WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – Candidates running for area seats in the North Carolina Senate and House of Representatives took part in forums organized by the media consortium of WECT, WHQR Public Media, and Port City Daily.
NC Senate:
The media group invited candidates seeking senate seats from Districts 7, 8, and 9 to take part in the first hour-long forum. All three of the candidates running in the District 7 race, incumbent Michael Lee (R) and challengers David Hill (D) and John Evans (L), committed to attend. That district covers nearly all of New Hanover County.
In the race for the District 8 seat, which represents all of Brunswick and Columbus counties and part of downtown Wilmington, incumbent Bill Rabon (R) of Southport is challenged this year by Katherine Randall (D) of Wilmington. Randall would take part in the forum while Rabon would not, saying he instead would be in leadership training.
Senate District 9 covers all of Pender, Bladen, and Duplin counties and nearly all of Sampson County. Incumbent Brent Jackson (R) of Autryville did not attend the forum, saying he recently lost a member of his family and is not doing media interviews. His challenger, Jamie Bowles (D) of Clinton, said she was not able to switch her work schedule to attend.
You can watch the Senate forum in-full below:
NC House:
For the second forum, the media organizations invited candidates running for House seats in Districts 16, 17, 19, and 20.
Incumbent Deb Butler (D) is running unopposed in the District 18 race. District 16 includes all of Pender County and part of Onslow County, where incumbent Carson Smith (R) is challenged by Frances Lakey (D). Smith said he would not be able to attend the forum, while Lakey never responded to the invitation.
The District 17 seat represents northern and western Brunswick County, and both incumbent Frank Iler (R) and challenger Charles Jones (D) attended.
One of the candidates running in the District 19 race took part in the forum, Jill Brown (D). Incumbent Charlie Miller (R) said he would not attend because he was in Western North Carolina helping with Hurricane Helene recovery.
Both of the candidates in the District 20 race, incumbent Ted Davis (R) and opponent Jonathan Berger (D), attended. That seat covers northern and eastern sections of New Hanover County.
The candidates will had the opportunity to make opening and closing statements and were asked questions by reporters Ava Brendgord of WECT News, Ben Schachtman and Nikolai Mather of WHQR, and Peter Castagno of Port City Daily. WECT’s Jon Evans will moderate the forum.
You can watch the House forum below:
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