This is our last edition before the 2018 election, which is not the most important election of our lifetimes or the most important midterm elections of the Common Era.

But the elections are important, and to some candidates it may be the most important election of their lives.

There are a couple of races I wanted to get in one more word about while it still counts.

There is probably not a single member of the Greensboro City Council who would vote for Republican District 27 state Sen. Trudy Wade. The City Council is made up of eight Democrats and one member too liberal to be a Democrat, so it’s not likely they would vote for a conservative Republican state senator if they could, and none of them can because Wade’s district includes very little of Greensboro.

But if they could they should put partisan politics and vote for Wade because having Wade in the state Senate is better for Greensboro than having another Democrat, in this case it would be Michael Garrett.

The reason is simple. When Greensboro needs something passed they forget all the mean things they have said about Wade, go ask for her help and Wade puts partisan politics aside and delivers.

The legislature is highly partisan and Republicans control both the House and the Senate. What the Democrats are hoping to be able to do is to win enough seats in one or the other so that the Republicans won’t have a veto-proof majority. Nobody who knows politics is predicting that the Democrats would actually win a majority in either house. So the Republicans are going to remain in control. District 28 state Sen. Gladys Robinson represents almost all of Greensboro; unfortunately, Robinson has not made many friends across the aisle and her bills go to the Rules Committee, which is where bills are sent to die.

Go to the North Carolina General Assembly web page and you can see every bill that Robinson introduced. All but two went to the Rules Committee. One of the two was resolution honoring NC A&T State University and the other a technical correction.

Without Wade in the Senate, Greensboro would most likely not have gotten the bill passed that will allow the February One Place parking deck to be built and certainly wouldn’t have gotten the bill to change the way the Police Community Review Board is appointed passed.

It’s not all Robinson. Greensboro is not very popular with the Republican legislature in Raleigh, which makes it tough to get bills that are being done as special favors through the legislature by anyone, which is why Greensboro needs someone with the political savvy of Wade to help it out.

Wade, although she now lives in unincorporated Guilford County, lived in Greensboro for a long time and was a Greensboro city councilmember. She continues to put partisan politics aside and look out for the city, and Greensboro needs that.

That may not help Wade in the election, since almost no one who lives in Greensboro can vote for her, but Wade does deserve credit for what she has done for Greensboro.

The other race that I’d like one more shot at it is Republican 13th District Congressman Ted Budd who is running against Democrat Kathy Manning. Budd is going to spend over $2 million on the race and Manning over $3 million. An additional $5 million is being spent on the race by the political parties and PAC’s. So that race is going to cost over $10 million, all told an incredible amount, particularly when you consider that it is just one of 435 seats in the House and it’s for a two year term.

I have some unusual opinions on campaign finance reform, but will save them for later.

During the past two years I have had a number of opportunities to spend time with Budd and I always walk away impressed. He is so down to earth and kind, I sometimes wonder how he survives in Washington, which is cutthroat.

I’ve seen Budd criticized for not holding town hall style meetings. I may be wrong but I don’t believe the 6th District Congressman Howard Coble ever held a town hall meeting. I’ve been to hundreds of town hall meetings and other than allowing angry people to blow off steam, I don’t know what they accomplish.

Budd clearly prefers to talk to people one on one where he can listen, ask questions and have an actual conversation. I don’t see where having a bunch of people in a room yelling is better than listening to people one at a time, where they are less likely to yell and more likely to express their opinions in a manner that can be discussed.

It also doesn’t hurt that as a conservative Republican I agree with most of what the Republican Congress has been doing and Budd has explained the reasoning behind some of the things I don’t agree with. He hasn’t always changed my mind, but I do have a better understanding of what was behind some of the decisions.

I like having Budd as my congressman, even though I don’t like being in the 13th District after being in the 6th for most of my life, but what’s in number.