WASHINGTON — Friday, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and Equality NC launched a new digital campaign ad slamming North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory for putting discrimination ahead of the state’s jobs and economy. The new ad focuses on the economic damage caused by McCrory’s stubborn refusal to fix the mess he created by signing the discriminatory HB2 into law.
“Pat McCrory has utterly failed to put the people, reputation and economy of North Carolina first,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “This week yet another company took its business — and hundreds of jobs — elsewhere, yet McCrory continues to refuse to accept responsibility for the mess he created with HB2. McCrory has badly tarnished the state of North Carolina, and now voters have the opportunity to hold him accountable.”
“Pat McCrory has shown time and time again that he’s willing to discriminate at any cost,” said Equality NC Executive Director Chris Sgro. “This powerful new ad highlights the economic backlash our state has suffered since McCrory signed HB2 into law. It’s time we stand up for real North Carolina values of fairness and respect for our neighbors and ensure that Pat McCrory is no longer in the Governor’s Mansion on November 8th.”
Watch the new ad above.
McCrory and HB2 have cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity as companies concerned with protecting their consumers and employees have moved conventions, trainings, operations, productions, and other major events out of the state. Just this week, the Charlotte Observer reported the state lost another $250 million when a real estate investment firm decided to take its investment — and a potential 730 jobs — elsewhere because of HB2.
HRC and Equality NC have endorsed Roy Cooper for Governor. Cooper’s strong support for LGBTQ equality stands in clear contrast to McCrory’s long history of anti-equality rhetoric and actions. As the current Attorney General of North Carolina, Cooper has refused to defend the deeply discriminatory HB2 in court. He also opposed Amendment One, the state’s 2012 constitutional ban on the freedom to marry, calling it “unclear, unwise and unnecessary.” A vocal opponent of legislation intended to enshrine discrimination into state law under the guise of so-called religious liberty, Cooper made clear that he would veto such destructive measures, saying, “There are laws in place that protect religious liberties. We don’t need these laws that hurt people and our economy.”
The new ad is part of an unprecedented get-out-the-vote digital campaign by HRC and Equality NC aimed at North Carolina’s more than 255,000 LGBTQ voters — a critical bloc in a state that President Obama won by just 14,000 votes in 2008.
