These 4 Mecklenburg state House races could be key to control of NC legislature
Republicans and Democrats running for the N.C. House of Representatives in Mecklenburg County might not agree on much beyond this: It’s an election of huge consequence.
Control of the General Assembly and redrawing of congressional and legislative districts are both at stake, with 2020 being a Census year.
“That is crucial in this election,” said Republican Amy Bynum, challenging Democratic incumbent Wesley Harris in southern Mecklenburg’s 105th district.
“This legislature will be drawing the lines once the census data comes out. That is a major issue in this race. I think the main thing is that we do it fairly and properly once we come to that day.”
Congressional districts drawn by the Republican-controlled General Assembly have undergone judicial review that already reshaped some lines.
Republicans have controlled the N.C. House since 2010, but the size of their majority narrowed in the 2018 election. Currently, Republicans hold a 65 to 55 majority. Democrats’ chances of taking a majority of seats likely hinges in part on continuing to dominate Mecklenburg County races. In 2018, Democrats won all 12 House seats in Mecklenburg County.
“This is the most important election in the history of our country and our state,” said Rachel Hunt, Democratic incumbent in the 103rd District, being challenged by Republican Bill Brawley. “Everything is at stake.”
Four House races in Mecklenburg County are considered particularly competitive. The Observer reached out to candidates for each of these seats:
105th District
Republican Bynum says her top concerns are how best to reopen the state in response to COVID-19 and how best to manage public safety. She says state government should have a single policy that covers all businesses’ ability to reopen (bars and gyms, for instance, were among the last businesses allowed to reopen by Gov. Roy Cooper).
“Not kind of pick-and-choose who is open and who is not. It’s been a real struggle for those who were put on the list of, ‘No, you’re staying shut.’ We’re losing restaurants that have been here for 50 years. If we make it consistent across the board for everyone, we give people a choice,” Bynum said.
Bynum would like more public money devoted to better law enforcement, “so that they get proper training, proper equipment and work better at community relations so that all our citizens are safe.”
Democrat incumbent Harris says education, healthcare and economic support are his top priorities, because he believes those are areas state government can most affect.
“Our teacher pay has fallen, in terms of the (state-to-state) rankings. We’re trying to get back to the national average,” said Harris. “As companies continue to locate here, we’re importing a lot of our talent. We need to start home-growing our talent again. That means investing in education systems, investing in our infrastructures to handle growth.”
Harris said the next legislature will face huge challenges providing needed services due to a looming loss in sales-tax revenue.
“Unemployment (benefits) are starting to fade off. Now, we’re seeing people still not at work, and we’re going to see them start defaulting on their bills,” Harris said. “That’s going to have huge reverberations in this economy. We need to put a stop to that and begin the recovery.”
98th District
Republican John Bradford represented the 98th District before losing the seat in 2018 to Democrat Christy Clark. A small-business owner, Bradford said it’s crucial that North Carolina figures out not only how to reopen the economy fully, but be more prepared for any future pandemics.
“Completely reopening our economy in a safe manner is paramount because many of North Carolina’s essential services rely on funding generated by a strong economy,” Bradford said, adding he wants to see better collaboration between Democrats and Republicans going forward at a time of such stress on resources.
“I can help find common ground in a zero-based budgeting process. We need to fund our most pressing needs first such as public education, health care, unemployment and other essential services,” Bradford said.
Bradford said public safety should not be a partisan issue: “All of our elected officials should support our law enforcement agencies because they put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe.”
Democrat Clark said science, not politics, should determine the process and timeline for reopening the state fully in response to the pandemic.
“We need to stick to the data,” Clark said, praising Dr. Mandy Cohen, who leads the state’s department of health and human services.
Clark said striking a balance between health safety and the state’s economy is about continuing programs that help businesses ride out the process.
“I do keep (businesses) in mind; I am worried about them,” Clark said. “We have done some appropriations for low-interest loans and grants through the county. We need to continue to have those resources available to those folks until they can reopen safely.”
103rd District
Democratic incumbent Hunt said her top priority is healthcare, including expansion of Medicaid benefits in North Carolina.
“We are in a pandemic. We have seen a real lack of leadership at the federal level,” Hunt said. “We could have stopped this (spread of the disease). There are people at the state level who have been yelling about not having a mask mandate or making sure to open businesses back up before they should, relative to the metrics. Or opening schools.
“People don’t have health insurance because we have not expanded Medicaid. We know people are dying because of it.”
Hunt advocates spending more on public education, specifically better pay to retain veteran teachers. How would she pay for these programs?
“I would reduce some of the corporate tax cuts,” Hunt said. “We have the lowest corporate tax rates in the nation. We could free up millions.”
Hunt’s opponent, Bill Brawley, represented the 103rd District from 2011 until Hunt defeated him in 2018. He declined to be interviewed when reached by the Observer by phone.
104th District
Democratic incumbent Brandon Lofton says schools, healthcare and unemployment benefits are his top concerns.
“We’ve underfunded (public schools) for a decade and it’s absolutely a priority and challenge facing us. At the same time, we had a half-million North Carolinians who didn’t have access to affordable healthcare, and that was before COVID-19,” Lofton said. “I’ve heard estimates that has gone up by 100,000 to 125,000 because of people losing their healthcare since the pandemic started.
“We also are grappling with the least generous unemployment system in the country, which is exacerbating our challenge responding to the COVID-19 crisis.”
Lofton said he believes there is bipartisan support to compromise on Medicaid funding. He says the state needs more collaborative leadership between the parties.
“That’s a real fundamental challenge facing our state. It’s not a Democrat-vs.-Republican question,” Lofton said. “It’s ‘Are we there to serve the people instead of playing political stunts?’”
Lofton’s Republican challenger, Don Pomeroy, did not reply to phone messages seeking an interview.
