Today, Carolina Forward is announcing two official endorsements in the upcoming primary election on March 5th. In the Democratic primaries for NC House Districts 27 and 60, Carolina Forward is endorsing:
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Rodney Pierce, Democratic candidate for House District 27 (Warren, Halifax and Northampton counties)
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James Adams, Democratic candidate for House District 60 (High Point)
James Adams (HD-60)
James Adams is the former two-term president of the High Point NAACP. A father and U.S. Army veteran, he has been a community organizer in High Point for several years. He is especially passionate about supporting high-quality public schools, expanding opportunity, and tackling housing affordability.
The incumbent, Representative Cecil Brockman, has the highest absentee record in the entire NC House of Representatives, failing to even show up in Raleigh for a whopping 44% of voting days in the chamber. On the days when Brockman did show up for work, he voted with the Republican majority 75% of the time. House District 60 is a heavily Democratic district, which went for Biden by about 30 points in 2020. Brockman voted to defund Guilford county public schools by $11.3 million dollars in the 2023 state budget, and to instead give away those taxpayer funds to unregulated, private religious schools.
As High Point’s next State House Representative, James Adams will show up for his community. The winner of the Democratic primary is virtually certain to go on to be its next State House Representative.
Rodney Pierce (HD-27)
Rodney Pierce is a father, award-winning educator, historian and a longtime champion of “neglected northeast” North Carolina. Pierce is a leading advocate for strengthening public schools through the Leandro Plan, protecting and expanding voting rights, and bringing broad-based and equitable economic development to his region.
The incumbent, Representative Michael Wray, voted with the Republican majority in a total of 84% of all votes – the single highest proportion in the entire Democratic caucus, and not unlike many Republican members themselves. That voting record includes too many bad votes to list, but they include defunding the already resource-starved public schools of his district through private school vouchers, loosening gun laws, and voting to allow landlords to discriminate against disabled tenants. Wray is also the only Democrat to receive funding from the right-wing Koch Industries PAC. Wray’s district is also deep-blue, and went for Biden by 22 points in 2020.
Rodney Pierce will be the voice that northeast NC has been denied for many years. House District 27 also has no Republican challenger, meaning that the winner of the Democratic primary will automatically go on to be its next State House Representative.
Representative democracy relies on elected representatives remaining accountable to their voters. Primary elections are the perfect opportunity for voters to demonstrate that, as the North Carolina State Constitution states, “All political power is vested in and derived from the people.” We are privileged to endorse these candidates who will show that this principle still applies in parts of our state.
