Who Responded And Who Didn’t

Amanda Benbow Lunn 0:08

Hello friends, thanks for tuning in to the NC Deep Dive. I'm your host, Amanda Benbow Lunn. As of this moment, I believe we are at the very end of our 2026 general election segment. A few candidates may be following up, but since early voting starts October 15th with election day in less than three weeks, I'm guessing it may not be their highest priority. By my calculations, I think we have about 18 contested races and 46 candidates within them touching southern Wake County, specifically Holly Springs and Fuquay Varina. All 46 candidates were emailed on August 9th using the email they included within Wake County's candidate filing list for this election. For those who hadn't already scheduled a time for us to do their candidate conversation, I did send a follow-up email on August 26th. In total, 24 candidates, as of the recording of this podcast, have followed through in participating. I have had three others or their campaign team show interest, one of which scheduled but had technical difficulties at the time of our conversation. Ultimately, though, we have not nailed down a mutual time and the ball is in their court. In both email invitations I sent, I shared that I had dates available through October 4th to schedule their conversation, but that if they had difficulty finding a time that would work, that I would be more than happy to try and accommodate them directly as I could. I also shared that if candidates had any questions, concerns, accessibility needs, or other circumstances that would make them feel more comfortable participating, that I'd be happy to discuss reasonable accommodations. That looked like two candidates having one of their campaign team join in on the recording with us to act as a witness and help with any technical issues the candidate might have had, and one candidate requesting transcripts before the publishing of their episode. As I shared, three candidates or their teams or volunteers who, as of this moment, haven't scheduled their candidate conversation did engage in some level of reply to the email invitations. The other 19 candidates did not respond at all. Since you are able to see who scheduled a candidate conversation by the podcast episodes that have been published, I'll go ahead and share the three candidates who had either reached out personally or their teams had. One was Congresswoman Valerie Foushee. She's running for re-election for the U.S. House of Representatives for District 4. We did have a conversation scheduled, but she ran into the technical difficulties. Steven Swinton had replied, he's the libertarian running for the U.S. House of Representatives for District 13. And then a supporter of Joe E. Teague, who is running for Wake County Clerk of Superior Court, did reach out to me as well. But again, I haven't heard back from them to actually schedule an episode to be recorded. The other 19 candidates did not respond at all. Well, actually, I take that back. There was one candidate who had participated in a random Facebook post that showed up on my Facebook feed. And I think that I may have dozed off and somehow fat thumbed my way into clicking something where his campaign page reached out through Messenger asking how they could help me. And when I woke up to the notification, I shared the invitation to join for a conversation and reference the email. I did receive a reply to that messenger that someone from his team would be reaching out soon, but I never heard anything back. I was

Taking Over And Learning Audio

Amanda Benbow Lunn 3:55

asked by Ren Shore, the original host and owner of what was then called the Holly Springs Deep Dive podcast when she moved away, if I might consider taking over and at least keeping the election and voting content. At that time, I knew zero about journalism or podcasting. While I do have experience editing written content, I'd never ventured into audio content. She gave me a crash course as we recorded our transition episode, and I've been learning ever since. And because this deals with technology, which has never really been my strong suit, and it is constantly evolving, each and every episode I am learning and troubleshooting something new. While it definitely is intellectually stimulating, I hope you may find some grace for me as I know my efforts in this arena are far from perfect.

Why The Show Stays Ad Free

Amanda Benbow Lunn 4:49

While technically the NC Deep Dive is my business, it is more truly a hobby and a passion project at this moment. I do not currently make any money doing this podcast. And in fact, I pay for subscriptions for the software that I use to record and disperse the published episodes into the Ether, like Spotify and Apple Podcasts and all the platforms where my episodes populate. I do believe money and profit can skew credibility and bias and create conflicts of interest, especially when it deals with politics. Therefore, I want to remain ad-free for all of our election content. Creating this content for you comes on top of my full-time job as a massage therapist owning my own practice here locally. I'm a mom to two kiddos plus two bonus kiddos, one of which at 21 recently has been going through chemotherapy and its negative side effects. And I'm a daughter-in-law to my husband's father, who lives with us and suffers from stage four emphysema and COPD, who may be entering his last stage of life. He spent the past two to three weeks in the hospital in Holly Springs. So, needless to say, life has been life-ing, but I feel such passion and honor for being able to do these conversations and share them with all of you. Our democratic constitutional republic really, really means a great deal to me. While I haven't extensively traveled internationally, at least since I've been old enough to remember as my parents were in the Air Force and stationed overseas, when I do, I reaffirm how much I love it here and how blessed I am to be living this life. I truly believe our differences make us stronger. Sameness might make things simpler at times, but our differences make life so much richer, more interesting, and full of opportunities to learn from one another and grow. And a functional democratic constitutional republic requires participation from as many people as possible. I don't want you to necessarily vote for who I vote for. I want you to be able to efficiently and effectively conduct your own research to find the candidates that best resonate for you. I believe even with our differences that we can and should work together, cross aisles, and act with integrity, respect, and as much transparency as possible. By embracing what makes us unique and recognizing the humanity that we all share, we can build a stronger and more just nation and cultivate healthier, more connected communities where we can all thrive today and for generations to come.

Building Fair Questions And Editing Rules

Amanda Benbow Lunn 7:36

Last year for our local elections in Holly Springs and Fuquay Varina, I pushed myself hard to be able to publish 10 episodes to cover all of the candidates who chose to participate. Back then, it took me about 24 full hours to edit and publish one episode. This election cycle, I will have published 26 episodes covering 24 candidates, the constitutional amendments and bond referenda, and the behind the scenes transparency episode you are currently listening to, all within about five weeks. I am proud to have been able to accomplish such a feat, and I am really glad technology has improved to make the editing and publishing process significantly easier. Unlike previous years, I included about eight core enclosing questions that were broad enough for all 18 races in each candidate's email invitation. I wanted to make the process less threatening and allow candidates to perhaps give you more concrete answers while hopefully shortening the span of any jitters and pulling out their humanity and passions. I really wanted you to get a chance to hear them and know them as a person and as a candidate and what they stood for. I let them know also that I'd be asking race-specific questions along with any follow-up questions as necessary. At the beginning of each conversation, I mentioned that while I had specific questions, that I'd be happy to follow them wherever they led if there were topics they felt strongly about including. While it's possible some were just being nice or people-pleasing, all the candidates I interviewed shared positive feedback with me about the experience and the fairness of the questions and what a breath of fresh air it was to have someone meet them where they were without pigeonholing them, asking gotcha questions, or alluding to some sort of bias or lack of respect within the process. That means a lot to me. And I also welcome any feedback from you, especially if you feel I ever cross any lines. You can always share via social media or by emailing me directly at ncdeepdive at gmail.com. To create the questions, I drew from what I was seeing and hearing from the community in person and on social media, and then I paired that with AI as a measure to eliminate any potential bias. With the editing I did, I only removed filler words like ums, ahs, writes, likes, and you knows, word or phrase stutters, and long silences that naturally occur during a conversation while one is thinking about how best to respond. Furthermore, I only removed anything if it didn't change the overall content of the candidate's message. If something might alter their message, it was left in. The purpose of these conversations is to help candidates connect to voters directly with their own voices and messages. Therefore, I do not feel this is the space for me to interject, cheer on, or fact-check. However, if I didn't understand something, felt the average listener might not understand something, or believe the candidate might not have fully addressed something, I did ask follow-up questions for clarity. While I mentioned part of my purpose in creating this content is allowing candidates an opportunity to directly reach voters so that voters may cast their most informed vote, it's also allowing a platform option that may more resonate with voters and their actual realities. Let's face it, as voters, we hate being sold to and we hate having our lives disrupted. Many of us are busy simply surviving and are stretched incredibly thin. Many of us hate when candidates or their teams or volunteers come knock on our doors, email us, text us, and call us. Many don't have the time to look up a bazillion websites.

Transcripts, Chapters, And Voter Access

Amanda Benbow Lunn 11:32

My hope is through this platform, voters can find a one-stop shop for all the candidates who cared enough and prioritized speaking with them directly in ways that resonate with voters directly. That's why if you visit or listen from www.ncdeepdive.com, I offer transcripts for those who prefer to skim through and read information, chapter titles, which include each of the various topics, so you can pick and choose what matters most to you if you are short on time, and all the candidates' contact information, including their website and socials, along with general election and voting information in the show notes. It's my hope that if you're busy like me, that you can listen while you are otherwise engaged and multitask, like when you're driving, exercising, doing chores, or filling the small little gaps in your day. Moreover, I hope for this podcast to serve as a realistic means to allow voters overseas, especially our military personnel and their families, a way to stay informed and connected so that they too can be remembered and included, especially while they are sacrificing so much on behalf of our country and its people. While I don't have direct statistics, or at least I haven't found any yet, that speak to who listeners really are in terms of demographics, I do know from those who have shared with me that I have people from all party affiliations who regularly tune in. Most listeners tune in within the triangle, though a fair share listen throughout North Carolina, amongst many states and even a number of different countries. I am grateful to be able to offer each of you the opportunity to learn more about who and what will be on your ballots. And while I value being nonpartisan in this space, I also want to lift up again how our Democratic Constitutional Republic is a team sport. Outside of this space, I am actively involved in rooting on and supporting candidates who I feel resonate best with me, my values, and the future I envision. I encourage and actually challenge you to find candidates and causes you feel passionate about and actively work to support them too. Your voice and actions matter, and candidates can always use more support. You could share flyers, knock doors, phone or text bank, write letters or postcards to your neighbors, poll greet, display a yard sign, share their social media posts, share their candidate conversations from the NC Deep Dive podcast. You can make donations or contact the candidates directly to see what ways may be most meaningful to help. We all have a part we can play, especially since most of us don't have any care in the world to run for office ourselves. And with that, I'd like to thank all of those who choose to run for office. They sacrifice so much in order to be the adultier adults many of us prefer. It's no easy feat to run for office, and it isn't for the faint of heart. Many have families and full-time jobs and honestly do not make much as elected officials for the amount of time most of them spend filling these roles. It is often thankless work, and it's usually impossible to make 100% of voters happy about 100% of the things 100% of the time. It takes vast courage and vulnerability to run for office and open oneself and their families up to public criticism and judgment. I also want to thank you, the listeners, for taking time to tune in and do your due diligence researching what will be on your ballot. Lastly, I want to thank each and every one of you who actively engage in supporting our democratic constitutional republic, whether that's lifting up topics you believe in, supporting candidates and causes who resonate with you, and most importantly, making your voice heard at the ballot box by voting. Every last bit of that is valuable and makes a difference. And I am forever grateful and most appreciative.

Closing Reflections & Voting Info

Amanda Benbow Lunn 15:42

Democracy is built on participation. Politics can sometimes feel distant or abstract, but the decisions made by our elected officials at the county, state, and federal levels have a profound effect on the communities we call home and the way we live our lives. From the roads we drive on and the schools our children attend to public safety, parks and recreation, housing, health care, taxes, the economy, and the many other services and amenities that make up our communities, government plays a role in shaping both our everyday experience and our future. That makes taking the time to understand the choices on your ballot and the people asking for your vote an important part of being an engaged member of your community. Early voting for the 2026 midterm election begins October 15th and runs through October 31st. In southern Wake County, there will be early voting locations at the Hunt Center in Holly Springs, the Hilltop Needmore Town Park Clubhouse in Fuquay Varina, Beech Bluff County Park, and Southern Wake Tech Campus close by. Election Day is November 3rd. A general reminder that you will need a valid photo ID to vote, the regular voter registration deadline is October 9th, although you may still register when you vote during the early voting period. Please note that you cannot register to vote on Election Day itself, and that that day you will absolutely have to vote at your designated precinct location to have access to your full ballot. And because there are so many races and ballot measures this year, your ballot will likely be double-sided. It can be helpful to start on the back so that you don't accidentally overlook anything. You'll vote for the races that apply to your jurisdiction along with statewide amendments and for Southern Wake County voters, local Wake County bond referenda. Voting is one of the ways we take part in the communities we share. You don't have to agree with your neighbors or even with the candidates you've heard here to recognize that our communities are shaped by the people who show up, ask questions, learn about the choices before them, and cast their ballots. So please take the time to get informed, make your voice heard, and encourage the people around you to do the same. Your vote matters. Your voice matters. And you absolutely matter, my friend. And with that, this episode of the NC Deep Dive has come to an end. Please feel free to check out this episode's show notes at ncdeepdive.com for further information and relevant links for this candidate along with general election information. As always, if you have any topics or thoughts you'd like to share, you can find us on social media or email us at ncdeepdive at gmail.com. If you found value in this episode, I'd love for you to subscribe, rate, and share it so that others may more easily be informed. Please make sure to stay tuned for all the relevant candidate, amendment, and referenda episodes for the 2026 midterm election by visiting ncdeepdive.com, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, or wherever you currently listen to your podcast. Until next time, my friends, Namaste: The Love and Light in me sees and honors the love and light in you.