Source: Editorial Board
Republican perennial candidate (and perennial election loser) Joshua Niday is running for a seat in the legislature for the fourth time this fall and his right-wing extremist beliefs have been flying under the radar in his district.
Niday hopes the fourth time will be the charm following a 64-point blowout loss in state House District 99 in 2018, a 24-point loss in state Senate District 39 in 2020 and a 16-point loss in state House District 105 in 2022. He is now running against incumbent Democratic state Rep. Laura Budd in District 103, which covers most of southeastern Mecklenburg County, including South Charlotte, Ballantyne and Pineville.
On his campaign Facebook page, Niday has repeatedly posted content criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris along with plenty of content praising Donald Trump and his actions.
Niday has used his campaign Facebook pages for spreading disinformation, including posts that Facebook has blocked for containing “False Information,” such as one post claiming that female Algerian 2024 Olympic gold medal-winning boxer Imane Khelif is “biologically male” (she is not).
Although Niday uses his campaign Facebook page to push his beliefs and false information, his campaign website lacks detail and only mentions three issues – education, economy and crime.
On education, he says he supports school choice – Republican code for taking money out of public schools and using it on private school vouchers.
According to an NC Family Voter survey that he completed, he is opposed to abortion “once a fetal heartbeat is detected,” doesn’t believe that sexual orientation and gender identity should be included in nondiscrimination ordinances, says organizations like Planned Parenthood should not be allowed to receive state funds and thinks a person’s religious beliefs should influence their policy decisions.
In a News & Observer candidate survey, Niday blames Gov. Roy Cooper for not raising teacher pay, even though Cooper has called for massive teacher raises that legislative Republicans have repeatedly balked at and refused to pass.
He also calls for an abortion ban “at some point during the first trimester,” says we must “increase funding to pregnancy centers,” and believes that certain books should be banned from schools, teachers should not be allowed to discuss gender with students, doesn’t believe in “Critical Race Theory” and opposes what he calls “indoctrination” in our schools.
Niday appears to be nothing more than another Republican extremist trying to get a seat in Raleigh to push their harmful agenda.
His opponent, Budd, is focused on increasing education funding, bringing tax dollars to the district for infrastructure improvements, and protecting reproductive rights and freedom. She has been endorsed by organizations like Pro-Choice North Carolina, North Carolina League of Conservation Voters, Planned Parenthood, Sierra Club, Emily’s List and others.
