Meet Diamond Staton-Williams, Democratic victor in heated Cabarrus House race
After several failed attempts to persuade Diamond Staton-Williams to run for the General Assembly in Cabarrus County, Mackenzie Reedybacon finally got the text she’d been hoping for.
“Are you ready?”
Williams’ question signaled she had a change of heart. Her decision to run launched her — a nurse, Harrisburg Town Council member and west Charlotte native — into one of the tightest N.C. House of Representatives races in the state. Her eventual victory, which was not sealed until Friday, secured for Democrats the effectiveness of Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto.
Reedybacon was ready. Twenty-four years old, she worked with the campaign to elect Staton-Williams to her second Harrisburg Town Council term in fall 2021. When Staton-Williams approached her to run the House campaign, Reedybacon said she was “blown away,” surprised she would give the opportunity to such a young woman with limited experience.
Their strategy in Staton-Williams’ Harrisburg campaign focused on knocking on “as many doors as possible,” Reedybacon said. They would do the same for the House district that includes about 90,000 people in Concord and Harrisburg and western Cabarrus County.
The election came down to around 635 votes, and she becomes the first Black woman to represent Cabarrus County in the state House.
Where’d that Publix come from?
Staton-Williams’ first inclination she might run for elected office came on a drive.
Some time ahead of the 2017 municipal election, Staton-Williams said she was driving and saw a Publix under construction at the intersection of Route 49 and Harrisburg Veterans Road. It used to be a corn field.
“Why would they build it there?” she wondered.
Down the rabbit hole she went. She started researching the roles of local officials in zoning, city planning and how Harrisburg would approach the growth that brought it close to doubling its population over the past 10 years.
She decided to run for office and won in 2017 as the second-highest vote-getter on the town council. Since then, she said, she has learned the Publix makes sense. She believes bringing in corporate businesses helps Harrisburg get the tax dollars it needs to accommodate growth.
Where governments often fail, she said, is in not communicating with people why changes are happening, what the effects might be and what to expect going forward.
“It’s all about community and getting buy-in and bringing people to the table,” she said.
In Charlotte’s west side, ‘You had to have help’
In the summer of 1995 just after Staton-Williams graduated high school, a friend asked her to come to another friend’s house. There she met her now-husband, Chico Williams. They have three children together, the youngest 16 years old.
Staton-Williams said her childhood was at times tumultuous. A close family member faced mental health issues and her grandmother and extended family played a big part in raising her.
Chico Williams said he thinks that experience helped shaped Staton-Williams’ approach to life.
“Coming up through Charlotte in those times, you had to have help,” Chico Williams said, and receiving help as a kid made her realize the importance of giving it.
The couple moved to Harrisburg in 2008. At the time, Chico Williams said, there were fewer Black families than there are now. As the town has grown and become more diverse, Staton-Williams’ presence in government has become all the more important. She was also the first Black woman on the Harrisburg Town Council.
Asked about the importance of her representation, Staton-Williams said she’s up for whatever challenges being Cabarrus’ first Black female representative brings. She was up for the challenge in 2017, she noted, and said it was unfortunate that she’s still having to break racial barriers.
“It’s 2022,” she said.
Still, Chico Williams said young Black women and girls will be looking to Staton-Williams as an example.
“I think she opened a lot of eyes (to see) ‘OK yeah, I can do this,’” he said.
Not all representation meets the eye
Wiping away tears over lunch Monday, Staton-Williams remembered the mental health issues she dealt with at home as a child. Having a family member go through that, and having to reckon with it as a kid, changes you, she said.
“It makes you different,” she said. “People need to see that representation — not just being a Black woman but because I’m a child who struggled.”
As a nurse and a person who’s seen the need for mental healthcare, Staton-Williams said securing better access for her district and across the state will be one of her top priorities in Raleigh.
A crucial race for Democrats
Staton-Williams’ victory stifled Republicans’ hopes for a supermajority in the state House. Had Republicans succeeded in that chamber, as they did in the Senate, they’d be able to overturn Cooper’s veto. Much of Staton-Williams’ race focused on that fact.
Her opponent, Republican first-time candidate Brian Echevarria, campaigned on many of the GOP’s top issues this election cycle: inflation, public safety, and securing for parents the “fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their children,” according to his website.
The campaign was heated. Echevarria criticized Staton-Williams’ campaign for publishing an ad that showed a doctored image of him, appearing to show him in a mug shot even though he says he’s never been arrested.
Much of this election cycle also focused on abortion. Staton-Williams said she believes in a woman’s right to access abortion services and will protect it in Raleigh. She’s had to undergo a medical procedure for a nonviable pregnancy, she said.
Garrett Readling, president of the Young Democrats of Rowan-Cabarrus, said access to abortion and other healthcare services seemed to play a big part in Staton-Williams’ motivation for this race.
He said Staton-Williams’ strategy of being on the ground herself and enlisting the help of young Democratic organizers and canvassers brought the energy they needed to win such a close race.
“Diamond was always looking for (young people) to have a seat at the table, hearing us out,” Readling said. “That is who Diamond is. She wants to hear from everybody and represent everybody.”
Throughout a recent interview, Staton-Williams emphasized her commitment to represent “the whole community.” Amid the divisiveness of American politics, she said she hopes her service can be an example of something different.
“I hope people are curious and lean into that curiosity,” Staton-Williams said. “Not everyone is meant to think alike.”
This story was originally published November 18, 2022 at 11:23 AM.
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