By LAURA ASHLEY LAMB
Staff Writer

03/07/07

In 1988, Justice Bob Orr became the first Republican since 1896 to win a statewide appellate judgeship. In 2008, he hopes to become the first Republican since 1993 to win a gubernatorial race.

Heading out on the campaign trail, Orr came to Tarboro on Tuesday night for his first gubernatorial campaign stop on the east side of Raleigh.

Garland Shepheard, center, and his wife Betty Jo, greet gubernatorial candidate Bob Orr on Tuesday night during the Edgecombe County Republican Party Meeting at the courthouse. Photo by: Elanor Wainscott

He spoke to approximately 25 people at the Edgecombe County Republican Party Meeting on the issues he plans to address if elected governor.

“I was precinct chairman and (Buncombe) County chairman and I know the joys and travails of both of those jobs and what it is like to grow up in a one-party state,” said Orr.

He grew up in Hendersonville and has spent his adult life “working in part to build the Republican Party because I think North Carolina is better served with a strong two party system. I think good government is better served with a strong two party system.”

Orr received both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He began practicing law in Asheville in 1975 and was appointed to the North Carolina Court of Appeals in 1986 by Gov. Jim Martin. He was reelected in 1988 and 1992, and then was elected to the North Carolina Supreme Court in 1994.

Upon retiring from the bench in 2004, he became the executive director of the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law.

Orr sees 2008 as an opportunity for the Republican Party to make a change in the way the government of North Carolina is run.

“There is a real opportunity for the Republican Party in 2008. The circumstances in state government have created a certain disillusion with the way state government is run. I think people are looking for change and for reform,” said Orr.

“I think we as a party, and I as a candidate, have to step up to the plate and address tough issues," he continued. "There are no easy answers and no simple solutions. Most voters are not straight party voters. They look at quality; quality of programs, ideas and solutions and go into the voter booths in 2008 and select the leadership of this state.

“I hope people associate my name and my campaign with reform. We need to reform the system of public education and we need to reform the way we recruit businesses for the state. We need an ethics reform and a campaign finance reform,” Orr said.

For Orr, reforming public education includes lowering the dropout rates.

“It is disheartening enough to know we are dealing with major dropout issues in this state,” he said.

Orr said educational leaders were informing the public that graduation rates were high, when in reality one out of every three students are dropping out.

“We have to get away from band-aid approaches and take a wholesale look and address the dropout issue,” said Orr. “If the students are not graduating, then they are not becoming productive workers in the system.”