classified as having inadequate plumbing or being overcrowded, with far more substandard by other measures. Hobby's political agenda in this area was complicated by the fact that three quarters of these housing units were located in rural areas. Hobby wanted to increase the amount of funding for projects in cities, too, so there was no single solution. His goal was to create a third path for impoverished rural folks that did not involve accepting a substandard status quo or being forced into cities. Vietnam and women's rights Hobby's liberalism was evident in his views on a host of other foreign and domestic policy issues. He opposed the war in Vietnam, called out Blue Shield and Blue Cross for their extreme rate hikes, and supported the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which passed Congress the year of his campaign (1972). Despite the initial opposition of the AFL-CIO, Hobby helped push the organization to reverse its stance on the ERA, which it did publicly in 1973. Campaign Hobby could not overcome his late start, lack of funding, and policy views that were to the left of what was a conservative electorate, even in a Democratic primary. He tried to organize debates, but his campaign was not important enough for other candidates to feel the need to reciprocate. One illuminating event involved a speech on the state capitol grounds about a week before the election. Labor was expected to bus in thousands of supporters, but only 250 people attended. Even with the small crowd, Hobby gave a blistering speech about the issues plaguing the little guy in North Carolina politics. He came in last in the primary with 7% of the vote, and the only municipality he won was Chapel Hill. However, his candidacy did help cause a runoff between the two frontrunners, Hargrove Bowles and Pat Taylor. Hobby also maintained that his cause helped the unions, bringing attention to the workers' issues in an anti-union state. Decline and felony conviction What ultimately brought down Wilbur Hobby was not electoral defeat; it was the criminal justice system. There were some early warning signs that Hobby did not always play by the rules: during the first day of his gubernatorial campaign he pledged to not accept donations of more than $200 from any group, but he took in $10,000 from the AFL-CIO the next day. Hobby's opponents also accused him of spending too much on