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GREENSBORO — Guilford County Commissioner Bruce Davis is breaking with the local Democratic party to run as an independent candidate for the state Senate.

Davis felt slighted last month when Sen. Katie Dorsett, a fellow Democrat, pulled out of the District 28 race on the last day of filing.
Dorsett had filed to run and didn’t let Davis or other Democrats know she had changed her mind.

Dorsett said in an interview last week that she did inform her friend Gladys Robinson, whose candidacy she said she supports.

Robinson and fellow Democrat Evelyn Miller were able to file just before the deadline; Davis said he missed his chance. Instead, Davis filed to run again for his seat on the Board of Commissioners. He is unopposed in that race.

Davis said Dorsett was trying to hand-pick a successor, and he claimed she was harming the party by preventing a competitive primary, particularly in a year when Greensboro City Councilwoman Trudy Wade could mount a strong Republican challenge.

Davis said the voters, not Dorsett, should have had the opportunity to choose their representative.

“To sit back and be silent about the way this was done would almost be condoning it,” Davis said Wednesday. “If someone doesn’t do something to try to give the citizens a real choice, we’re all being robbed.”

Dorsett has said she was under no obligation to inform Davis when she changed her mind and he could have filed to run at any time.
Davis did challenge Dorsett for their party’s nomination two years ago. After that defeat, he let Dorsett know he was interested in the seat.

“It’s something she knew and something a lot of people in the district knew,” Davis said. “That had something to do with why she chose to do it this way.”

Davis, a retired Marine, said he felt it was his duty to do something about it. He said he already has 500 signatures to get himself on the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate — well on his way to the 5,000 he’ll need by June 25.

Local political consultant Bill Burckley has worked for Democrats and Republicans throughout his career. He talked Wade into running in the heavily Democratic District 28 and is working on her campaign. Burckley said Davis getting into the race could split the Democratic vote in a year when Republican turnout is likely to be up. That could help Wade, he said.

Davis said he doesn’t feel he’s abandoning his party; he’s in it to win, he said.

“I think we’ve got a good shot,” Davis said. “People are going to be voting on name recognition and on experience. They know Bruce Davis wants to go to the state Senate, and they know my experience. That’s how they’ll vote.”

If Davis were to win both the Senate race and re-election to the Board of Commissioners, he would have to pick one position, according to Guilford County Attorney Mark Payne.

Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com