by Eren Tataragasi

CORNELIUS — Mayor Jeff Tarte put months of rumors to rest, formally announcing his run for the District 41 state Senate seat, Jan. 19.

Tarte, who will be running against friend John Aneralla of Huntersville in the Republican primary, is entering the race with $75,000 already raised for his campaign.

He said he decided to run for the vacant District 41 seat, which stretches from Cornelius to Matthews, because the timing is right. He sold a share of his company, Applied Revenue Analytics, to his partners, to give himself more time to campaign. All three of his children are away at college. There’s an open seat with no incumbent, and for the first time in nearly 100 years, the Republicans have control of both chambers.

“Everything is coming into fruition; the stars are aligning,” Tarte said. “It’s also part of my commitment to service.”

Speaker of the House Rep. Thom Tillis has set expectations of self-imposed term limits that Tarte plans on continuing, should he be elected.

“I love being mayor, and it’s been a really hard decision to walk away, but I also don’t want to be there 12 to 15 years because someone else needs to have a turn,” Tarte said. “And I’ll do the same if I’m fortunate enough to be elected to the senate. I will self-impose a term limit. … Everyone tries to put in the time to have the seniority, but I’m going to have an impact sooner rather than later because I don’t plan on being there 20 years. In six to 10 years, it’s going to be someone else’s turn to bring in fresh ideas.”

Tarte said he will not let his campaign efforts detract from his mayoral duties.

“First and foremost that’s priority over the campaign,” Tarte said.

He has a good group of volunteers that will be handling the groundwork, and he’s hoping that because the district is a very conservative, Republican district, the campaign will peak for the primary on May 8.

“That doesn’t mean there won’t be a Democratic opponent but I think the race will be May 8, so we’re looking at a 90-day campaign, which is how it should be,” Tarte said.

Tarte is campaigning on the promise of reducing taxes, controlling spending and improving the state’s road infrastructure and education.

For more information on Tarte’s campaign, visit www.jefftarte.com.