Candidate Biography (submitted by campaign):

Ed Ridpath was born at Fort Bliss Army Hospital in El Paso, Texas in 1960. Ed and his sister were raised by a single working mother in Excelsior, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.

After graduating from High School, Ed had a short career as a radio DJ and then enlisted in the US Navy. Petty Officer First Class Ridpath served as a Nuclear Reactor Operator aboard the submarine USS Sam Rayburn. Ed was honorably discharged after 8 years of service in Charleston, SC.

Ed performed government contract work supporting the US Department of Energy at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, SC. He received a Bachelors degree in Computer Information Systems from the University of the State of New York, after ten years of part-time coursework.

Since 1999, Ed has lived and worked from his home in Fuquay Varina for IBM.

Ed and Jeanne, his wife of twenty-six years have two children; Veronica, 18; and Ryan, 12.

Candidate Statement:

We deserve effective and competent government that delivers public services fairly. We want focus on the basics: roads and schools; public health and safety; trust and ethics – all severely broken now. We are fed up with political agendas, hot-button issues, rank partisanship, and shameful corruption getting in the way.
 
I am a “Main Street” candidate, unafraid to listen respectfully to everyone, regardless of their politics. I work hard and fight hard, not to tear us apart, but to pull us back together. This constructive approach is the foundation of our campaign and is the right way to serve our communities in the North Carolina House.