August 5, 2025 • 33 mins
Tune in here to this Tuesday's edition of Breaking With Brett Jensen!
Breaking Brett Jensen kicks the show off by talking about the Mecklenburg County GOP’s latest round of endorsements and what they reveal about the shifting dynamics in local politics. Brett dives into how the endorsements—voted on by dozens of party members—can have a real impact in key towns like Cornelius, Matthews, and Mint Hill, where Republican influence still holds sway.
Jensen also focuses on the endorsement of Cornelius Mayor Woody Washam over Dennis Bilodeau, who narrowly lost by just five votes in the last election, emphasizing the strategic importance of such decisions.
Listen here for all of this and more on Breaking With Brett Jensen.
To be the first to hear about Breaking Brett Jensen's exclusives and more follow him on X @Brett_Jensen!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Hi, oh, let's go oh, let's go oh, let's go
oduce talk eleven, ten.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
And ninety nine three to WBT. Brent Jensen here with
you on this Tuesday night edition of Breaking. I've been
doing that for three and a half years. It takes
me trying to figure out what day it is Tuesday
Night edition of Breaking with Brent Jensen as we go
all the way up until seven o'clock tonight, tell phone
numbers to get in on the show. Seven oh four five,
(00:54):
seven eleven ten and again that is also the exact
same number FORWBT text line, which is driven by Liberty
Buick GMC and guys follow me on Exit Brett Underscore
Jensen for all the letters and breaking news in and
around the Charlotte area. And if you followed me on
X then you would know exactly some of the things
(01:15):
I'm going to talk about tonight. And you may not
understand why, but why I want to talk about them,
But it's because it may not seem like significant, but
it is significant considering everything that I've done that I've
talked about over the last week or so. And you know,
(01:39):
here's the thing, here's the thing, the make gup the
other day. Last night, their executive Committee, which is seventy
five I actually maybe way more than that, but about
sixty or so showed ups. Sixty seventy five people something
(02:01):
like that showed up last night to host and figure
out who they're going to endorse for the upcoming elections.
And while they don't have the same issues that maybe
you know, the Democrats do, because obviously there are way
more there's way more Democrats running in races than they're
(02:23):
all Republicans. Because obviously this is a deep navy blue,
like if you want to call it Duke blue devil
blue County, and I say that because it fits, and
Bee Lennie's got to do blue devil Jack and I
and it's like, oh, that's a perfect analogy. So if
you know the color of Duke, you know the color
of mclimbury County. So with that being said, but there
(02:48):
are still some places Cornelius, Huntersville, Matthews, mint Hill where
mech gup endorsements actually matter. And I want to start
off with the first one. Let's start, and believe me,
there's some things in there, right, but I want to
(03:09):
start off with what specifically was going on in Cornelius
because there are two big things to me that came
out of the endorsements from a political standpoint, And I
truly mean this, like I think there were a couple
of things that were very interesting to me, okay, and
one of them is the Cornelias situation for mayor. Now
(03:34):
per rules and regulations, the mech GP cannot get involved
in the christopherccari situation because i'd a primary of Republican
versus Republican. But they can get involved in non partisan
races like school boards. Okay, so let's say you had
three people running for school board, you know, and all
(03:58):
three happened to be Republican. But in theory, but in
theory it's nonpartisan, right, It's a non partison race. So
they can pick and choose, like, okay, we're actually going
to endorse this person. Like when they just failed, miserably,
failed miserably three years ago by not endorsing the incumbent
(04:21):
Rondo Cheek, just it was a disaster, and the person
that they wound up endorsing it was just it. I
remember going on this air and just ripping mag GP sideways,
and they deserved every single second of it. And probably
eighteen minutes and eighteen hours more of what they did
(04:41):
up there. Okay, So with that being said, so they
can endorse, they could endorse. They can endorse non partisan
races or races that have community things in terms of
like Cornelius. Cornelius may have a couple of people going.
So so Cornelius, you have two Republicans running for mayor. Okay,
(05:09):
you got two Republicans running from mayor and two years
ago Woody Washam won by five votes. Let's it five votes. Well,
the mach GP, the candidates spoke in front of the
mach gup last night, those that showed up, and to say, hey,
here's why you should endorse me, because if you endorse me,
(05:30):
that means then the make GP will give them cash
for their campaign. And they wound up speaking and they
wound up endorsing Woody wash them. He is the incumbent.
People love Woody wash them, but apparently they also don't
hate you know, Billibo because he again he lost by
(05:50):
five votes. Can you imagine losing an election by five
votes or like Monroe where they lost the election by
coin TuS They literally flipped a coin and that determined
the winner. So but my point is, Dennis A. Billideo
he lost by five points. He did not get the
endorsement of the mech GUP. And the mech GUP again,
(06:13):
it's not like four people are sitting there and making
the choice. You've got all these people from all over
the county, fifty sixty seventy five, one hundred. However, many
people show up and probably somewhere around you know, sixty
seventy five or whatever it was, showed up and they
vote and they say, Okay, we support this guy or
(06:34):
we support this woman or whatever, and will do you.
Washam got the endorsement of the mech GP last night.
And then down in the mint Hill area you had
three people running for two spots. And I found that
(06:54):
very interesting because so you can endorse all three people
if there's only two positions available, So two of the
three would get endorsed and one would not. And the
two that got endorsed for the town commission. Excuse me,
I said, Matthews. But it's min Hill, the town Commission
in min Hill, Patrick Holton and Trey Long they got
(07:16):
endorsed by the MCGP. Matt Schwobel did not. He did
not get endorsed. So Bill Fountain, Wanhall Lisa Kline, Justin Sheeley,
all running for school board endorsed Mayor Woody watch him
of Cornelis gets endorsed. Then you've got town commissioners in Cornelius,
(07:39):
John Caldwell, Colin Firked, Susan Johnson, Todd Osborne, Robert Carney,
Board of Commissioners in Huntersville, Dan Boone, Frank Gammon, Heather
Smallwood mayor Town of Matthews, Leon Threet by the way
told you let me tell you, so let me tell
you something right now. And I can't say this guaranteed,
(07:59):
but I would bet a lot of money on this.
If if John Higden had not changed his affiliation from
Republican to unaffiliated and Leon three still ran, I have
I believe that Leon three would have been the one
getting endorsed. I believe that with all my heart and soul,
(08:21):
because Higden hasn't been a conservative in many, many years.
If ever, to be brutally honest with you, but he
you know so, I don't know why he, I don't
want to say, pretended to be one. Maybe he thought
that was the only way he could get elected. I
don't know. But Leon three got the endorsement for the
town of mayor and Matthews, the commissioners in Matthews, Jonathan Clayton,
(08:42):
Jennifer Garrity, Gina Hoover, Mark Tefano, George Jones Dale Dalton
got the endorsement of mayor and again the town counsel
of the Town of Pineval lr or Less Gladden after
David Phillips backed out damn near inexplicably after he had
already filed, which prevented other Republicans or other people filing
(09:04):
to file for mayor. The one person you did not
hear me mention as someone that I discussed in great
length last week that claims he is a Republican, and
I use the term claims. And we're going to talk
about that lack of endorsement when we return. Welcome back
(09:37):
to breaking with Brett Jensen on this Chilli Tuesday. Kind
of digging it, kind of digging it. Don't want it
to last much longer. I wanted to get hot again,
but I like heat. Give me ninety five over thirty
five any day of the week, any day of the week. Okay,
(10:00):
so meg gup. They endorsed, like I said, a couple
of big things, like the two of the three people
running for a Minhill Town Commission, who they endorsed, and
who was going to get the endorsement from the MECHGUP
considering the Cornelius mayor race, and again I find that
very fascinating. And again, this isn't one or two people.
(10:20):
This is a collective group, a collective group, right, so anyway,
and they vote. So now let's get to Huntersville. You
noticed that I didn't say anything about the Huntersville mayoral race,
didn't mention anything about it, right, And that's because they
(10:44):
didn't endorse anyone up in Huntersville at all. And I
do find that very very interesting. Christy Clark, Democrat is
running against Derek PARTI. I don't know what his affiliation is.
I sincerely doubt it's Republican, even though he says so.
(11:05):
And that may be more just too, so he can
get elected more than anything else. So the MEGGOP did
not endorse Derek Parti, and there are may be multiple
reasons as to why. But I can tell you first
(11:27):
and foremost is all the candidates that could be there
last night showed up and made their case in front
of this massive committee. Like I said, sixty seventy five
people whatever it was, they should have made their case
and then they vote after each one and those who
could not be there, Like Cornelia has had like a
town thing last night, so obviously all the candidates being
(11:48):
in Cornelius couldn't be there, so they had people either
you know, show up on their behalf, or you would
have you would present something and someone would read the statement.
And this particular case, Jamie Daniel, the campaign's chair, read
every single statement from every candidate that couldn't be there,
(12:10):
so you always had the exact same person reading the
statements from these people, just to make things fair. And
so you had those three options. Show up in person,
have shown someone show up on your behalf, or you
send in a note and have someone read your note.
In this particular case it would have been Jamie Daniel,
the campaign's chair for the MACGP Derek did none of
(12:34):
those didn't show up, didn't have someone show up on
his behalf, and didn't send in an email a note,
nothing about hey read this on my behalf. Why does
it matter if you get the MCGP endorsement, Well, in
(12:56):
that particular race, it only means one thing. You get money.
You get money from the MECHGP Now, if you're in
a tight race like Cornelius, yes, the endorsement means a
lot more than maybe the money actually does, because you
got Republican versus Republican. So in that case it actually
(13:17):
may mean more than a cash value. But specifically with
Huntersville and Derek Parti, Derek Parti, as I told you
last week, went on his website and on his website,
went after Dan Boone, who had told everyone in May
that he was going to run for mayor and is
(13:37):
a Republican, and went after the former Republican mayor of Huntersville,
John Annerella. He didn't go after any Democrats, didn't mention
the word Democrat anywhere on his campaign website, but yet
trashed to Republicans, and he considers himself a Republican or
he says he is. I don't know if that's true.
(13:59):
I don't believe that with any with any core of
my being, I do not believe that. So by not
showing up last night, by not sending in a note
or an email to have your statement read by the
mech GOP, or by not sending someone in your place,
(14:20):
those three options, by not doing that when everyone else
did that, for the most part, that tells me one thing.
It's two plus two equals four, and that is he
did not want the endorsement of the MECHGP. That's what
that tells me. That clearly tells me that. Now here's
the other thing. Maybe he didn't show up because he
(14:43):
didn't know if he was going to get the endorsement
of the MECHGP because of all the things that I
told about, told you about all the shenanigans and underhandedness
that took place when he filed for mayor by not
telling a single Republican even though Dan Boone had already
raised like forty six thousand dollars to run for mayor,
didn't tell his soul. So maybe he didn't think he
(15:05):
was going to get endorsed even if he showed up,
and he was going to get embarrassed, or and or
how about that, and or maybe he didn't show up
because he really does not want any association with the GOP.
(15:25):
And I think it's probably about a fifty to fifty
situation for both. Didn't show up because he didn't he
wasn't sure he was going to get it, and didn't
show up because he wants nothing to do with the
make goop. That's what I personally believe. And again that
goes back to the situation where when I interviewed Dan
Boone last week, or and I played his interview on
(15:47):
air last week, who are you going to vote for
for mayor? You're you're a conservative, you're a Republican? Are
you going to vote for the Republican or the person
that he says he's a Republican? Or are you going
to vote for the Democrat? And he said, write in candidate.
I'm doing a right in candidate. And I got news
for you. A lot of Republicans in Huntersville are either
(16:11):
going to leave mayor blank or they're going to do
a writing candidate. And that's I just again, I find
this fascinating. I as as this thing progressive, I don't
progress as. I don't know why Derek Party hasn't switched
his party to unaffiliated. He was part of a Republican
(16:34):
Party men's club, but hasn't paid his dues in like
what three or four years something like that, so he's
not a member, so he's that he's left that to
the side. So I don't know, I don't know. I
don't know why he just doesn't go the way of
John Higden and switched his affiliation because he clearly isn't conservative. Well, Bret,
(16:59):
why are you spending some much time on Republicans as
opposed to the Democrats. I'm sorry, where do we live.
We live in Mecambrook County. Democrats get all the attention anyway,
because they own every single seat in this entire county,
(17:21):
with the exception of what's going on in mint Hill.
They'll now own the mayor's ship in Pineville after David
Phillips inexplicably bowed out after he filed to run, which
prevented other people from running because they stood down in
difference to him inexplicably pulled out or at least publicly. Now,
(17:41):
if there's something health in private like that, I get it.
But it left a lot of people wondering what was
going on in Pineville. So right now, what you got
in terms of conservative Republicans out of seven entities in
Mecklimore County township slash cities, You've got Cornelius, and you
(18:07):
got mint Hill. Davidson deep Navy Blue Huntersville swept two
years ago. Democrats took every single town commission seat and
the mayoral's race. I doubt that will happen this year.
They'll take Christia Clark should win the mayoral race rather easily.
That would be my guess. Matthews split fifty to fifty.
(18:32):
Pineville now going Democrat. Pineville freaking Pineville. And obviously we
know what Charlotte is, and we know what Mecklinburg County
commissioners are, that's all Democrat. Hasn't been a single Republican.
I'm the commissioner since twenty eighteen. I want you to
think about that for a second. So that's why I
(18:53):
find this so fascinating. And as we get closer to
the primaries, I will be discussing more and more Democrats stuff,
especially the Tijuana Brown situation. What's going on with that race.
So we'll get into that as we get closer. So
that's why I spend so much time on the Republican side,
because that's they It tends to get very little attention
(19:17):
from a media standpoint, and so I like shining lights
on things that get very little attention. Speaking of elections,
we now have three people announcing that they're running for sheriff.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Why it's been very sad let's seven year shuts down.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
Welcome back to being with Brett Jensen on this Wednesdays
Tuesday Night. Tuesday Tuesday, Tuesday, seven oh four, five, seven
eleven ten is again is the text line and the
telephone number to get in on the show. Okay, So
there is something that I want to talk to you
about concerning the sheriff's race. Now, the sheriff's race isn't
(20:22):
for another till March, because it's not November. Because I mean,
unless a Republican files, which I don't think a Replican
Republican will file for sheriff, And even if a Republican
does file and they have the general election in November,
(20:43):
it really won't matter. Okay, Well let me let's just
I'm just as the kids like to say, I'm keeping
it real for you, right, some people like Isaac can
understand I'm keeping it real. So anyways, today you have
add another person file for sheriff, and it's someone that
(21:07):
I've known for a while, and it's Rodney Collins. Now,
Rodney Collins was basically the number two person in charge
for the Sheriff's department for quite a while, and he
worked number two under Sheriff Gary McFadden. And so, like
(21:29):
I said, as a matter of fact, Rodney Collins was
the very first person that I ever met at the
Mecklemburg County Sheriff's Department, and I remember when he called me. God.
This would have been twenty nineteen spring heading into summer
like late May, early June twenty nineteen. And Rodney recently
(21:50):
recently retired after thirty years, and he announced today that
he's running for sheriff. Well, that now makes three people.
Excuse me. I know I should have hit the call button,
but I didn't. Sorry, Antwaine Nance. He's a former Meclimure
County Detention Center officer, and he announced his run back
(22:15):
in February that he's running, and I don't know if
that's still going to be happening. We'll see. And then
something that I truly anticipate to happen is Ricky Robbins.
Ricky Robbins he announced his campaign back in March, giving
(22:41):
him exactly one year because whoever wins the primary in
March will become the next sheriff of Meclimburre County. So
between Rodney Collins, who announced today officially, Antoine Antwaine Nance,
and then Ricky Robbins and Ricky Robbins. He spent thirty
(23:05):
years with CMPD. It was in the swat, it was
a homicide. He was in highway interduction, traffic safety, and
then more recently he's worked in security with the Carolina Panthers,
which would explain why he had like Chewba Habbard and
(23:28):
Luke Keighley endorse him publicly and they'll also write him checks.
And then you also had Representative Laura Budd out of
the Matthews area or endorse him. But if you remember,
was it a week ago during Laura Bud's speech, even
(23:48):
though I believe her to be a woman, she didn't
want to vote for what a woman was or and
she wanted it. She didn't want to vote to prevent
men from getting transgender sexual surgeries and for kids to
(24:08):
be getting like, like any help with their transition. She
didn't want she didn't want to prevent all that from happening,
and she didn't want to vote for She didn't want
to vote for what defining a woman is. Even though
I think she is a woman. I think, but she
(24:31):
I don't know if she doesn't know what a woman
is or what. I don't know. But anyway, she's endorsed.
She's endorsed him as well. And so so now you've
got Ricky Robbins, you've got Antwaine Nance, and you've got
Rodney Collins. Rodney Collins served as number two with IT
in the Mecklamore County Sheriff's Department, served thirty thirty years
(24:54):
in the Sheriff's Department, and then obviously, like I said,
Ricky Robinson spent thirty years with CMPD and then works
in security with the Carolina Panthers. The one person you
have not heard me mention is current Sheriff Gary McFadden.
He's currently serving his seventh year as sheriff. Next year
(25:19):
will be his eighth year. If he runs for reelection,
he will be seeking his third term. I don't know
if he's going to run for reelection, and I have
talked occasionally, just me sending out a text, you know,
and like I know know a month month and a
(25:42):
half ago, he was deciding what he was going to do.
There are a lot of things going on in his
life and his family's life, and a lot of things
going on professionally. And he told me then he had
not made a decision. So when he decides to make
(26:04):
a decision, I assume that he'll tell me, along with
the rest of the voters in Mecklenburg County, what he's
going to do and when he's going. I don't know
if he's going to announce this week, next week, next month,
or in December if he files his name or doesn't
file his name during the filing period. So currently you've
(26:25):
got three people and nothing against Antwaine. But I would say,
honestly two legit candidates in Ricky and Rodney. And we'll
see what Sheriff McFadden does if he's going to run
for reelection or if he's if he's done, because I
(26:47):
honestly don't know. I honestly don't know. So we'll find
out maybe sometime between now and December first, when the
official filing day starts. We go back breaking with bred
(27:12):
Jensen for a few more minutes here as we go
up until seven o'clock tonight. Okay, So I was in
Charleston over the weekend. And by the way, I don't
know if there's something physically in the air once you
cross the border into South Carolina that makes you not
(27:36):
be able to drive, because you know, when you see
people in North Carolina with South Carolina plates, You're like, Okay,
look out, God knows what's gonna happen. But even people
with outside plates driving into South Carolina, it's like something
happens to them mentally. I don't know if there's something,
some kind of toxins in the air that make people
(27:56):
not be able to drive properly in South Carolina. But
good God, as I was driving to Charleston and all
palms this weekend. But anyways, so I didn't get to
I told, I tell you that because I don't. I
wasn't able to, you know, go to FanFest and stuff
like that and witness it at Bank of America Stadium,
(28:18):
and I think they had a really good crowd there,
I think from what I understand. But the point is this,
wherever you go in Charlotte. Now, you have to remember,
only thirty percent of the people in Charlotte are from Charlotte.
That means seventy percent of the people around here aren't
(28:39):
from here. We all know it's Ohio and New York
and you know, stuff like that, Pennsylvania, Jersey. So anyways,
so my point is not everyone here, obviously is a
big Carolina Panthers fan, or Carolina Panthers fan at all.
(29:00):
And that's why when other teams come in to town,
they have so many fans at those Panther games, right
because the Panthers haven't been worth a damn since the
Super Bowl in twenty seventeen. But the feeling that you
get for the first time since heading into the twenty
eighteen season the year after the Super Bowl, for the
(29:23):
first time since then, there seems to be hope in
the air. Under Matt Ruhle, they won five games three
straight years with a bunch of garbage quarterbacks, and then
we know what happened Frank Reich's first year that was
an utter disaster. Fired after one year. Dave Canalis takes over.
(29:46):
Last year. There's a lot of excitement, but it's like, Okay,
we saw what happened with Bryce Young his first year,
and then he wet the bed his first three games
into the season last year, gets benched by for Andy Dalton.
I said on this air win I said on wf
and Z Bryce Young is done. He will not he
will not start another game for the Panthers unless Andy
(30:09):
Dalton got hurt and he comes back. He starts and
over the last nine games of the season. I think
Bryce Young had a top five quarterback rating in the NFL.
I think I'm being sincere when I said I think
it was. I think it was the top five QBR
quarterback rating in the NFL over those last nine games
(30:29):
after we returned, after he set those five games. So
because of what he did those last nine games, there's
hope for Carolina Panther fans. Here's the thing. Carolina Panther
fans aren't saying, oh my gosh, We're going to the
playoffs or anything like that, but you know what they
are saying, Hey, we can win eight games. Maybe if
(30:51):
everything goes our way, we can win maybe even nine
games and be right on the edge of the playoffs.
Because think about it. Should have beat Kansas City last year,
lost on a last second field goal, and if Legett
doesn't drop that wide open touchdown pass against Philadelphia and
the closing seconds, they beat Philadelphia at Philadelphia. The two
(31:13):
teams have played against each other in the Super Bowl,
one on the road and one here. Should have won
both those games. So that's why there's hope. You got
more wide receiver help, your offensive line's there. Maybe with
Bryce Young, you got more running back help. Now. Granted,
(31:35):
a lot of it depends on the defense, because I'm
not even joking when I say this. Statistically speaking, the
Carolina Panthers had the worst defense in the NFL last year,
so we'll see how much it improves from last year
to this year. But even with a really really bad defense,
I mean the fact that all of a sudden, Bryce Young,
(31:56):
all five foot eight of them, he's five ten, Im kidding,
five foot ten of them. I mean, he was having swagger.
He was dancing the balls in the air on a bomb,
a deep pass balls halfway in the air and he
turns around and doesn't even watch it, and he starts
celebrating because he knows it's touchdown. Dude, Really, that's awesome.
(32:21):
And so there's no reason to believe that that won't
happen again this year. And if it does, now your
Carolina Panthers are going to be competitive in every single game,
every game, and it's just really nice to see. I
have no idea if they're gonna win eight games, because
you know, injuries happen, and no one can predict injuries,
(32:41):
like if three offensive linemen go down. Bryce she Young's
toast because Bryce Young needs protection. So but again there's
actual hope. And I think the over under is six
or six and a half. I can tell you which
way I'm putting my money. Six and a half six
and a half wins is the over under. I believe
(33:04):
in Vegas. I don't know why they wouldn't be more,
But I am not telling you to bed, I'm just
telling you the way I see it. All right, everyone
that's gonna do it for us tonight again. Thanks to
everyone who listened. Appreciate that as always, and we're gonna
be doing this all over again tomorrow night. So until then,
(33:25):
my name is Brett Jensen, and you have been listening
to Breaking with Brett Jensen
Hi, oh, let's go oh, let's go oh, let's go
oduce talk eleven, ten.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
And ninety nine three to WBT. Brent Jensen here with
you on this Tuesday night edition of Breaking. I've been
doing that for three and a half years. It takes
me trying to figure out what day it is Tuesday
Night edition of Breaking with Brent Jensen as we go
all the way up until seven o'clock tonight, tell phone
numbers to get in on the show. Seven oh four five,
(00:54):
seven eleven ten and again that is also the exact
same number FORWBT text line, which is driven by Liberty
Buick GMC and guys follow me on Exit Brett Underscore
Jensen for all the letters and breaking news in and
around the Charlotte area. And if you followed me on
X then you would know exactly some of the things
(01:15):
I'm going to talk about tonight. And you may not
understand why, but why I want to talk about them,
But it's because it may not seem like significant, but
it is significant considering everything that I've done that I've
talked about over the last week or so. And you know,
(01:39):
here's the thing, here's the thing, the make gup the
other day. Last night, their executive Committee, which is seventy
five I actually maybe way more than that, but about
sixty or so showed ups. Sixty seventy five people something
(02:01):
like that showed up last night to host and figure
out who they're going to endorse for the upcoming elections.
And while they don't have the same issues that maybe
you know, the Democrats do, because obviously there are way
more there's way more Democrats running in races than they're
(02:23):
all Republicans. Because obviously this is a deep navy blue,
like if you want to call it Duke blue devil
blue County, and I say that because it fits, and
Bee Lennie's got to do blue devil Jack and I
and it's like, oh, that's a perfect analogy. So if
you know the color of Duke, you know the color
of mclimbury County. So with that being said, but there
(02:48):
are still some places Cornelius, Huntersville, Matthews, mint Hill where
mech gup endorsements actually matter. And I want to start
off with the first one. Let's start, and believe me,
there's some things in there, right, but I want to
(03:09):
start off with what specifically was going on in Cornelius
because there are two big things to me that came
out of the endorsements from a political standpoint, And I
truly mean this, like I think there were a couple
of things that were very interesting to me, okay, and
one of them is the Cornelias situation for mayor. Now
(03:34):
per rules and regulations, the mech GP cannot get involved
in the christopherccari situation because i'd a primary of Republican
versus Republican. But they can get involved in non partisan
races like school boards. Okay, so let's say you had
three people running for school board, you know, and all
(03:58):
three happened to be Republican. But in theory, but in
theory it's nonpartisan, right, It's a non partison race. So
they can pick and choose, like, okay, we're actually going
to endorse this person. Like when they just failed, miserably,
failed miserably three years ago by not endorsing the incumbent
(04:21):
Rondo Cheek, just it was a disaster, and the person
that they wound up endorsing it was just it. I
remember going on this air and just ripping mag GP sideways,
and they deserved every single second of it. And probably
eighteen minutes and eighteen hours more of what they did
(04:41):
up there. Okay, So with that being said, so they
can endorse, they could endorse. They can endorse non partisan
races or races that have community things in terms of
like Cornelius. Cornelius may have a couple of people going.
So so Cornelius, you have two Republicans running for mayor. Okay,
(05:09):
you got two Republicans running from mayor and two years
ago Woody Washam won by five votes. Let's it five votes. Well,
the mach GP, the candidates spoke in front of the
mach gup last night, those that showed up, and to say, hey,
here's why you should endorse me, because if you endorse me,
(05:30):
that means then the make GP will give them cash
for their campaign. And they wound up speaking and they
wound up endorsing Woody wash them. He is the incumbent.
People love Woody wash them, but apparently they also don't
hate you know, Billibo because he again he lost by
(05:50):
five votes. Can you imagine losing an election by five
votes or like Monroe where they lost the election by
coin TuS They literally flipped a coin and that determined
the winner. So but my point is, Dennis A. Billideo
he lost by five points. He did not get the
endorsement of the mech GUP. And the mech GUP again,
(06:13):
it's not like four people are sitting there and making
the choice. You've got all these people from all over
the county, fifty sixty seventy five, one hundred. However, many
people show up and probably somewhere around you know, sixty
seventy five or whatever it was, showed up and they
vote and they say, Okay, we support this guy or
(06:34):
we support this woman or whatever, and will do you.
Washam got the endorsement of the mech GP last night.
And then down in the mint Hill area you had
three people running for two spots. And I found that
(06:54):
very interesting because so you can endorse all three people
if there's only two positions available, So two of the
three would get endorsed and one would not. And the
two that got endorsed for the town commission. Excuse me,
I said, Matthews. But it's min Hill, the town Commission
in min Hill, Patrick Holton and Trey Long they got
(07:16):
endorsed by the MCGP. Matt Schwobel did not. He did
not get endorsed. So Bill Fountain, Wanhall Lisa Kline, Justin Sheeley,
all running for school board endorsed Mayor Woody watch him
of Cornelis gets endorsed. Then you've got town commissioners in Cornelius,
(07:39):
John Caldwell, Colin Firked, Susan Johnson, Todd Osborne, Robert Carney,
Board of Commissioners in Huntersville, Dan Boone, Frank Gammon, Heather
Smallwood mayor Town of Matthews, Leon Threet by the way
told you let me tell you, so let me tell
you something right now. And I can't say this guaranteed,
(07:59):
but I would bet a lot of money on this.
If if John Higden had not changed his affiliation from
Republican to unaffiliated and Leon three still ran, I have
I believe that Leon three would have been the one
getting endorsed. I believe that with all my heart and soul,
(08:21):
because Higden hasn't been a conservative in many, many years.
If ever, to be brutally honest with you, but he
you know so, I don't know why he, I don't
want to say, pretended to be one. Maybe he thought
that was the only way he could get elected. I
don't know. But Leon three got the endorsement for the
town of mayor and Matthews, the commissioners in Matthews, Jonathan Clayton,
(08:42):
Jennifer Garrity, Gina Hoover, Mark Tefano, George Jones Dale Dalton
got the endorsement of mayor and again the town counsel
of the Town of Pineval lr or Less Gladden after
David Phillips backed out damn near inexplicably after he had
already filed, which prevented other Republicans or other people filing
(09:04):
to file for mayor. The one person you did not
hear me mention as someone that I discussed in great
length last week that claims he is a Republican, and
I use the term claims. And we're going to talk
about that lack of endorsement when we return. Welcome back
(09:37):
to breaking with Brett Jensen on this Chilli Tuesday. Kind
of digging it, kind of digging it. Don't want it
to last much longer. I wanted to get hot again,
but I like heat. Give me ninety five over thirty
five any day of the week, any day of the week. Okay,
(10:00):
so meg gup. They endorsed, like I said, a couple
of big things, like the two of the three people
running for a Minhill Town Commission, who they endorsed, and
who was going to get the endorsement from the MECHGUP
considering the Cornelius mayor race, and again I find that
very fascinating. And again, this isn't one or two people.
(10:20):
This is a collective group, a collective group, right, so anyway,
and they vote. So now let's get to Huntersville. You
noticed that I didn't say anything about the Huntersville mayoral race,
didn't mention anything about it, right, And that's because they
(10:44):
didn't endorse anyone up in Huntersville at all. And I
do find that very very interesting. Christy Clark, Democrat is
running against Derek PARTI. I don't know what his affiliation is.
I sincerely doubt it's Republican, even though he says so.
(11:05):
And that may be more just too, so he can
get elected more than anything else. So the MEGGOP did
not endorse Derek Parti, and there are may be multiple
reasons as to why. But I can tell you first
(11:27):
and foremost is all the candidates that could be there
last night showed up and made their case in front
of this massive committee. Like I said, sixty seventy five
people whatever it was, they should have made their case
and then they vote after each one and those who
could not be there, Like Cornelia has had like a
town thing last night, so obviously all the candidates being
(11:48):
in Cornelius couldn't be there, so they had people either
you know, show up on their behalf, or you would
have you would present something and someone would read the statement.
And this particular case, Jamie Daniel, the campaign's chair, read
every single statement from every candidate that couldn't be there,
(12:10):
so you always had the exact same person reading the
statements from these people, just to make things fair. And
so you had those three options. Show up in person,
have shown someone show up on your behalf, or you
send in a note and have someone read your note.
In this particular case it would have been Jamie Daniel,
the campaign's chair for the MACGP Derek did none of
(12:34):
those didn't show up, didn't have someone show up on
his behalf, and didn't send in an email a note,
nothing about hey read this on my behalf. Why does
it matter if you get the MCGP endorsement, Well, in
(12:56):
that particular race, it only means one thing. You get money.
You get money from the MECHGP Now, if you're in
a tight race like Cornelius, yes, the endorsement means a
lot more than maybe the money actually does, because you
got Republican versus Republican. So in that case it actually
(13:17):
may mean more than a cash value. But specifically with
Huntersville and Derek Parti, Derek Parti, as I told you
last week, went on his website and on his website,
went after Dan Boone, who had told everyone in May
that he was going to run for mayor and is
(13:37):
a Republican, and went after the former Republican mayor of Huntersville,
John Annerella. He didn't go after any Democrats, didn't mention
the word Democrat anywhere on his campaign website, but yet
trashed to Republicans, and he considers himself a Republican or
he says he is. I don't know if that's true.
(13:59):
I don't believe that with any with any core of
my being, I do not believe that. So by not
showing up last night, by not sending in a note
or an email to have your statement read by the
mech GOP, or by not sending someone in your place,
(14:20):
those three options, by not doing that when everyone else
did that, for the most part, that tells me one thing.
It's two plus two equals four, and that is he
did not want the endorsement of the MECHGP. That's what
that tells me. That clearly tells me that. Now here's
the other thing. Maybe he didn't show up because he
(14:43):
didn't know if he was going to get the endorsement
of the MECHGP because of all the things that I
told about, told you about all the shenanigans and underhandedness
that took place when he filed for mayor by not
telling a single Republican even though Dan Boone had already
raised like forty six thousand dollars to run for mayor,
didn't tell his soul. So maybe he didn't think he
(15:05):
was going to get endorsed even if he showed up,
and he was going to get embarrassed, or and or
how about that, and or maybe he didn't show up
because he really does not want any association with the GOP.
(15:25):
And I think it's probably about a fifty to fifty
situation for both. Didn't show up because he didn't he
wasn't sure he was going to get it, and didn't
show up because he wants nothing to do with the
make goop. That's what I personally believe. And again that
goes back to the situation where when I interviewed Dan
Boone last week, or and I played his interview on
(15:47):
air last week, who are you going to vote for
for mayor? You're you're a conservative, you're a Republican? Are
you going to vote for the Republican or the person
that he says he's a Republican? Or are you going
to vote for the Democrat? And he said, write in candidate.
I'm doing a right in candidate. And I got news
for you. A lot of Republicans in Huntersville are either
(16:11):
going to leave mayor blank or they're going to do
a writing candidate. And that's I just again, I find
this fascinating. I as as this thing progressive, I don't
progress as. I don't know why Derek Party hasn't switched
his party to unaffiliated. He was part of a Republican
(16:34):
Party men's club, but hasn't paid his dues in like
what three or four years something like that, so he's
not a member, so he's that he's left that to
the side. So I don't know, I don't know. I
don't know why he just doesn't go the way of
John Higden and switched his affiliation because he clearly isn't conservative. Well, Bret,
(16:59):
why are you spending some much time on Republicans as
opposed to the Democrats. I'm sorry, where do we live.
We live in Mecambrook County. Democrats get all the attention anyway,
because they own every single seat in this entire county,
(17:21):
with the exception of what's going on in mint Hill.
They'll now own the mayor's ship in Pineville after David
Phillips inexplicably bowed out after he filed to run, which
prevented other people from running because they stood down in
difference to him inexplicably pulled out or at least publicly. Now,
(17:41):
if there's something health in private like that, I get it.
But it left a lot of people wondering what was
going on in Pineville. So right now, what you got
in terms of conservative Republicans out of seven entities in
Mecklimore County township slash cities, You've got Cornelius, and you
(18:07):
got mint Hill. Davidson deep Navy Blue Huntersville swept two
years ago. Democrats took every single town commission seat and
the mayoral's race. I doubt that will happen this year.
They'll take Christia Clark should win the mayoral race rather easily.
That would be my guess. Matthews split fifty to fifty.
(18:32):
Pineville now going Democrat. Pineville freaking Pineville. And obviously we
know what Charlotte is, and we know what Mecklinburg County
commissioners are, that's all Democrat. Hasn't been a single Republican.
I'm the commissioner since twenty eighteen. I want you to
think about that for a second. So that's why I
(18:53):
find this so fascinating. And as we get closer to
the primaries, I will be discussing more and more Democrats stuff,
especially the Tijuana Brown situation. What's going on with that race.
So we'll get into that as we get closer. So
that's why I spend so much time on the Republican side,
because that's they It tends to get very little attention
(19:17):
from a media standpoint, and so I like shining lights
on things that get very little attention. Speaking of elections,
we now have three people announcing that they're running for sheriff.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Why it's been very sad let's seven year shuts down.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
Welcome back to being with Brett Jensen on this Wednesdays
Tuesday Night. Tuesday Tuesday, Tuesday, seven oh four, five, seven
eleven ten is again is the text line and the
telephone number to get in on the show. Okay, So
there is something that I want to talk to you
about concerning the sheriff's race. Now, the sheriff's race isn't
(20:22):
for another till March, because it's not November. Because I mean,
unless a Republican files, which I don't think a Replican
Republican will file for sheriff, And even if a Republican
does file and they have the general election in November,
(20:43):
it really won't matter. Okay, Well let me let's just
I'm just as the kids like to say, I'm keeping
it real for you, right, some people like Isaac can
understand I'm keeping it real. So anyways, today you have
add another person file for sheriff, and it's someone that
(21:07):
I've known for a while, and it's Rodney Collins. Now,
Rodney Collins was basically the number two person in charge
for the Sheriff's department for quite a while, and he
worked number two under Sheriff Gary McFadden. And so, like
(21:29):
I said, as a matter of fact, Rodney Collins was
the very first person that I ever met at the
Mecklemburg County Sheriff's Department, and I remember when he called me. God.
This would have been twenty nineteen spring heading into summer
like late May, early June twenty nineteen. And Rodney recently
(21:50):
recently retired after thirty years, and he announced today that
he's running for sheriff. Well, that now makes three people.
Excuse me. I know I should have hit the call button,
but I didn't. Sorry, Antwaine Nance. He's a former Meclimure
County Detention Center officer, and he announced his run back
(22:15):
in February that he's running, and I don't know if
that's still going to be happening. We'll see. And then
something that I truly anticipate to happen is Ricky Robbins.
Ricky Robbins he announced his campaign back in March, giving
(22:41):
him exactly one year because whoever wins the primary in
March will become the next sheriff of Meclimburre County. So
between Rodney Collins, who announced today officially, Antoine Antwaine Nance,
and then Ricky Robbins and Ricky Robbins. He spent thirty
(23:05):
years with CMPD. It was in the swat, it was
a homicide. He was in highway interduction, traffic safety, and
then more recently he's worked in security with the Carolina Panthers,
which would explain why he had like Chewba Habbard and
(23:28):
Luke Keighley endorse him publicly and they'll also write him checks.
And then you also had Representative Laura Budd out of
the Matthews area or endorse him. But if you remember,
was it a week ago during Laura Bud's speech, even
(23:48):
though I believe her to be a woman, she didn't
want to vote for what a woman was or and
she wanted it. She didn't want to vote to prevent
men from getting transgender sexual surgeries and for kids to
(24:08):
be getting like, like any help with their transition. She
didn't want she didn't want to prevent all that from happening,
and she didn't want to vote for She didn't want
to vote for what defining a woman is. Even though
I think she is a woman. I think, but she
(24:31):
I don't know if she doesn't know what a woman
is or what. I don't know. But anyway, she's endorsed.
She's endorsed him as well. And so so now you've
got Ricky Robbins, you've got Antwaine Nance, and you've got
Rodney Collins. Rodney Collins served as number two with IT
in the Mecklamore County Sheriff's Department, served thirty thirty years
(24:54):
in the Sheriff's Department, and then obviously, like I said,
Ricky Robinson spent thirty years with CMPD and then works
in security with the Carolina Panthers. The one person you
have not heard me mention is current Sheriff Gary McFadden.
He's currently serving his seventh year as sheriff. Next year
(25:19):
will be his eighth year. If he runs for reelection,
he will be seeking his third term. I don't know
if he's going to run for reelection, and I have
talked occasionally, just me sending out a text, you know,
and like I know know a month month and a
(25:42):
half ago, he was deciding what he was going to do.
There are a lot of things going on in his
life and his family's life, and a lot of things
going on professionally. And he told me then he had
not made a decision. So when he decides to make
(26:04):
a decision, I assume that he'll tell me, along with
the rest of the voters in Mecklenburg County, what he's
going to do and when he's going. I don't know
if he's going to announce this week, next week, next month,
or in December if he files his name or doesn't
file his name during the filing period. So currently you've
(26:25):
got three people and nothing against Antwaine. But I would say,
honestly two legit candidates in Ricky and Rodney. And we'll
see what Sheriff McFadden does if he's going to run
for reelection or if he's if he's done, because I
(26:47):
honestly don't know. I honestly don't know. So we'll find
out maybe sometime between now and December first, when the
official filing day starts. We go back breaking with bred
(27:12):
Jensen for a few more minutes here as we go
up until seven o'clock tonight. Okay, So I was in
Charleston over the weekend. And by the way, I don't
know if there's something physically in the air once you
cross the border into South Carolina that makes you not
(27:36):
be able to drive, because you know, when you see
people in North Carolina with South Carolina plates, You're like, Okay,
look out, God knows what's gonna happen. But even people
with outside plates driving into South Carolina, it's like something
happens to them mentally. I don't know if there's something,
some kind of toxins in the air that make people
(27:56):
not be able to drive properly in South Carolina. But
good God, as I was driving to Charleston and all
palms this weekend. But anyways, so I didn't get to
I told, I tell you that because I don't. I
wasn't able to, you know, go to FanFest and stuff
like that and witness it at Bank of America Stadium,
(28:18):
and I think they had a really good crowd there,
I think from what I understand. But the point is this,
wherever you go in Charlotte. Now, you have to remember,
only thirty percent of the people in Charlotte are from Charlotte.
That means seventy percent of the people around here aren't
(28:39):
from here. We all know it's Ohio and New York
and you know, stuff like that, Pennsylvania, Jersey. So anyways,
so my point is not everyone here, obviously is a
big Carolina Panthers fan, or Carolina Panthers fan at all.
(29:00):
And that's why when other teams come in to town,
they have so many fans at those Panther games, right
because the Panthers haven't been worth a damn since the
Super Bowl in twenty seventeen. But the feeling that you
get for the first time since heading into the twenty
eighteen season the year after the Super Bowl, for the
(29:23):
first time since then, there seems to be hope in
the air. Under Matt Ruhle, they won five games three
straight years with a bunch of garbage quarterbacks, and then
we know what happened Frank Reich's first year that was
an utter disaster. Fired after one year. Dave Canalis takes over.
(29:46):
Last year. There's a lot of excitement, but it's like, Okay,
we saw what happened with Bryce Young his first year,
and then he wet the bed his first three games
into the season last year, gets benched by for Andy Dalton.
I said on this air win I said on wf
and Z Bryce Young is done. He will not he
will not start another game for the Panthers unless Andy
(30:09):
Dalton got hurt and he comes back. He starts and
over the last nine games of the season. I think
Bryce Young had a top five quarterback rating in the NFL.
I think I'm being sincere when I said I think
it was. I think it was the top five QBR
quarterback rating in the NFL over those last nine games
(30:29):
after we returned, after he set those five games. So
because of what he did those last nine games, there's
hope for Carolina Panther fans. Here's the thing. Carolina Panther
fans aren't saying, oh my gosh, We're going to the
playoffs or anything like that, but you know what they
are saying, Hey, we can win eight games. Maybe if
(30:51):
everything goes our way, we can win maybe even nine
games and be right on the edge of the playoffs.
Because think about it. Should have beat Kansas City last year,
lost on a last second field goal, and if Legett
doesn't drop that wide open touchdown pass against Philadelphia and
the closing seconds, they beat Philadelphia at Philadelphia. The two
(31:13):
teams have played against each other in the Super Bowl,
one on the road and one here. Should have won
both those games. So that's why there's hope. You got
more wide receiver help, your offensive line's there. Maybe with
Bryce Young, you got more running back help. Now. Granted,
(31:35):
a lot of it depends on the defense, because I'm
not even joking when I say this. Statistically speaking, the
Carolina Panthers had the worst defense in the NFL last year,
so we'll see how much it improves from last year
to this year. But even with a really really bad defense,
I mean the fact that all of a sudden, Bryce Young,
(31:56):
all five foot eight of them, he's five ten, Im kidding,
five foot ten of them. I mean, he was having swagger.
He was dancing the balls in the air on a bomb,
a deep pass balls halfway in the air and he
turns around and doesn't even watch it, and he starts
celebrating because he knows it's touchdown. Dude, Really, that's awesome.
(32:21):
And so there's no reason to believe that that won't
happen again this year. And if it does, now your
Carolina Panthers are going to be competitive in every single game,
every game, and it's just really nice to see. I
have no idea if they're gonna win eight games, because
you know, injuries happen, and no one can predict injuries,
(32:41):
like if three offensive linemen go down. Bryce she Young's
toast because Bryce Young needs protection. So but again there's
actual hope. And I think the over under is six
or six and a half. I can tell you which
way I'm putting my money. Six and a half six
and a half wins is the over under. I believe
(33:04):
in Vegas. I don't know why they wouldn't be more,
But I am not telling you to bed, I'm just
telling you the way I see it. All right, everyone
that's gonna do it for us tonight again. Thanks to
everyone who listened. Appreciate that as always, and we're gonna
be doing this all over again tomorrow night. So until then,
(33:25):
my name is Brett Jensen, and you have been listening
to Breaking with Brett Jensen
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