Reuel Sample:
I am joined for our inaugural podcast by the chairman of the GOP party here in Will Knecht. Good morning, Will. How are you?

Will Knecht: 
Hey, Reuel. What a privilege to be with you. I’m excited to have this conversation and so excited to be part of this inaugural podcast that we’re doing here locally for conservatives and the Republican Party.

Reuel Sample: 
Usually I will ask people to tell us about their backgrounds, but I’m going to because the folks here in New Hanover County and in North Carolina are facing some big issues as we go into these primaries and midterms. What are those big issues that we are facing and that you are hearing about from people here in the county?

Will Knecht:
The number one issue on the minds and the hearts of most voters in New Hanover Republican, Democrat and unaffiliated Reuel – is education is giving our students the opportunity, giving our kids the best opportunity to be the person they’re created to be. And it is heated. It is difficult discussions, but these are critical discussions that are happening around education. We as Republicans, we want the parents to be charged with the leadership of the education that their children are getting. And in cases when grandparents are playing the role of parent and the kids lives, we want to make sure that the grandparent has the biggest say in how and what and where their students are going. So without question, education is on the minds of all parents and grandparents, giving our kids equal opportunity to be who they are. We believe that you and I need to grab that opportunity before us, and we want to put kids in a position to grab the opportunity, whether they are college bound or vocation bound after high school graduation, that they are prepared and they are best prepared in this state to go attack the world post high school graduation.

Reuel Sample:
Would it be fair to say that the focus on the family, focus on parental Democrat Party and the Republican Party going into these elections?

Will Knecht:
Absolutely. I think without question, as it relates to the political leadership. Right. And the political parties. However, as it relates to the family, as it relates to the the population and the citizens, again, I don’t think that this is an issue that divides people. I think most Democrat parents and grandparents want to be leading their kids education and have a vital say in how their kids are educated. I think parents of all political parties want to have the dollars follow the kids so that they can make the decision whether it be a public school or a charter school or other school option of where they send their child and then the funding follow their child. So I think you’re absolutely right that that parental involvement in education is at the forefront and is a major difference in the parties. But I think when you go down, it is a unifying message that we as conservatives, we as Republicans need to get out because it unites parents across political party. And we believe that we will this fall get some votes from Democrats and get a lot of unaffiliated voters who will vote for our four candidates on the school board and our two candidates on the county commission, because they as parents, align with our party’s belief in parental rights, in parental involvement being magnified in their kids education.

Reuel Sample:
We’ve certainly seen a sweep across the country in school boards and other areas parents and grandparents and others step up because they want their kids’ education back. So I think that’s going to be a huge issue. What other issues are we looking at?

Will Knecht:
There’s no question the economy, especially as you and I speak right now, with locally, this is going to be an important issue this fall and we believe statewide as well. I mean, we see the current administration and their policies and the debacle our economy is in at this point with the current inflation rate. And you go to get gas and it’s costing me twice as much as it was to three years ago to fill my tank up. It’s costing me twice as much to buy my eggs and to buy my milk and buy these staples of life. And so who’s that hurting? That’s hurting the middle class. And it’s under the Cooper administration here in the state of North Carolina and President Biden administration that these terrible policies are moving forward. And we need to reverse that. And again, that’s a staple issue. Republicans stand for lower taxes and less government involvement. Right. Less spending at the government level. And so these are issues that are at the forefront of the minds of New Hanover County voters as they’ll go to vote this fall. And so we need to just get the word out that we as Republicans believe that taxpayers should keep the money they work hard for.

Reuel Sample:
I filled up my gas tank at a gas station on a Sunday, and on Monday morning, Just that’s just in 24 hours. And the price of eggs, we’ve got a national shortage on baby products, baby food, and we talk about that. But how can Republicans address that? We’re going to lower taxes, but how can we address the high cost of gasoline or the high cost of food?

Will Knecht:
Well, I mean, you think specifically as it relates to gas. All right. Under the Trump administration, one of their key policies is they wanted America to be energy independent. The Keystone pipeline, the ability to drill for oil and natural gas throughout the country because we wanted energy independence, we wanted to create our own energy, and we were moving forward in that extremely well where we were becoming a net exporter of oil and natural gas. We weren’t reliant on the Middle East or Russia, and we were beginning to move our ability to produce this this oil and natural gas into Europe. So they also would not be dependent on Russia for gas. And so we need to return to that smart policy. That Day One of the Biden administration was knocked out. Right. I mean, that was one of his first moves was to eliminate our ability to be energy independent. And again, Republicans love the environment. It’s not that we’re against. It’s not at all that we’re against the environment. But strategically, we want to be independent as it relates to our energy needs. So we’re not beholden to the Middle East or Russia in any way, shape or form. That’s one thing we can do immediately to to return us energy independence independence and reduce the cost of gas. Second thing we can do is to make it easier as inflation hits is we need to reduce taxes here locally. The Democrat led County Commission last year voted to net increase our property taxes while at the same time they raised their own salaries. Probably by the highest percentage of any government body across this country. So in other words, they raise their own salaries while increasing tax real tax rates on you and me. And so that’s the second thing. We want to give more money back to the people so that if these costs do increase. We can afford to buy these things. And again, those are two very simple answers to that question. We need to return a focus to energy independence, and we need to cut taxes, cut spending. So we return money to the American people, to residents of New Hanover County, so that they can spend their hard earned money on things that they and their family need.

Reuel Sample:
And once again, this is an issue that that goes across party lines. I don’t care if you’re a Republican, Democrat, independent, when you’re paying more money at the fuel pump, when you’re paying more money from grocery stores, that hurts. And that that that digs into a budget that is very important to most families.

Will Knecht:
As you and I both know, right? I mean, absolutely it does. When it costs me $60 to fill my tank with gas when it was costing me 30 bucks before, that’s $30 I don’t have anymore. So I need to cut my spending in other areas to balance my own personal budget. So absolutely, this is fundamental and it’s a fundamental difference between the Democrats and the Republicans as it relates to political philosophy. But again, as it relates to individuals and people and citizens, this is an issue that we as Republicans lead on. And it makes sense to a majority of Americans, a majority of residents in New Hanover County, regardless of political party. So unaffiliated, are going to come our way, Lord willing, because we stand for these things lower taxes, less spending at the government level, more money in my pocket as a citizen of my hard earned money that I’ve made moving towards again, towards energy independence. Those are things that make sense for all residents.

Reuel Sample:
Education, high costs of fuel, groceries. The inflation. The monetary policy. What’s the third issue? What’s the trifecta that’s rounding us out as we go into these primaries and midterms?

Will Knecht:
I would say in this community, it’s the environment. I mean, in New Hanover County, we are such a wonderful place to live. And a lot of it is because of our natural resources. And Republicans have been branded as anti-environment and it’s ridiculous. We have a state senator in Michael Lee who is literally one of the leaders on environmental policy on clean water in Raleigh. And yet we’re not getting that message out well. So that’s one of the great things about this podcast. We as Republicans, we lead on the environment and we lead from a free enterprise standpoint. Senator Michael Lee is such a leader on the environment. A year or two ago, he was invited to a national discussion and National Forum on the Environment, where he shared the stage with with the likes of Bill Gates on the discussion on the environment. And Michael’s role in that specifically was what the state legislature can do to protect the environment. They invited Senator Lee out to participate in that because of his leadership on the environment in Raleigh at the state level, on behalf of all North Carolinians. So the environment, especially here with our beautiful beaches and our beautiful parks and just the natural blessings that we have here in New Hanover County is a third very important issue that we’re going to get in front of. And we’re going to get our message out that in Ted Davis and in Michael Lee and John Hennen and our county commission candidates, we have leaders who are real are providing real solutions to the problems that that we’re facing. The difference between the Republicans and Democrats in many respects, as Democrats deal with feelings and their policies might not work, but they make them feel good in enacting them. Republicans are different. We want solutions that solve real problems that truly don’t just make us feel better but make things better. We’re solution focused, and that’s going to be an important message that we get across this year as well.

Reuel Sample:
To hook that back into our conversation about gasoline. I’ve seen the oil fields in the Mideast and we’ve seen the the the oil fields in Russia and and the the mining operations in China. They’re not concerned about the environmental impact at all. And here in America, we are. And that’s a huge issue. And you’re right, is that we’re trying to come up with solutions that will work.

Will Knecht: 
Absolutely 100%. And that’s an important difference, is we want to solve problems that Americans and North Carolinians and residents of New Hanover County have not just make ourselves feel good that we’re doing something that looks good, but at the end of the day doesn’t solve any problem at all.

Reuel Sample: 
Each of us brings a background into how we decide what political party we belong And you’re obviously a Republican. You’re the chairman of the Republican Party here in New Hanover. Why do you call yourself a Republican?

Will Knecht: 
Well, I call myself a Republican for a lot of what we just discussed. I believe in people. I believe that people know best how to handle their business, how to do things naturally in life. And I believe in the spirit of Americans to make things happen. I also believe that you and I are responsible for each other, for our families, for our friends, for our members of our neighborhood, our churches, our synagogues, that we are responsible to help each other out. And we are to be giving of our time and of our money to help each other out when there are times of need and. I don’t believe that the government is the solution to all things. And so that at its very, very crux is why I’m a Republican is I see the Democrat Party as a government solution for everything. Where I see the Republican Party is empowering and inspiring people to make a difference. And to me, that’s the fundamental basis of my my registration as a Republican. I’ll also say that at a personal level, I was born and raised in a family of Republicans. My mom and dad were Republicans. My dad was a school board member for eight years. And in that service to our community, he instilled in me the desire to be engaged, to be involved, to lend a hand, to give give back to those who have given so much to us. And I can remember as like a third grader, where I’d be out knocking on doors on behalf of my dad and doing all those things while he was in office to to help him get elected. But attending the meetings and seeing the public get involved. And again, so to me, it’s a family that we’re Republicans who didn’t dictate to me what party I had to belong in, but exemplified what I believe makes America great. And again, it gets back to the individual. And so when I went to college, I went to to college at the end of the Reagan era. I had been in high school during Ronald Reagan. And just to see where we went from the Jimmy Carter days to of malaise and discouragement to the Ronald Reagan hope and inspiration and and power back to the individual and to the people that really framed me. And that’s to this day, why I stand as a Republican is I still believe in the basic tenets that the Republican Party stands for. And I believe in them because I believe they’re the best for my family and for all citizens.

Reuel Sample: 
This GOP that you and I are both a part of, though, is a big tent. We’ve got folks from all spectrums in it. And we’re going to have different opinions on on not only these issues that we’ve talked about, but other issues that come up. How do we allow for these differences yet avoid that really great Republican tradition of eating our own and staying on track with a unified voice to win elections and to to bring back that Reagan hope to America.

Will Knecht: 
And that’s such a great point because we’re wrapping up and we’re wrapping up a other. We’re running against friends and folks that that we we agree with in many respects. So this is a great point. At the end of the day. Let’s say that Republicans agree on at least 80, 85% of the major issues facing us as as residents of New Hanover County in North Carolina and America today. What we’ve got to do is focus on what unites. Focus on what we agree on and understanding that. The beauty of America is that we can differ and we can debate and we can discuss. But at the end of the day, we come together as Americans, because this country is the greatest country in the history of the world. And that’s the same thing we as Republicans need to do. We need to remember that at the end of the day, we’re conservative Republicans by by very nature. And that doesn’t mean that we are lockstep in every belief, that we are lockstep in every idea. But 80 or 90%. Absolutely. We are in agreement on. And the fundamental tenets of Republicanism is what we agree on. So we need to focus on what we what we agree on. And we need to fight who the real enemy is. We need to fight the real enemy. And the real enemy is not the people on the other side of the aisle. They’re not our enemy. It is their bad ideas. It is their bad policies. And so we need to move away from this personal attack environment that we live in, in this country. And again, this supersedes political party. And we need to debate and discuss ideas and have real, real debate and allow each other to be a little bit different. Because, again, that’s the greatness of America. That is the greatness of the Republican Party, is that we can have these internal discussions and debates and yet return to what unites us. The 80 to 90% that we are lockstep in agreement on because we believe it’s in the best interest of all Americans.

Reuel Sample: 
I think that’s a great way to end. Will Knecht, thank you so much for being here.

Will Knecht: 
Reuel, thanks so much for doing this.