As noted earlier this week, there are serious questions about whether North Carolina Senate 3rd District candidate Valerie Jordan is a legal resident of the district:
Valerie Jordan claimed to live at 137 Red Oak Lane in Warrenton in the paperwork she filed to declare her candidacy for the Third Senate District in the northeastern corner of North Carolina. General Assembly candidates must live in the district they wish to represent.
However, the Carolina Journal reported today that her opponent, Bobby Hanig filed a complaint alleging that Jordan is in reality a resident of Raleigh. He has the receipts, with publicly available documents showing that Jordan lives in Raleigh.
There have been a couple of developments in the Valerie Jordan residency saga since then.
First, the Currituck County Board of Elections unanimously voted that there is enough evidence to question Jordan’s claim that she is a legal resident of Warren County. They will hold a full evidentiary hearing on Jordan’s residency Tuesday, August 23.
Also, Jordan released a statement to the media. It is interesting enough in what it says and does not say that it deserves a fisking. Her statement is in italics, followed by point-by-point replies:
“I was born and raised in Warren County.
That does not establish legal residency in Warren County.
I went to school here, I put in tobacco here, and I raised my daughter here.
None of those establish legal residency.
While I did move to Raleigh for work, years ago, I began commuting back to Warrenton daily to take care of my dying mother.
While I have sympathy for Jordan’s loss of her mother, that does not establish legal residency
Caring for my mother while she was sick was a deeply painful experience, but the support I received from my Warrenton family and friends reminded me of just how much I love this community and it inspired me to move back home after her passing in 2020.
Being “inspired to move back home” is not the same as establishing residency. Residency is where you actually live. Loving a community does not establish residency.
Warrenton is my home, where I pray on Sunday, and where I host our family dinners.
Home is where the heart is, but declaring a place your home is not the same as actually living there. Going to church at a place or hosting dinners there does not establish residency.
Anyone that would suggest that I don’t live in Warrenton clearly doesn’t know Warrenton, which is exactly what’s wrong with Raleigh politicians like Bobby Hanig.
Bobby Hanig is certainly a politician, but it is well established that he is a Currituck County politician. Based on the available evidence, the only Raleigh politician in the race is Valerie Jordan. Also, that does not answer the question of Jordan being a resident of Warren County.
This part of our state has been left behind for too long and I look forward to putting eastern North Carolina back on the agenda when elected.”
That is irrelevant to Jordan’s residency.
So we have a series of statements that seem to speak to the question of Jordan’s legal residency but none of which actually do. It is a classic non-denial denial.
How hard would it have been for Jordan to simply state, “I am a legal resident of Warren County?” She may have to do so at the next week’s Currituck County Board of Elections meeting and present evidence to back it up. If not, she may have to drop out of the race.
