Gary Shipman is one of three Democrats hoping to square off in November with North Carolina Representative Holly Grange, a Republican from New Hanover County. The former Chairman of the New Hanover County Democratic Party says Raleigh needs a new voice.
The founder and Senior Managing Partner of Shipman and Wright says he is a fierce advocate for the environment, education, and equality. He wants government accountability, an end to gerrymandering, and more thought and debate put into legislation.
He’s opposed to off-shore drilling, and in favor of raising teacher pay across the state to at least the national average.
Shipman says he won’t wait any longer for those things to happen.
“Quite frankly I got tired of waiting for somebody in the area to do the job that I know I can do. For years and years I have been content to support, given my role as a lawyer in this community representing thousands of people, I’ve been content to support others that wanted to go into public service. But I expected there would be results, commensurate with their ambition and unfortunately there hasn’t been. We have a tone in Raleigh that is disproportionate to what could occur if that tone did not exist. And so I believed it was time after years of people asking me when, if I was ever going to run, to step forward to change the tone.”
Early voting is underway.
Extended Gary Shipman Interview