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Irina Comer
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Irina Comer (Republican Party) ran for election to the Wake County Board of Commissioners to represent District 3 in North Carolina. She lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Comer completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Irina Comer's professional experience includes working in finance. She earned an M.B.A. from New York University Leonard B. Stern School of business in 2012.[1]
Comer has been affiliated with White Memorial Presbyterian Church and Kiwanis Club of Raleigh.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: Municipal elections in Wake County, North Carolina (2022)
General election
General election for Wake County Board of Commissioners District 3
Cheryl Stallings defeated Irina Comer in the general election for Wake County Board of Commissioners District 3 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Cheryl Stallings (D)  | 61.5 | 273,430 |
 | Irina Comer (R) | 38.5 | 171,296 | |
| Total votes: 444,726 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Wake County Board of Commissioners District 3
Cheryl Stallings defeated Cynthia Sinkez and Lisa Mead in the Democratic primary for Wake County Board of Commissioners District 3 on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Cheryl Stallings | 37.0 | 31,237 |
| Cynthia Sinkez | 31.6 | 26,666 | ||
 | Lisa Mead | 31.4 | 26,507 | |
| Total votes: 84,410 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Irina Comer advanced from the Republican primary for Wake County Board of Commissioners District 3.
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Irina Comer completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Comer's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a first-generation immigrant, a business and finance professional with nearly 20 years of experience, a working mother, and a political outsider. I was born and raised in the former U.S.S.R. and came to the United States to pursue the American Dream. That upbringing strongly shapes my political views. I grew up in a culture of totalitarian control, central planning, false promises of equality, and a complete absence of individual rights. Having lived in the United States for more than a decade now, I believe strongly in self-determination, accountability, parental choice in education, freedom to pursue opportunity, accountability of elected officials, and fiscal responsibility. Particularly with respect to fiscal responsibility, I bring a lifetime of professional financial experience. I began my career with PwC, the largest public accounting firm in the world, conducting financial analyses for large national and international corporations. I earned my MBA from NYU's Stern School of Business and worked briefly on Wall Street before opening my own business brokerage firm. I am a proud entrepreneur. I am also a working mother, and firmly value a high-quality education and a safe environment for our children.
- Lower taxes. The current Commissioners aim to maximize revenue through taxes and then look for things to spend it on. That approach leads to inefficient government services and a very high tax burden for working families. Wake County should instead focus on providing the services that are most needed in the community and which the government is best suited to provide. There are very few things that government is best suited to provide. Commissioners should then dynamically size the tax burden to meet that need. For property taxes, that requires a constant focus on both tax rates and property values. Commissioners should also dynamically assess which programs continue to add value. Because when it comes to taxes, less is truly more.
- School choice. The Wake County Public School System used to be one of the envies of the country. However, enrollment continues to decline and quality continues to suffer. I believe public education needs competition like any other venture. Magnet, charter, and private schools do more with less, and those options should not be reserved for the wealthiest among us. Residents should be able to use vouchers for schools that are succeeding if WPSS schools are failing. That competition is likely to spur WPSS to make much needed reforms, prioritizing in-person education, significantly reducing administrative headcount, and focusing on attracting and retaining the best educators available. Our children deserve no less.
- Public safety. Wake County residents deserve to live and work in a community that is safe for them and their families. While I believe firmly in limited government, I also believe that public safety is a core responsibility of county government through which order is enforced and individual rights are respected. A well-functioning public safety apparatus requires investment - not in bureaucratic administrative staff, but in line-level sheriff's deputies, detention officers, EMS personnel, and mental health professionals. Recruitment and management efforts need to be consistent with attracting and retaining the most capable professionals, and there needs to be adequate transparency and access for Wake County residents.
As discussed in detail elsewhere in this questionnaire, I am passionate about tax policy, which in turn makes me very passionate about public spending and its monitoring and oversight.
Honesty and transparency are by far the most important characteristics of any elected official. Nowadays, elected officials tend to forget that they are first and foremost public servants, representatives of the people working on their behalf at their behest. A public official working hard on behalf of her constituents should never fear transparency around her policies and actions, and should never be afraid to speak her mind honestly. People respect honest leaders, whether or not they agree with them.
I have a few favorite books that I think very well reflect both what I believe and what I oppose from the perspective of politics and policy. They include George Orwell’s “1984”, Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”, and Mikhail Bulgakov’s “Heart of a Dog”.
Honesty and transparency are by far the most important characteristics of any elected official. Nowadays, elected officials tend to forget that they are first and foremost public servants, representatives of the people working on their behalf at their behest. A public official working hard on behalf of her constituents should never fear transparency around her policies and actions, and should never be afraid to speak her mind honestly. People respect honest leaders, whether or not they agree with them.
First and foremost, and for better or worse, I am an extremely honest person. I think that honesty and transparency will be key to improving Wake County residents’ relationship with and understanding of the Wake County Commission. Residents are best able to hold Commissioners accountable for actions when they are fully aware of what the Commission is doing. That is not presently the case.
Secondly, I have broad and deep experience in financial analysis, accounting, and business. Wake County Commission’s principal responsibility is setting and administering the county budget, which was most recently proposed to be $1.7 billion for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023. Financial acumen and the ability to scrutinize and understand dense budget materials are key to being a successful Commissioner. They are also skills sorely lacking in the current Commission.
Secondly, I have broad and deep experience in financial analysis, accounting, and business. Wake County Commission’s principal responsibility is setting and administering the county budget, which was most recently proposed to be $1.7 billion for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023. Financial acumen and the ability to scrutinize and understand dense budget materials are key to being a successful Commissioner. They are also skills sorely lacking in the current Commission.
The principal responsibility of the Wake County Commission is the determination and administration of the county budget to ensure the county’s functions and operations, which in turn drives the tax burden to residents. It follows that the core responsibility of a County Commissioner is prudent financial management, ensuring that residents’ hard-earned money is spent intelligently, carefully, and only as needed.
I would like to leave a legacy of transparency, communication, and accountability. The single biggest shortcoming of the Wake County Commission presently is residents’ lack of understanding of what the Commission does and how it does so. If I could leave a legacy of engagement with residents, that would be a truly wonderful (and hopefully enduring) legacy.
I would also like to ensure that Wake County remains one the most attractive places to live in the country while staying affordable for all working families. Leaving a legacy of dynamic management, prudent spending, and a restrained tax burden would help tremendously in giving life to this goal.
I would also like to ensure that Wake County remains one the most attractive places to live in the country while staying affordable for all working families. Leaving a legacy of dynamic management, prudent spending, and a restrained tax burden would help tremendously in giving life to this goal.
I distinctly remember the fall of the Berlin Wall when I was 11. While I had no way of appreciating its significance at the time, this iconic historical event profoundly changed the course of my life, shepherding the collapse of Eastern European government regimes and the dissolution of the USSR. It would take me more than 25 years to do so, but those crowds of Germans in November 1989 made possible my achievement of the American Dream.
My first professional job was with PricewaterhouseCoopers, the largest accounting firm in the world. I worked at PwC for a decade, first in auditing and then principally in transactional services, providing sophisticated financial analysis for national and international companies.
One of my favorite books that is perhaps most relevant to the Wake County Commission race is Bryce Courtenay’s “The Power of One”, in which a theme of independence and strong will plays out to show the ability of a single person, despite opposition, to effect great things. This will no doubt be my challenge in a Commission currently dominated by progressive groupthink. I seek to have enough influence to draw the Commission back to the center and ensure fiscal responsibility.
The principal responsibility of the Wake County Commission is the determination and administration of the county budget to ensure the county’s functions and operations, which in turn drives the tax burden to residents. It follows that the core responsibility of a County Commissioner is prudent financial management, ensuring that residents’ hard-earned money is spent intelligently, carefully, and only as needed.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
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