad.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
I said, if Tony Emiel, if she, if she gets
a significant amount of votes, then Justin could win because
you've got two Democrats splitting the vote. Well, just no,
she still got twenty three percent of the vote, and
even with that, Justin still lost by six thousand votes.
(13:37):
And then the school board race that I was most
surprised about was the Lisa Kleine that was a guarantee.
If there was a guarantee in Mecklenburg County, there were
two guarantees who was going to win mayor in Mint
Hill and Lisa Cline being reelected. Those were the two guarantees,
(13:57):
and only one of them happened. The mayor in mint Hill.
Lisa Kline was an unknown three years ago beat a
known Democrat. Had that Democrat three years later actually endorse
her on his Facebook page Shot Observer endorsed Lisa Klein.
Lisa Kline the only Republican on the school board, the
(14:20):
only one, the one of the only women, or one
of the only people, I should say, on the school
board that are actually trying to hold the rest of
the school board people accountable and contracts and not give
contracts to friends and family.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Five hundred thousand dollars contracts at that.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
And it wasn't even close. She lost by six thousand votes.
Nobody saw that coming. Nobody saw that coming.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Christop McCrory loses. Chris McCory. People were really surprised by that.
And I will admit there was always a chance she
could lose. That wasn't the question.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
The question was, you know, if you know, could she
win or if she lost, what it'd be like by like,
you know, one percentage point something like that, right, one point.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
And just not even close.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Lost by four thousand votes, four thousand votes. Nobody saw
that thirteen I want to say it's thirteen or sixteen
thousand more people voted in her district than voted two
years ago. And that had nothing to do with the
one sent sales tax. Nothing because in that district the
(15:49):
light rail and the bus. Nobody uses the light rail
or the bus in that district anyway. Would you might
get helps with your roads.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Yeah, but that had nothing to do with it.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
That one may have been an anti Tark vote because
of the Johnny Jennings situation and once again the anti
Trump vote. There are one thousand more Democrats in that district.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
I believe, then, I believe then Republicans.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
But Tark was able to constantly keep winning, not even
closest time, four thousand votes. Talk won the last two
elections by three hundred and twenty five. When we come back,
we'll take a look at the mayor's race, and we'll
take a look at the city council at large and
some of the surrounding towns. Huntersville bloodbath, Matthews bloodbath. If
(16:46):
you're a Republican, we'll talk about that when we return.
My name is Brett Jenson, and you're listening to Breaking
with Brett Jenson. Welcome back to Breaking with Brett Jensen
on this Thursday night.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
All right, we got Marc Harris coming up shortly, so
I got to zip through this. All right, So let's
take a look at Charlotte.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Mayer's by Lyles got seventy percent of the vote. Terry
Donovan got or twenty five percent of the vote, ninety
two thousand to thirty three thousand, lost by fifty nine
thousand of my math is correct, fifty nine thousand votes,
the top vote getter in the Charlotte The two top
(17:28):
vote getters in the Charlotte City Council at large races,
diplaj Mara and Victoria Wantlington each got more votes than
by Lyles. Edwin Peacock, who came in fifth for Charlotte
City Council at Large, as well as human disaster means
Son Kim, She's a disaster my opinion. Disaster even got
(17:52):
more votes than Terry Donovan in terms of city council
numbers versus mayor rate numbers. But I do find it
interesting that the top two Democrats each got more votes
than by Lyles. Here's the thing, and now with Huntersville
only getting one Republican and Matthew's losing numbers, and people
(18:15):
are questioning whether or not the two people elected in Matthews,
the two Republicans, are actually Republicans. Like there's a whole
thing right. So I will tell you this. If you
are Republican and you live in mecclumber County, you now
(18:36):
have three choices. Well, actually I'll say, I'll say you
live in Charlotte. You now have three choices. If you
live in Charlotte. One stay where you are, but no,
things will never get better. Crime will literally never get better.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
This is the path. I say this a thousand times.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Isaac's heard me say this a thousand times with each
passing day, with about one hundred people moving to Charlotte
with each passing day, and you look at the Democrat
leaders and the people in charge school boards, county commission,
there's literally only one Republican and that's Ed Drakes, not
on County Commission, not on school board, and only Ed
(19:20):
Drags on city Council.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
That's it. One.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
With each passing day, Charlotte is becoming with crime and
the politicians Baltimore, Saint Louis, Memphis, New Orleans, Detroit, Atlanta
every passing day, each passing day, and not so much
Atlanta but the other ones one hundred percent. So you
(19:48):
can either stay where you are and just ignore politics
altogether and be done with it and just stick your
head in the sand and just going to live your
life and not worry about politics. Or you can move
to Cornelius and deal with that traffic all day, every day,
or mint Hill, the only two Republican strongholds left in
(20:10):
Mecklimore County, but space is very, very limited in both
of those places. And your third option move move to
Union County near the near the Mecklimore County line. If
you work in Charlotte, move to your county. A lot
of my best friends live in your county and they
(20:32):
drive into Charlotte, or they live in Lancaster County or
Gaston County, Ardel County, Cabaris County, even Lincoln County and
they come down Highway sixteen. Those are your options. Those
are your options, because there's no use getting upset and
(20:52):
beating your head against a wall and not understanding why
everyone's not voting like you do. They're not going to
they never will. Well in the rest of my life,
I honestly don't know if there will ever be another
Republican mayor in the city of Charlotte, for the remainder
of my life, for the remainder of Isaac's life. And
he's a lot younger than me, I don't know if
(21:16):
there will ever be a Republican mayor in Charlotte. The
last time and at large person or at large candidate
Republican candidate was elected was two thousand and nine.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
You can kiss the baby. That ain't never happening in
my lifetime.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
If you're the Republican party, you have to focus in
on races that you think might be winnable, and guess what,
there are only a few. Maybe you make a big
push in Matthews, maybe you make a big push up
in Huntersville, and you try to get Christoph's Pacari's seat back,
or at least a Klein's seat back.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
That's about it. That's all you got. That's all you got.
So this isn't a mech GOP thing.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
And if anyone blames us on mech GP, you truly
are an idiot. This isn't a mech GOP thing. As
Edwin Peacott told me live during our Tuesday night coverage.
When I'm interviewing him after the loss, his exact quote was,
Abraham Lincoln himself could not have won in Mecklinburg County tonight.
(22:30):
Ronald Reagan would not have won in Mecklinbroke County.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
You either just have to stick your head in the sand,
or you have to move to another county, or if
you can, if you want to stay in Mecklburg, maybe
try Cornelius, maybe try Minhill. Those are your only three options.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
And you have to find candidates that are at willing
to put in the work, do their own fundraising, actually
go to forums, fill out files and set them into
the local paper.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
You have to do that.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
That is out at the polls every single night until
the polls close at seven point thirty. And you have
to raise a ton a ton, a ton a ton
of money. Edwin Peacock raised one hundred and fifty thousand dollars,
was doing TV ads, smoked the other candidates in terms
of fundraising, and just got obliterated.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Obliterated, absolutely got obliterated. So again.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
That's the state of being a Republican in Mecklamore County
and it will not change in your lifetime, maybe Matthews
will flip back and forth. Maybe one day you might
be able to get Huntersville. Although that Huntersville might be
lost forever. It hasn't been close to the last two elections.
Maybe Charlotte gone forever, and the other towns might be
(24:07):
gone forever as well, with the exception of Cornelius in Minhill.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
Welcome back to Breaking with Brett Jensen.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Okay, real quick, before we get into the interview with
Mark Harris, I just want to say this, so I
broke the news earlier that two.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Of the fire fighters.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Or fire people with the Stanley Fire Department that were
charged with felony accounts. They were part time employees, but
they worked full time with Charlotte, and the local media
did not report any of that that they worked for Charlotte.
And you should know that Eric Withers is a division
chief with Charlotte Fire Department and Michael Hollett is a
(24:48):
captain with the Charlotte Fire Department. Every single media outlet
failed to mention that, and apparently they just didn't know.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
And that's why I'm here at wbt TO. It'll keep
you in four all right.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
So joining us now is Mark Harris, a congressman out
of District eight that represents parts of Mechilmore County, Union County,
Cabaras County, and everything going east. First of all, Congressman Harris,
thank you for joining us tonight. And second of all,
what prompted this letter that you signed. Another congressman signed
to send a Josh Stein asking for the National Guard
in Charlotte.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Well, Brett, if you remember back obviously when the Arena
Zarutska murder occurred, it just threw a spotlight on Charlotte,
and I think everybody recognized at that particular time, when
the spotlight was on it, that we had a problem.
And I think what followed that in the days after
(25:43):
were several things that happened. For one, you had the
Vice President that came and spoke over in Concord, and
there he was highlighting law enforcement and supporting them and
standing with him, and I had the privilege of being
with him and speaking at that event that day. And
a question was even asked, when light of what is
(26:03):
happening with the National Guard and the work they're doing
in Washington and looking at other cities, would it come
to Charlotte. And he said that if the invitation was
given if the mayor and the Governor were interested in
the National Guard coming in that he was sure that
the White House would want to support and help that. Well.
(26:25):
It was not long after that that the Paternal Order
of Police actually made a request for the Governor to
bring in the National Guard. They highlighted not only the
rate of homicides and highlighted the increase of assaults with
knives and guns and how did arisen in twenty twenty
(26:45):
five to one hundred and eleven incidents, But they also
pointed out that they were more than two hundred and
seventy plus officers down from the number that they should have.
And it's just a fact that the National Guard does
provide a deterrence in these cities, particularly while more long
(27:06):
term solutions are hopefully found. And I think Charlotte is
one of those prime opportunities for particularly in Uptown, for
the National Guard to be a presence and bring about
that those same results.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Speaking with Congressman Mark kerras So, the FOP wanted the
National Guard only in Uptown. So when you're asking for
the National Guard, are you also only asking them for
to be in Uptown or are you asking them to
be in other parts of Shad as well.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
Oh. I think listen, I stand behind with the Fraternal
Order of Police. Listen, there are folks that are in
the policing business that know far more about what they
need than I know. And so I would lead those
decisions on how many guard is needed. I'd lead that
to the police. I would lead that to the governor
for that matter, and the mayor on once they're called in,
(27:55):
on where their placement would be to be most effective. Oftentimes,
when you have the National Guard there as just that
support base, their mere presence brings a sense of confidence
to people who are downtown. Listen. I've seen it with
my own eyes in Washington, d C. And the time
I've been up there. I think we've seen it in Memphis,
the successes that have happened and so and even in
(28:18):
those places they had Democrat mayors who were resistant to it,
didn't want to do it at all, but yet decided
to cooperate. And now they've seen the successes of it.
And I think, look, what a perfect time. You got
a new police chief that's coming in, giving her an
opportunity to reset. We can hit reset here and bringing
(28:40):
in the Guard for the short term solution to be
that presence, I think makes an awful lot of sense.
And I think again, restoring law and order in our
cities across America is absolutely crucial at this time.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
You put in the letter that you're asking for the
National Guard until at least the criminals are being held accountable.
Do you think that time will ever come where the
criminals are being held accountant as well as the magistrates
and the judges.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
That's a great question. And look, I know the statement
that the governor's spokesman put out began to say all
of the things that they were looking to do to
bring about reforms, Well, that's great, and I think those
are great intentions, great words, but we all know that
the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and
the reality is that we need some action now. We
(29:29):
need to do something to curb the violence and the
murders and the killing that we've seen now. And just
restoring law and order in that way and having the
National Guard as a short term solution, I'm not suggesting
it's a long term solution at all. We make that
clear in the letter, but I do know that other
cities that have deployed the National Guard have seen positive results,
(29:53):
and I have no doubt that Charlotte could also see
those positive results at this time.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Speak of a congressman, Mark carras you know, being that
you were the one that tried to put all of
this together and everything. Was it difficult getting the other
congressman on board? Did you have any pushback or anything
like that?
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Listen, I don't think everybody was willing to perhaps get
on board because nobody wants the spotlight, oftentimes thrown on
their community. And I get that admitting that you have
a problem, admitting that there's a serious situation is oftentimes
the first step to solving that problem and getting the help.
(30:33):
And so I'm grateful for my colleagues that did choose
to sign on. I think there are others that just assume,
you know, turning look the other way and think that, well,
there's got to be a better way. Well, listen, I
want to find that better way, but I want to
do something in the immediate and I think that this
would be a short term solution. Again, if it hadn't
(30:54):
been proven to be working where it has been applied,
then it might be a different story. But I think
that we've got an opportunity for a temporary solution in
bringing the Guard in and see if we can drop
those crime rates. I mean again, you saw in Washington
they went twelve straight days without a single homicide right
(31:14):
after the National Guard showed up. So look, I think
that I would love to be able to get up
each morning and turn on and listen to WBT News
and not hear yet another murder in Uptown or another
murder in Charlotte. I would love to be able to
do that. And I just think that this might be
a short term solution that can again give everybody an
(31:36):
opportunity to get the support that they need. We need
to fill in those gaps where there's two hundred and
seventy five officers short, and this could give us the
time to be able to do that.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
So, now that the letter has been written and signed
by three congressmen, what do you think is the ultimate
thing that happens with Governor Josh Stein.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
Well, I don't know what Josh Stein will do with it.
I mean, he is the governor of the state, and
I hope that he will put the politics aside and
recognize that here's an opportunity to do something good in
the largest city in our state. Here's an opportunity to
let the National Guard or send them in. You mentioned
(32:19):
the statistics of what was happening in October. There was
seven days in October that we had eight homicides. We
had more than an average of one to day, and
then four homicides in twenty four hours in October. So
the rates are the numbers speak for themselves. And what
Josh Stein does with that, I don't know. I hope
(32:41):
he will listen, not to me. He doesn't have to
listen to me because he got a letter from Mark
Harris or my other Republican colleagues. But listen to the
Fraternal Order of Police, Listen to those who are standing
in the gap, who know the business of policing, who
know what's needed is to listen to them. That's the
(33:02):
real key. I wanted to hopefully put the weight of
our leadership as Congressman behind the request that they had made.
And that's really what this is about.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Congressman Marcerris, is there anything else that you'd like to
say to the listeners tonight.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
No, I just thank you for what you're doing and listen,
let's just keep working together and let's get crime down.
For sure.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
Congressman Marc Harris, thank you so much for joining us tonight.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
Thank you. It's a pleasure, all right.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
So again thanks to Congressman Harris for joining me talking
about the letter that he wrote so real quick in
case you missed it. I just want to say, the
big massive voter turnout was two things, the voter referendum
and the Trump and the Trump effect.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
They probably played equal parts.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Especially in the towns that was the voter referendum and
in the city of Shaw it was probably the Trump effect.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
That's what it was, all right. So I've got like
ninety seconds to go here. Today is Isaac's last day.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Isaac is leaving, and this is the last show Isaac
will ever work on. It is it is the last
show as a full time employee of WBT, so Isaac
appreciate it. Isaac just brought me some new eggs, the
last time i'll get eggs from him probably, And with
this chicken coop that we've learned all about the chickens.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
So, by the way, are the chickens good? Be good,
fantastic good? They producing the eggs like they're supposed to
and on.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
That yep, land well right now, got some new new
chicken feed for him seemed to have helped.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
So are you sad to be leaving Breaking with brought Jensen?
It's actually the best part of this day, right I
doped out? I don't doubt that.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
But Isaac will be back here and there doing in
some fill in work every once in a while, like
during the holidays or when people are sick or stuff
like that.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
Ye.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Well, I appreciate everything that you did. You know, I
appreciate you letting me beat you by ten strokes playing golf.
But I also appreciate the eggs and so the fresh eggs.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
But again, I appreciate everything, man, I do too. It's
been a blast. It's been different, that's for sure. See
see Breaking with bretd. Jenson's I don't like any other show.
Oh it's it's unique. It is unique. We'll give you that.
I won't say good or bad, but unique. I can
live with that. That's fair. That's fair, all right. So
that's gonna do it for us tonight. I appreciate everyone
(35:26):
who listening.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
Again thanks to Congressman Mark Harris and also thanks to
Isaac his last night here running the show of Breaking
with Bret Jensen. So until Monday. I'm Brett Jenson and
you've been listening to Breaking with Brett Jenson
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