William "B.J." Lawson (born March 30, 1974) is a
Republican Party politician who ran for the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
in
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
's
4th congressional district
Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts and legislative districts, electorates, or wards in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional bod ...
(seat currently held by
David Price) in both the
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
and
2010 elections.
Background
Born in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, Lawson attended Lakeland Senior High School in
Lakeland, Florida
Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal ci ...
, where he was president of the student council.
He moved to
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
in 1992,
where he graduated from
Duke University with a degree in biomedical and
electrical engineering and then from
Duke Medical School in 2000.
During his time at Duke Medical School, Lawson became annoyed with the obscure and outdated methods doctors used to access patient data.
[
] A year into his neurosurgery residency with Duke (at
Durham Regional Hospital
Duke Regional Hospital (DRH), located in northern Durham, North Carolina is a general-services hospital that has been part of the Duke University Health System since 1998. The hospital has 369 beds and over 500 physicians on the medical staff, a ...
), Lawson left to start, with another Duke Physician, Alan Ying, a software company that would help doctors access that data in a more timely fashion, MercuryMD. The company focused on providing easier ways for physicians and
nurse
Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...
s to access patient records through
PDAs.
MercuryMD grew to serve 200 hospitals and had 70 employees.
The company was sold to Thomson Corporation, a multinational conglomerate, which then merge with Reuters
Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational media conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where it is headquartered at the Bay Adelaide Centre.
Thomson Reuters was created by the Thomson Corpora ...
. Thomson Reuters then divested the healthcare division to a stand-alone company Truven Healthcare Analytics, which was purchased by IBM Watson Health in 2016.
2008 Congressional campaign
Lawson said that his time as an entrepreneur led him to begin seeking answers to questions about the healthcare system and national debt, which led to his campaign for office.
Primary election
Lawson's primary campaign focused on issues such as the higher cost of food and the overspending of the federal government.
Lawson defeated former
Orange County
Orange County most commonly refers to:
*Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Orange County may also refer to:
U.S. counties
*Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando
*Orange County, Indiana
*Orange County, New ...
GOP chair Augustus Cho to face David Price in the general election.
General election
Lawson was described as a "hybrid candidate," able to gather the support of Democrats discontent with incumbent 4th District representative David Price's record on various issues; at least one of Lawson's county organizers is a lifelong Democrat and a
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
and
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
supporter.
Lawson gave out more than 50,000 copies of the United States Constitution during the course of his campaign.
Lawson obtained 151,672 votes, about 36% of the vote, and the incumbent Price received 263,151 votes and 63% of the vote in the general election; there were no other candidates in the race.
[
][
]
Lawson failed to achieve a significantly greater percentage of the vote than the past two opponents.
Lawson ran television ads against Price, which Price's opponents typically do not do.
[
] National right wing-libertarian,
David H. Koch
David Hamilton Koch ( ; May 3, 1940 – August 23, 2019) was an American businessman, political activist, philanthropist, and chemical engineer. In 1970, he joined the family business: Koch Industries, the second largest privately held c ...
and Sarah Scaife-funded publication ''
Reason
Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...
'' called Lawson "one of the most credible Republican challengers of 2008, period."
[
] Lawson raised nearly $600,000 in a district in which the previous Republican contender, Lt. Col. Steve Acuff, raised only $50,000 in 2006.
Lawson ordered 50,000 pocket copies of the
United States Constitution to hand out to voters during the 2008 election cycle.
Lawson raised almost $600,000 for the campaign, helped with $170,000 in one day during a designated
money bomb.
His campaign headquarters was in
Cary, North Carolina
Cary is a town in Wake and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Raleigh–Cary, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2020 Census, its population was 174,721, making it the seventh largest mun ...
.
Lawson's campaign criticized Price for his record on civil liberties and accused Price of not reading bills before he votes on them.
[
] Price ran ads against Lawson and brought in
Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...
staffers to assist in his re-election campaign.
Lawson organized a "Peace, Prosperity & Liberty" concert and forum at
UNC-Chapel Hill with Jim Neal, and
Bruce Fein
Bruce Fein (born March 12, 1947) is an American lawyer who specializes in constitutional and international law. Fein has written numerous articles on constitutional issues for ''The Washington Times'', ''Slate.com'', ''The New York Times'', '' ...
.
[
] Lawson and Price also faced off in what the ''Carrboro Citizen'' newspaper called a "lively" debate at UNC.
[
]
On April 28, U.S. Representative
Ron Paul sent a letter to his mailing list endorsing Lawson in the 4th's Republican primary, and again on October 3 endorsing him in the general election.
Additional endorsements:
* Col. Steve Acuff, (
USAF
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
, Ret.) 2006 Republican candidate
* Tom Roberg, 1996 Republican candidate
*
Republican Liberty Caucus
The Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) is a political action organization dedicated to promoting the ideals of Individual freedom, individual liberty, limited government and free market economics within the Republican Party (United States), Republi ...
*
Duke University College Republicans
* Grassroots North Carolina Forum-Political Victory Forum;
* Democrats for Lawson
*
Radley Balko
Radley Prescott Balko (born April 19, 1975) is an American journalist, author, blogger, and speaker who writes about criminal justice, the drug war, and civil liberties. In 2022, he began publishing his work on Substack after being let go from ...
, nationally known journalist
2010 Congressional campaign
On February 10, 2010, Lawson announced that he would run again for US House of Representatives for district 4 of North Carolina. On May 4 Lawson was nominated as the Republican candidate with 45% of the vote.
"Lawson gets set to face Price again"
, '' Charlotte News & Observer''. May 05, 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
On September 8, 2010, Price launched his reelection campaign. Price defeated Lawson in a rematch 56% to 44%.
Morgan Freeman ad controversy
On November 1, 2010, the Lawson for Congress campaign quickly pulled a specific campaign ad after allegations surfaced that the voice in the ad, claimed to be actor Morgan Freeman was an impersonator and not Freeman himself. Freeman confirmed that he was not the voice in the ad. BJ Lawson responded to the allegations by saying "This is terribly unfortunate and we apologize profusely to Morgan Freeman for what has happened. This is obviously not something we ever would want to misrepresent. Once we found out that our contracted advertisement was not narrated by Morgan Freeman, we immediately pulled our ads. Our campaign is volunteers and we were presented with an opportunity to make a great ad -- unfortunately these political mercenaries completely misrepresented their offering and contract with us to take our money."
Political positions
Taking positions that are conservative and libertarian, Lawson has taken "strong stands on civil liberties protections" and against legislation such as the USA PATRIOT Act
The USA PATRIOT Act (commonly known as the Patriot Act) was a landmark Act of the United States Congress, signed into law by President George W. Bush. The formal name of the statute is the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appro ...
, citing concerns over rushing legislation through Congress without ample time for representatives to read it. Lawson is also against the death penalty.
Lawson spoke in opposition to the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility
The National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) is a biosafety level 4 research laboratory in Manhattan, Kansas, operated by the United States Department of Agriculture. Slated to open in Summer 2022, the facility is designed to combat biolog ...
which was proposed to be located in Butner, North Carolina
Butner is a town in Granville County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,397 as of the 2020 census. Butner was managed by the state of North Carolina from 1947 through 2007.
History
A bill passed by the North Carolina General ...
.[
] Lawson stated that various rare diseases, such as foot and mouth disease
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids. The virus causes a high fever lasting two to six days, follow ...
, classical swine fever
Classical swine fever (CSF) or hog cholera (also sometimes called pig plague based on the German word ) is a highly contagious disease of swine ( Old World and New World pigs). It has been mentioned as a potential bioweapon.
Clinical signs
...
, and Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia
Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP – also known as lung plague), is a contagious bacterial disease that afflicts the lungs of cattle, buffalo, zebu, and yaks.
It is caused by the bacterium ''Mycoplasma mycoides'', and the symptoms are pneu ...
, would be studied at the laboratory and could pose hazards for North Carolina citizens located near the facility. His general election opponent David Price lobbied[
][
] the federal government for the facility to be located in Butner.[
]
Lawson is against the Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror
, image ...
.
Lawson has spoken against government borrowing and debt, saying "talk of an additional 'stimulus plan' that results in still more government borrowing simply pushes our economic crisis further onto our children and grandchildren."[
] He believes money from entitlement trust funds should not be spent for other purposes. He did not support the Wall Street bailout bill, calling it the "No Bank Left Behind Act" and saying: "In our economy, the bailout plan assumes we need to fight a necessary reduction in debt with yet more debt. To use a medical analogy, debt is like amphetamines. It takes from the future to stimulate you today, and too much of it can kill you. We've become addicted to debt – why do we need more debt-fueled growth, and how much more can we tolerate? We need sustainable, long-term growth fueled by people saving and creating value in their communities – not artificial growth fueled by still more government debt that creates additional burdens for the future."
Lawson has said that he would attempt to eliminate the Congressional pension
Congressional pension is a pension made available to members of the United States Congress. , members who participated in the congressional pension system are vested after five years of service. A pension is available to members 62 years of age wi ...
plan, calling it "an insult to the American worker"; he says if elected, he will not participate in the pension plan. He is also against subsidies for oil companies and believes getting rid of them would help foster alternative energy sources. Lawson has said that alternatives to a federal income tax should be looked into, including a carbon tax: "We want more jobs, productivity, and income – so it doesn't make sense to tax jobs, productivity, and income."
Lawson opposes a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
and "unrelenting globalism driven by corporate interests." He has a "disdain" for giving corporation
A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...
s the same legal rights as individuals.
For health care, Lawson is a proponent of health savings account
A health savings account (HSA) is a tax-advantaged medical savings account available to taxpayers in the United States who are enrolled in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP). The funds contributed to an account are not subject to federal inco ...
s and catastrophic insurance coverage. ''The Independent Weekly
''Indy Week'', formerly known as the ''Independent Weekly'' and originally the ''North Carolina Independent'', is a tabloid-format alternative weekly newspaper published in Durham, North Carolina, United States, and distributed throughout the ...
'' wrote: "Lawson is right in that insurance companies and bureaucracies
The term bureaucracy () refers to a body of non-elected governing officials as well as to an administrative policy-making group. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected offi ...
are taking health care out of the hands of doctors and patients."
Honors
Congressman Walter B. Jones, Jr.
Walter Beaman Jones Jr. (February 10, 1943 – February 10, 2019) was an American politician who served twelve terms in the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Republican Party for from 1995 until his death in 2019. The d ...
of North Carolina presented Lawson with the Walter B. Jones Campus Defender of Freedom award at Duke University in April 2009.
Personal life
Lawson married his high school sweetheart, JoLynn, who attended college in South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
while he went to Duke. JoLynn Lawson is a former public school teacher in Durham, North Carolina. They have three children.
References
External links
B.J. Lawson's Congressional campaign website
Lawson's campaign blog
Lawson on the issues
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawson, B. J.
American bloggers
21st-century American businesspeople
Duke University Pratt School of Engineering alumni
North Carolina Republicans
1974 births
Living people
People from Plantation, Florida
Duke University School of Medicine alumni
Candidates in the 2008 United States elections
Candidates in the 2010 United States elections
People from Durham, North Carolina