Candidate Biography (submitted by candidate):

William (B.J.) Lawson was born and raised in Florida, and came to North Carolina in 1992 to study engineering and then medicine at Duke University. After graduating from Duke University Medical School in 2000, BJ started neurosurgery residency at Duke University Medical Center.  Despite a strong calling to medicine, B.J. left residency in 2001 to start a successful medical software company dedicated to addressing the fundamental inefficiencies found in our healthcare system.

While starting and growing a company dedicated to improving patient care was extremely rewarding, his experience starting and growing a business led him to explore the broader problems facing our economy and society today. 

Specifically, he started asking questions about our economic and monetary system: Why are basic healthcare benefits and health insurance so unaffordable for so many? Why do skyrocketing tuitions leave students imprisoned by debt, and why are working and middle-class families unable to save for college and professional school? Do a $13 trillion national debt and skyrocketing annual deficits really matter? What are the consequences of the Federal Reserve's ability to manipulate interest rates, and bail out institutions deemed too big to fail?

Answering these questions led B.J. to the conclusion that our federal government has strayed dangerously far from the boundaries established by our Constitution, and the ideals of our Declaration of Independence.

B.J. Lawson is running for Congress as a Republican to restore a Constitutional federal government. Washington must balance its budget, stop serving corporate interests, and allow us to prosper as free, entrepreneurial Americans instead of dividing us into special interest groups that fight each other for government handouts.

Dr. Lawson has three children and currently lives in Wake County with his wife JoLynn.

My name is B.J. Lawson, and I am running for Congress as a Republican to restore a Constitutional federal government. Washington must balance its budget, stop serving corporate and special interests, and allow us to prosper as free, entrepreneurial Americans instead of dividing us into special interest groups that fight each other for government handouts.

Big government inevitably becomes a tool for corporate and special interests instead of a guardian of individual liberty. Today, big government has given us significant problems: rising gas and food prices, jobs going overseas, illegal immigration, porous borders, failing education, war and occupation, foreign oil addiction, unsustainable entitlement spending, and a crushing national debt burden.

Since our bloated bureaucracy caused these problems, more bureaucracy cannot solve them. Instead, we need a federal government that is focused on its Constitutional responsibilities, such as sound money and nation defense, and leaves local responsibilities to the states and the people.

It's time for us to come together as free Americans and restore prosperity and liberty. While we are in a challenging position, we can address our problems by realizing that our future success does not come from begging a bankrupt federal government for help.

We can fix our economy, healthcare, and education by taking them back from Washington. We need to stop sending so much wealth to Washington, and stop allowing Washington's out of control spending to destroy the value of our earnings and savings through inflation.

Our success as America comes from our potential as free Americans to create our own businesses and profit by serving others. It is up to each of us to make our community a better place. We must be free to help ourselves, and our neighbors. Freedom isn't free -- it requires a lot of hard work. But liberty is priceless.