By Miles Layton

EDENTON — Republican House District 1 candidate John Spruill told members of the Chowan County Republican Party on Thursday that his decades of service as a volunteer firefighter and county commissioner have prepared him to fight for Eastern North Carolina’s struggling communities, public safety workers, and economic future.

Speaking at Edenton Town Hall, Spruill emphasized his roots in Washington County, his experience securing funding for emergency services, and his commitment to keeping young people in the region by creating better-paying jobs. He also urged supporters to turn out for early voting and help counter online critics as he campaigns in a competitive Republican primary.

“I grew up right in Washington County. I’m the fire chief of Roper Fire Department. I’ve been a volunteer there for 33 years and served as the fire chief now for the past four years,” Spruill said. “In doing so, as serving as the fire chief, I’ve learned, and also as a county commissioner, I’ve learned how to ask for money. I’ve learned how to ask for things, because if you don’t ask, you’re definitely not going to get it.”

Spruill said that experience has helped him deliver tangible results for his community.

“Folks are just not going to come to you and say, ‘Here you go. Here’s a big pot of money,’” he said.

As fire chief, Spruill said he helped secure nearly $1 million in grants.

“So as a fire chief, we’ve asked for and received almost a million dollars in grants,” he said. “We got a new fire truck that’s coming, and through a FEMA grant, we’ve got all-new air packs to replace their fire packs that were 20 years old.”

He said his work as a Washington County commissioner followed the same practical approach.

“And as a county commissioner, when I first came on, we started a strategic plan, and we’ve just about completed everything on that strategic plan,” Spruill said. “In fact, we’re reworking that so that we can look further into the future so we can bring Washington County up.”

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Spruill, who is seeking the Republican nomination for the District 1 seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives, told party members that traveling throughout the district has shaped his priorities.

“One thing that I’ve learned as I’ve been going around this district and going to the different events and the Chowan County Fair that you had here, you meet a lot of really nice people and a lot of really unique people,” he said. “They all have needs and they all have things that they want to ask for and the things that they want to see done.”

He described conversations with first responders that he said left a lasting impression.

“One fellow that we met, he’s in the fire service up in Currituck County,” Spruill said. “He was asking and praising the legislators for the cancer bill that you passed about helping firefighters that are coming down with cancer.”

Spruill said firefighters are regularly exposed to dangerous substances.

“A lot of them are suffering from that because they breathe in a lot of carcinogens when they’re fighting fires and things of that nature,” he said.

But he added that cancer is not the only serious health threat facing first responders.

“Another thing which is the number one killer is heart attacks in first responders,” Spruill said. “So he’s looking to try and get a bill passed that would deal with the heart and lung to help firefighters and first responders.”

Spruill said he pledged to help advance such legislation if elected.

“That’s something that he wants to work on and something that I told him, when I get to Raleigh, that I would definitely try and help him do that,” he said.

He also highlighted mental health challenges faced by emergency workers and law enforcement officers.

“We also met another couple down from Dare County,” Spruill said. “In some years, the number one killer is suicide when it comes to first responders and law enforcement.”

He said trauma experienced on the job often goes unaddressed.

“You take the things that you see when you’re going to cut people out of a wreck and they’re hurt really bad, or they’ve been shot, or you’re pulling somebody out of a burning building,” he said. “That’s the kind of stuff you see on the battlefield, and it causes scars.”

Spruill said volunteers in rural areas are especially vulnerable.

“You’re asking volunteers in our area a lot of times to go and deal with all that and take that stuff home,” he said. “It really builds up and magnifies with them.”

He said the state has made some progress, but more is needed.

“I think that’s something that the state is working on some, but that we’ve not gone far enough,” Spruill said. “We need to continue to have the funding for that to help those people when they’re suffering.”

Turning to economic issues, Spruill said Eastern North Carolina has fallen behind much of the state in business development.

“One of the things that I think we need a lot of help on is our infrastructure growth,” he said.

He cited statistics he attributed to the Secretary of State’s Office on new business formation.

“The numbers were kind of startling,” Spruill said.

He asked the audience to guess which county ranked last.

“Do y’all want to guess what the last ranked county is in the state for business formation?” he asked.

Audience members responded before Spruill answered.

“Tyrrell County. Dead last,” he said. “Washington County was 94th. Perquimans was 91st. Chowan County, 89.”

He compared those figures with coastal and urban counties.

“Currituck was 63rd,” he said. “Dare County didn’t make it over the 50th percentile. They were at 37th.”

Then he pointed to the state’s fastest-growing area.

“Wake County, 54,000 business formations,” Spruill said, drawing reaction from the crowd.

Spruill said the numbers illustrate the urgent need for infrastructure investment.

“There’s a lot of work that we need to do in Eastern North Carolina,” he said. “We need to have the key items in place to be able to build those things and attract businesses here.”

He acknowledged efforts by fellow lawmakers to secure major projects but said the benefits are uneven.

“There’s a big project that’s coming, and I appreciate them working on that,” Spruill said. “But that’s in one county, and we’ve got several other counties that need that help.”

Spruill tied economic development directly to population decline.

“Four out of the six counties in District 1 are all losing population,” he said. “That’s because they don’t have good-paying jobs.”

He said the trend has affected his own family.

“I’ll be honest with you, I want my kids to live right here, right by us,” Spruill said. “I want them to be our neighbors, and they’re not.”

He said better wages would help young people stay.

“We need to have those jobs so they can pay their mortgage bill, buy the groceries, pay their electric bill, and at the end of the week go out and have fun viewing all the things that we enjoy in Eastern North Carolina,” he said.

As he concluded his remarks, Spruill shifted to campaign organizing.

“Folks, I would really appreciate your vote. I would really appreciate your support,” he said.

Spruill framed the race in partisan terms.

“Because we’re Republicans, we’re conservatives, and we outnumber the Democrats in North Carolina now,” he said, drawing applause.

He closed by reminding the audience of the upcoming election.

“Early voting starts February the 12th,” Spruill said. “Go and vote for John Spruill. Let me be your representative. Send me to Raleigh so that I can be a voice for all of us.”

Spruill is seeking the Republican nomination in House District 1, which includes parts of Chowan, Washington, Perquimans, and surrounding counties. The district has traditionally leaned Republican, making the GOP primary a key contest in determining its next representative.

Thursday’s meeting was part of a series of appearances by candidates before local party organizations ahead of the primary. Several Republican contenders have been addressing county party groups across northeastern North Carolina in recent weeks, outlining their records and priorities.

For Spruill, the evening offered an opportunity to connect his long record of public service to the challenges facing the region.

“I’ve learned how to ask for things,” he told the audience. “Because if you don’t ask, you’re definitely not going to get it.”