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Interim Committee Meetings
Blue Ribbon Commission to Study the Building and Infrastructure Needs of the State
On Tuesday, the Blue Ribbon Commission to Study the Building and Infrastructure Needs of the State met. Their meeting was focused on the infrastructure needs of state buildings and included an analysis of current assets and an update on the Governor’s “Project Phoenix” initiative.
Follow this link to view all of the presentations reviewed at Tuesday’s meeting.
House Select Committee on Strategic Transportation Planning and Long Term Funding Solutions
The House Select Committee on Strategic Transportation Planning and Long Terms Funding Solutions met on Monday. The committee received tours of the NC Department of Transportation’s (NCDOT) flight operations, Raleigh-Durham International Airport and the NCDOT Capital Yard. Additionally, the committee heard presentations on revitalizing the state’s economy through transportation investments, an update from NCDOT on the damage caused by Hurricane Matthew and information on new technologies being implemented by NCDOT.
Follow this link to view all of the presentations reviewed at Monday’s meeting.
Joint Legislative Study Committee on School-Based Administrator Pay
The Joint Legislative Study Committee on School-Based Administrator Pay had their first meeting on Monday. During the meeting, the committee received an overview of the current pay structure for school based administrators and then had a panel discussion with superintendents from around the state, the NC Association of School Administrators and the NC School Boards Association.
Follow this link to view all of the presentations reviewed at Monday’s meeting.
Spotlight on State Senate Elections
The NC Senate is made up of 50 members, each of whom serve two year terms and elections are held on even-numbered years. There are no term limits for state legislators.
A voter guide for all North Carolina elections is available here.
Election Forecast
The Republicans currently hold a supermajority in the Senate with 34 of the 50 seats. The Democratic party aims to end the GOP supermajority, but a major shift in power is viewed as highly unlikely.
Of the 50 seats – there are 15 candidates, 4 Democrats and 11 Republicans, running without opposition, all of whom are incumbents.
Legislative races are driven by many factors, including incumbency, the district’s partisan voting habits, advertising and fundraising efforts and local and statewide news.
Contested Elections
There are 35 contested elections on the November ballot. Of these races, all but four include an incumbent:
District 1 (Beaufort, Camden, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hyde, Pasquotank, Perquimans): Incumbent and Republican Bill Cook will face Democratic challenger Brownie Futrell. The district tends to lean slightly in favor of Republicans
District 2 (Cateret, Craven, Pamlico): The 2nd District tends to lean strongly in favor of Republican candidates. Incumbent and Republican Norman Sanderson will face Democratic candidate Dorothea White.
District 4 (Halifax, Nash, Vance, Warren, Wilson): Republican Richard Scott seeks to unseat Democratic incumbent Angela Bryant in this district which strongly favors Democratic candidates.
District 9 (New Hanover): Republican incumbent Michael Lee is facing Democratic challenger Andrew Barnhill. The district tends to lean Republican.
District 11 (Johnston, Nash, Wilson): Democrat Albert Pacer and Republican Rick Horner seek to pick up this seat which was left open when Republican Buck Newton announced that he would be retiring from the legislature in order to run for NC Attorney General. The district tends to lean Republican.
District 12 (Harnett, Johnston, Lee): Republican incumbent Ronald Rabin will face Democratic challenger Susan Byerly on the ballot. The district tends to lean in favor of Republican candidates.
District 13 (Columbus, Robeson): Democratic incumbent Jane Smith will face Republican challenger JR Britt on the ballot. The district strongly favors Democratic candidates.
District 15 (Wake): Republican incumbent John Alexander will face two challengers- Democrat Laurel Deegan-Fricke and Libertarian Brad Hessel. The district tends to slightly favor Republican candidates.
District 16 (Wake): Incumbent Jay Chaudhuri, a Democrat who was appointed to the Senate to replace Josh Stein when he resigned to run for NC Attorney General, will face Republican challenger Eric Weaver. The district leans strongly in favor of Democratic candidates.
District 17 (Wake): Democrat Susan Evans and Libertarian Susan Hogarth both seek to unseat Republican incumbent Tamara Barringer. The district leans slightly in favor of Republican candidates.
District 18 (Franklin, Wake): Republican incumbent Chad Barefoot will face Democrat Gil Johnson in this district which leans slightly in favor of Republican candidates.
District 19 (Cumberland): Incumbent and Republican Wesley Meredith will face Democratic challenger Toni Morris. The district leans slightly in favor of Democratic candidates.
District 20 (Durham, Granville): Democratic incumbent Floyd McKissick will face Libertarian challenger Barbara Howe in this strongly Democratic leaning district.
District 21 (Cumberland, Hoke): Republican Dan Travieso seeks to unseat Democratic incumbent Ben Clark in this strongly Democratic leaning district.
District 22 (Caswell, Durham, Person): Democratic incumbent Mike Woodard will face Republican challenger Greg Doucette. The district leans strongly in favor of Democratic candidates.
District 23 (Chatham, Orange): Republican challenger Mary Lopez Carter seeks to unseat Democratic incumbent Valerie Foushee. The district is a strong Democratic district.
District 24 (Alamance, Randolph): Democratic challenger John Thorpe seeks to unseat Republican incumbent Rick Gunn. The district leans in favor of Republican candidates.
District 25 (Anson, Richmond, Rowan, Scotland, Stanly): Republican incumbent Tom McInnis will face Democratic challenger Dannie Montgomery. The district leans slightly in favor of Republican candidates.
District 27 (Guilford): The 27th District tends to slightly favor Republican candidates. Republican incumbent Trudy Wade will seek reelection against Democratic challenger Michael Garrett.
District 28 (Guilford): Democratic incumbent Gladys Robinson seeks reelection against Republican challenger Devin King. The district leans strongly in favor of Democratic candidates.
District 30 (Stokes, Surry, Wilkes): Republican incumbent Shirley Randleman will face Democratic challenger Michael Holleman in this strongly Republican leaning district.
District 33 (Davidson, Montgomery): Both Republican Cathy Dunn and Democrat Jim Graham seek to fill this open seat. The seat was left open when Republican Stan Bingham announced that he would not be seeking reelection. The district tends to lean in favor of Republican candidates.
District 36 (Cabarrus, Union): Democrat Robert Brown and Republican Paul Newton will face each other to fill this seat which was left open when Republican Fletcher Hartsell announced that he would not seek reelection. The district leans in favor of Republican candidates.
District 37 (Mecklenburg): Democratic incumbent Jeff Jackson will face Republican challenger Bob Diamond. The district leans strongly in favor of Democratic candidates.
District 38 (Mecklenburg): Republican challenger Richard Rivette seeks to unseat Democratic incumbent Joel Ford in this strongly Democratic leaning district.
District 39 (Mecklenburg): Republican and current state Representative Dan Bishop and Democrat Llyod Scher will face off for this seat which was left open by Republican Bob Rucho’s retirement from the legislature. The district tends to lean strongly in favor of Republican candidates.
District 40 (Mecklenburg): Democratic incumbent Joyce Waddell will face Republican challenger Marguerite Cooke in this district which leans strongly in favor of Democratic candidates.
District 41 (Mecklenburg): Democrat Jonathan Hudson and Libertarian Chris Cole both seek to unseat Republican incumbent Jeff Tarte in this district which leans in favor of Republican candidates.
District 44 (Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln): Libertarian challenger Nic Haag seeks to unseat Republican incumbent David Curtis in this district which leans strongly in favor of Republican candidates.
District 45 (Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Caldwell, Watauga): Republican incumbent Deanna Ballard will face Democratic challenger Art Sherwood. Ballard was appointed to fill Dan Soucek’s seat when he resigned this past spring. The district tends to strongly favor Republican candidates.
District 46 (Burke, Cleveland): Republican incumbent Warren Daniel seeks reelection against Democratic challenger Anne Fischer. The district tends to favor Republican candidates.
District 47 (Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherwod, Yancey): Democratic challenger Mary Jane Boyd seeks to unseat Republican incumbent Ralph Hise in this strongly Republican leaning district.
District 48 (Buncombe, Henderson, Transylvania): Republican incumbent Chuck Edwards, who was recently appointed to replace Tom Apodaca, will face Democratic challenger Norman Bossert. The district leans strongly in favor or Republican candidates.
District 49 (Buncombe): Democratic incumbent Terry Van Duyn seeks reelection against Libertarian challenger William Meredith. The district leans strongly in favor of Democratic candidates.
District 50 (Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain): Republican incumbent Jim Davis seeks reelection against Democratic challenger Jane Hipps. The district tends to strongly favor Republican candidates.
Uncontested Races
The following candidates are running unopposed:
District 3 (Bertie, Chowan, Edgecombe, Hertford, Martin, Northampton, Tyrell, Washington): Sen. Erica Smith-Ingram – Democrat
District 5 (Greene, Lenoir, Pitt, Wayne): Sen. Don Davis – Democrat
District 6 (Jones, Onslow): Sen. Harry Brown – Republican
District 7 (Lenoir, Pitt, Wayne): Sen. Louis Pate – Republican
District 8 (Bladen, Brunswick, New Hanover, Pender): Sen. Bill Rabon – Republican
District 10 (Duplin, Johnston, Sampson): Sen. Brent Jackson – Republican
District 14 (Wake): Sen. Dan Blue – Democrat
District 26 (Guilford, Rockingham): Sen. Phil Berger – Republican
District 29 (Moore, Randolph): Sen. Jerry Tillman – Republican
District 31 (Forsyth, Yadkin): Sen. Joyce Krawiec – Republican
District 32 (Forsyth): Sen. Paul Lowe – Democrat. Lowe was appointed to the seat when Earline Parmon resigned in 2015.
District 34 (Davie, Iredell, Rowan): Sen. Andrew Brock – Republican
District 35 (Union): Sen. Tommy Tucker – Republican
District 42 (Alexander): Sen. Andy Wells – Republican
District 43 (Gaston): Sen. Kathy Harrington – Republican
Not Seeking Reelection
The following members of the 2015-16 NC Senate are not seeking reelection:
District 11 (Johnston, Nash, Wilson): Sen. Buck Newton – Republican
District 33 (Davidson, Montgomery): Sen. Stan Bingham – Republican
District 36 (Cabarrus, Union): Sen. Fletcher Hartsell – Republican
District 39 (Mecklenburg): Sen. Bob Rucho – Republican
Resigned from the Senate
The following members have resigned from the Senate and appointments have been made to serve out the remainders of their terms:
District 16 (Wake): Josh Stein – Democrat
District 32 (Forsyth): Earline Parmon – Democrat
District 45 (Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Caldwell, Watauga): Dan Soucek – Republican
District 48 (Buncombe, Henderson, Transylvania): Tom Apodaca – Republican