Earlier this month, Port City Daily, WHQR and WECT came together to host candidates in the tri-county region for both the House and Senate. WHQR journalists Ben Schachtman and Nikolai Mather, as well as PCD’s Peter Castagno and WECT’s Ava Brendgord asked questions, both culled by reporters and submitted by the audience. WECT anchor Jon Evans moderated the event.
Four Senate candidates — Republican Michael Lee, Democrat David Hill, and Libertarian John Evans, all running for District 7, as well as Democrat Katherine Randall for District 8 — accepted the invitation for the Senate forum. Randall’s opponent, Republican incumbent Bill Rabon, did not due to a previous engagement.
The House candidates included Democrat Jon Berger, facing off against Republican incumbent Ted Davis Jr. (D20), Republican incumbent Frank Iler (D17) against Democrat Charles Jones, and Democrat Jill Brown (D19), who is against Republican incumbent Charlie Miller (D19), but Miller did not attend, saying he was volunteering in western North Carolina. Neither Republican incumbent Carson Smith (D16) or his challenger Democrat Frances Lakey attended.
A wide range of topics were covered including the 12-week abortion law, PFAS contamination, the Opportunity Scholarship program, as well as infrastructure, such as the replacement of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge.
WHQR and Port City Daily paired up to fact-check the candidates' responses. Below is by no means an exhaustive list but some of what stood out at the forums.
To watch the full Senate forum, click here; the House forum can be viewed here. Also catch up on WHQR’s The Newsroom on unpacking the forum here.
Senate Candidates
KATHERINE RANDALL
Democratic candidate Randall faces off against Republican incumbent Bill Rabon for Senate District 8.
On if she supports an independent redistricting process
Claim: “It’s not just Democratic majority voters that have been gerrymandered out of New Hanover County. If you look at the racial demographics of those neighborhoods, they’re also the majority Black neighborhoods of Wilmington and New Hanover County. This perpetuates a really disturbing racial legacy in Wilmington of disenfranchising Black voters — not just WIlmington, the whole South.”
True or False: True. Many analyses of the state’s electoral maps consider them gerrymandered — or manipulated to favor one party and in this case, the GOP, which holds a supermajority currently.
Randall said she supported an independent commission to determine the state’s electoral districts. This idea has gotten recent traction, including in a Senate bill last year, due to the most recent redistricting becoming the subject of controversy and judicial review.
Redistricting occurs every 10 years following a Census and is controlled by whichever party holds the most seats in the North Carolina General Assembly. The idea is that every district has roughly the same amount of people that share commonalities and makes up a contiguous area.
Randall’s district encompasses Brunswick, Columbus and a sliver of New Hanover County called the “Wilmington notch.” This chunk of downtown Wilmington was deemed gerrymandered by the North Carolina judiciary in its original ruling.
Though gerrymandering was occurring before it got its name in 1812, it has historically been used to disenfranchise Black voters, particularly in the South. This is now considered unconstitutional, though partisan gerrymandering lies in a gray area.
After the 2020 Census, the state’s Republican majority redrew the maps later ruled to be gerrymandered by the North Carolina Supreme Court. The court charged a three-judge panel with redrawing the maps, which were then used in the 2022 midterm elections.
However, that election also ushered in a different political makeup of the court changes, this time Republican-led, and the 2022 maps were trashed. The court also ruled that partisan gerrymandering — exactly what occurred after the 2020 Census — was no longer an issue that could be decided by the judiciary. A federal appellate court also rejected a challenge that the maps were gerrymandered based on race.
On balancing housing needs and climate resiliency
Claim: “We have a situation where the legislature has said developers, homebuilders — this is under pressure from the North Carolina Home Builders Association, which gives millions of dollars to certain politicians — and they’ve said that homebuilders and developers don’t have to keep up with the most up-to-date code enforcement. So that puts homes at risk, for people living in them certainly, but then these natural disasters, now we have a situation where more and more people are displaced. This is going to exacerbate an existing housing crisis.”
True or False: True. The North Carolina General Assembly has taken several measures to relax building code regulations in recent years, resulting in exclusion from FEMA funds and leaving homes vulnerable.
To Randall’s point on up-to-date code enforcement, most states adopt a version of the International Code Council’s updates to the building code every three years. However, North Carolina’s Republican-controlled General Assembly decided it would update its codes every six years in 2013.
Last year, the legislature went a step further and passed a law blocking the adoption of building code updates until 2031. The Republican supermajority pushed it through over Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto. As reported by the New York Times, the new law has made it harder for the state to qualify for FEMA grants to fund climate-resilient construction projects, which prioritize states with up-to-date building codes. The governor’s office has estimated that North Carolina has lost $70 million in grants because of the 2023 law.
The Home Builders Association is behind the lobbying effort for these changes, as well as campaign financing for politicians. The NYT reported it contributed $4.3 million to North Carolina politicians over the past three decades, with Republicans receiving nearly twice as much as Democrats, per data from Open Secrets.
In Randall’s response, she cited the New York Times article’s findings and said she supported the state keeping up with building code changes.
On the Opportunity Scholarship program expansion
Claim: “This disproportionately affects rural counties. You may have counties in this state that have a good number of private schools — that is not Brunswick, that is not Columbus. Frankly, it’s not really New Hanover either but Brunswick and Columbus, what’s happening is those tax dollars are being diverted to other counties where students can maybe take advantage of that, but that is not an equal, just and sound education for every child in North Carolina, which is what we’re obligated to provide.”
True or False: True. The expansion of the Opportunity Scholarship will give more choice to students in urban areas than students in rural areas.
Randall is echoing a characterization made by Gov. Roy Cooper in his opposition to expanding the program. Earlier this year, the Republican-controlled North Carolina General Assembly voted to increase the scholarship’s eligibility so that any child could attend private school regardless of income. The scholarships were previously reserved for low-income families but are now awarded on a sliding income scale.
Critics of the expansion, including Cooper, claim it diverts money from public schools. Last month, the legislature allocated an additional $248 million in non-recurring funds to Opportunity Scholarships for the current school year, and $215 million in recurring funds for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
As reported by the Charlotte Observer, there are 16 counties without a private school that accepts Opportunity Scholarship vouchers. Out of 100 counties, 47 have less than five participating schools and 14 have only one.
Brunswick County has four participating institutions, Columbus has two, and New Hanover has 19.
Proponents of the program like the John Locke Foundation claim the expansion will “eventually send market signals” to create more rural private schools and the state should not deny more urban areas “school choice” in the meantime.
JOHN EVANS
Libertarian candidate Evans is facing off against Democratic challenger David Hill and Republican incumbent Michael Lee for the Senate District 7 seat.
On redrawing legislative boundaries by an independent agency
Claim: “I seem to recall there was a time when the Democrats loved to control the selection of districts. They dominated politics in the state for decade after decade after decade. In my opinion, the only reason they’re complaining today is, they have the short-end of the stick.”
True or False: Though not fact-checking Evans’ opinion, it is true Democrats held power for more than 100 years in the North Carolina General Assembly.
It wasn’t until 2010 that Republicans gained back control of both the House and the Senate for the first time since 1870. This allowed the party to have a hand over congressional and state legislative districts.
Federal courts once had to give preclearance to certain voting changes, including redrawing legislative maps; that was overruled in 2013’s Supreme Court Case Shelby County v. Harper.
Ever since, boundaries have flip-flopped and challenges have been taken up in the courts.
Congressionally, there was a 9-4 split in favor of Republicans in 2012, which grew to 10-3 by 2015. It stayed that way until 2021 when the maps had a Republican leaning 8-5 makeup. It briefly became an even 7-7 in 2023.
Today, the Congressional maps reversed back to 10-4 after courts rejected a challenge in June that the maps were racially gerrymandered — which is illegal due to the 14th Amendment.
Currently, maps for the House maintain 48 Democratic seats compared to the Republicans’ 72, while the Republican Senate map includes 30 seats compared to the Democrats’ 20.
See the current maps from the General Assembly here.
On implementing enforceable PFAS standards for industrial polluters
Claim: “Corporations in this country are designed to hold people who do wrong protected. Since 1886, there’s a famous Supreme Court ruling, Santa Clara County vs. South Pacific Railroad. It’s been ruled that corporations are entitled to the same rights as a living human being via the 14th Amendment. What a perverse thing. The 14th Amendment was created to ensure rights to slaves who had just been freed in the Civil War.”
True or False: True. The Equal Protection Clause in the 14th Amendment — ratified in 1868 to allow freed slaves protections under the law — was utilized in the Santa Clara County v. South Pacific Railroad ruling in 1886. The clause indicates no state can “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Santa Clara County v. South Pacific Railroad arose when several railroad companies came together to fight against California, as they believed state law treated corporations more harshly than individuals when it came to taxes. The courts ruled constitutional protections should be allowed to corporations just as individuals under EPC.
The Equal Protection Clause came into effect in 1866 and was utilized to validate the Civil Rights Act of 1866. It has since been brought up in 1954’s Brown v. Board of Education to end racial segregation in schools. It was also used in 2015’s Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage.
Before Evans cited the use of the 14th Amendment for corporations as “perverse” — “as if they’re an innocent human being, entitled to the benefit of the doubt” — he unequivocally stated he was for proposing a bill to implement enforceable PFAS standards for industrial polluters.
On campaign spending on flyers and signs
Claim: “I can’t afford these things [holding up campaign flyers for Michael Lee and David Hill] — more than a dozen of these nastygrams have arrived on my doorstep. I can tell you, because I looked into it, these folks have spent more than $100,000 for each of these things. My signs are small, they are black and white, handmade and placed by me — more than 300 signs by the time I’m done.”
True or False: Total spends for 2024 election campaigns are unknown at this time.
Reports so far from the North Carolina State Board of Elections indicate Evans has spent $339; however, third and fourth quarter reports have not yet been published.
As of the second quarter covering up to June, Evans’ opponents’ campaign committees have cumulatively dished out over $7,500 in buys for postcards, signs, billboards, decals, stickers, business cards and yard signs. David Hill has spent $5,519 on the physical items, while Michael Lee has spent $2,172.
These figures do not include TV, social media, text campaigns or radio ads.
On the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge replacement
Claim: “We are in a bad position. The bridge should have been replaced long ago. Its planned obsolescence state has come and gone with just a minor renovation. I remember, especially from the early days of my life here in the 1980s, the Highway Trust Fund used to be rated on a regular basis by the legislature at that time to pay for projects. Right now, after paying taxes dutifully, for many decades, we find that the cupboard is bare.”
True or False: Both.
According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation spokesperson Lauren Haviland, “the bridge was not in need of replacement years ago and that remains the case.” Yet, the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge is considered functionally obsolete by NCDOT’s technical terms, she confirmed.
The NCDOT awarded a $7.1-million contract for crews to replace stringers and decks, completed between January and May this year. The work extended the bridge’s lifespan; however, NCDOT will have to continue dishing out maintenance costs, which amount to around $500,000 annually.
One of the options to replace the 55-year-old bridge is a 135-foot fixed span, estimated to cost roughly $485 million. The Biden administration awarded a $242 million grant to the project this year and other grants have been applied for to help bring down the price tag.
A toll has been floated as a potential solution to help fund it, if needed — as the bridge has not scored high enough on NCDOT’s data-driven formula to garner funds for replacement. This year, after submitting it again with a toll option, the bridge ranked in the top 10 — though, nothing has been voted or decided upon yet when it comes to the design of the bridge or a toll.
Evans was clear at the forum he was against a toll, calling it a double tax, as motorists already pay fees and taxes that go to NCDOT. He said the state should fully pay for it and regarding funding shortfalls, he said, if elected to the legislature: “I would shake the trees and see what I could make fall out … there’s some ripe fruit there, I know there is.”
As for the Highway Trust Fund, it was created in 1989 by the General Assembly and consists of motor fuel, alternative fuel, and road tax revenues, as well as title fees. It’s used to fund capital projects. Evans claimed it was bare.
According to the state treasurer’s office, the fund had not been touched for 14 years but between 2018 and 2019 was used to execute short-term loans to the Highway Fund — used for maintenance — in order to complete infrastructure updates due to hurricanes and disaster recovery efforts. NCDOT was to pay back the amount in four years, but did so in only two, replenishing it with $1.1 billion in 2022.
According to Haviland, the HTF balance currently stands at $647 million.
MICHAEL LEE
Republican incumbent Lee faces off against Democratic challenger David Hill for Senate District 7 and Libertarian candidate John Evans.
On implementing enforceable PFAS standards for industrial polluters
Claim: “[HB 600] had in it that you could not establish what are called narrative standards that allowed you to have PFAS standards before rulemaking. And so what we did was we took that out so you could establish narrative standards. [The Department of Environmental Quality] could go in and set standards for PFAS and also for 1,4-dioxane. DEQ actually did that for 1,4-dioxane, they did not do that for PFAS. I don’t think we want legislators establishing scientific regulations and guidelines. DEQ should be doing that. They’ve got the authority and power to do that.”
True or False: This needs context.
Under the 1972 Clean Water Act, the federal government delegates authority to issue permits that regulate pollutant dischargers to states. States can regulate pollutants through “numeric standards” that set a specific, statewide limit, or “narrative standards” that establish criteria for a water body’s conditions.
The Department of Environmental Quality has sought to implement numerical surface water standards for PFAS or 1,4-dioxane but remains without them. The agency sought to establish numerical standards for 1,4-dioxane in 2021 and obtained approval from the Environmental Management Commission, a 15-member appointed body charged with reviewing DEQ’s environmental regulations.
However, a separate appointed body — the Rules Review Commission — rejected DEQ’s proposed 1,4-dioxane standards in May 2022. The Rules Review Commission cited a flawed fiscal analysis for rejecting the standards.
However, the Office of State Budget and Management — the state body charged with reviewing economic analyses in the rulemaking process — approved the request. Rules Review Commission staff published an opinion in May 2022 stating: “it is not for the Rules Review Commission to ‘check the math’ of the fiscal note.”
The Department of Environmental Quality has regulated 1,4-dioxane emissions through narrative standards at individual facilities in Greensboro, Reidsville, and Asheboro. DEQ used the Environmental Protection Agency’s approved Toxic Substances Standard of .335 parts per billion in drinking water. However, industrial and municipal dischargers argued DEQ could not regulate the compound without a numerical standard in a 2023 petition against the agency.
Chief administrative judge Donald van der Vaart ruled against DEQ in September. Opposing groups including the Southern Environmental Law Center argue the decision set a precedent effectively blocking the use of narrative standards in North Carolina.
The Southern Environmental Law Center, Wilmington-based Cape Fear River Watch, and three other NC nonprofits filed a petition to the EPA to take over North Carolina’s discharge permit authority in August. The groups argued the General Assembly has intentionally obstructed the state’s ability to establish narrative and numerical standards for PFAS and 1,4-dioxane.
On teacher pay
Claim: “Teacher pay, we’re number three in the southeast. The average pay for North Carolina teachers is $60,000 for a 10-month contract with 12 months of insurance. We need to make it higher. We’ve been raising teacher pay every year. Some of the statistics they gave you don’t include all the bonuses. North Carolina provides $200 million in local supplements across our state. Even New Hanover County. No one teacher makes what’s on that schedule because between the state and locals, we provide more.”
True or False: Not entirely true according to the National Education Association’s 2024 report. It has North Carolina ranked fifth for average teacher pay among southeastern states; Georgia is ranked 20th, South Carolina is ranked 35th, Virginia is ranked 25th, and Alabama is 31st.
Teacher pay is expected to increase by around 7% from 2023-25 and grew roughly 3% in the 2022-23 school year. The state’s inflation rate was around 3.8% in 2023 and roughly 6.5% in 2022. Annual salary schedules for public school teachers have increased over the last decade, but the NEA has found teachers’ real purchasing power declined over the same period when adjusting salaries for inflation.
The report also ranked North Carolina 38th for average teacher pay at $56,559, almost $13,000 below the national average. The state is ranked 42nd for starting teacher pay at $40,136.
NEA uses data from state education departments in its rankings, including state and county compensation and additional pay from certifications and advanced degrees. The association’s annual teacher pay reports are commonly cited as an authoritative source but critics including the John Locke Foundation have argued its methodology is inadequately transparent.
DAVID HILL
Democratic candidate Hill is vying for the district 7 Senate seat and is running against Republican incumbent Michael Lee and Libertarian candidate John Evans.
On the need for an independent redistricting commission
Claim: “North Carolina is widely recognized as one of, if not the, most gerrymandered state. We’re a purple state. We’re almost even, and yet, we have a Republican supermajority that no longer needs to even negotiate or talk with the minority party.”
True or False: True. The Princeton Gerrymandering Project rates North Carolina as extremely gerrymandered, with a significant Republican advantage. Interestingly, the project gives both the state’s Congressional and state Senate maps an ‘F,’ but gives high marks for the state House maps. Still, the overall rating is “poor.”
It’s also true that North Carolina is a purple state, making it a key battleground in this year’s presidential election. It’s not a simple red-blue split, though; the state is almost evenly divided between Republicans, Democrats, and unaffiliated voters. That latter category has been known to split ballots, evidenced in support for former President Donald Trump and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper in the 2016 and 2020 elections.
On measures to address PFAS pollution
Claim: “So, locally, New Hanover County and Brunswick County have initiated some means, some measures, to make sure that our water is filtered. It’s made it better. It hasn’t gotten it all out, but this legislature has had all this time to stop or limit discharges at the source. That has not happened. They’ve had time to limit PFAS in products. That has not happened. Most importantly, they have had time to ask Chemours and companies like it to contribute to the $45 million that we here in New Hanover County are paying to filter these chemicals out of our water that shows up in your water bill and mine every single day.”
True or False: Partially true, but needs context.
CFPUA’s granular activated carbon upgrades at its Sweeney plant are costly: over $45 million to install and several million a year to operate. But they’re also highly effective, reducing many of the dozens of PFAS chemicals CFPUA tests for to undetectable levels.
Brunswick County is spending north of $150 million on a different filtering technology — reverse osmosis — which is expected to come online at the end of the year and be very effective at removing PFAS chemicals.
Chemours has been sued by CFPUA, Brunswick County, the state of North Carolina, and many others. Republican state representatives Ted Davis and Frank Iler have also twice introduced legislation to hold Chemours and other polluters financially responsible for the cost of water filtration; both bills, according to David and Iler, have been stymied by business interests like the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce.
The General Assembly has not crafted successful legislation specifically aimed at blocking the discharge of PFAS at the source, like Chemours’ Fayetteville Works site.
Several states have passed laws restricting the use of PFAS in products like cookware, or requiring labeling that more explicitly identifies the use of PFAS. However, major brands like Caphalon and Teflon are manufactured in China, making a ban difficult at the state level.
On Lee’s support for a statewide 12-week abortion law
Claim: “My opponent, Sen. Lee, years ago, told people in Wilmington that he would not support an extreme abortion ban, and in many people’s minds, this is exactly an extreme abortion ban.”
True or False: Mixed bag.
The statement could easily be taken to suggest that Lee did a bait and switch, promising moderate abortion legislation before the 2022 election and then delivering a far more restrictive law afterward. Regardless of how you appraise the severity of SB20 — the abortion bill Lee helped craft — the law is remarkably similar to what Lee outlined in an opinion piece in StarNews during the 2022 campaign. (The same cannot quite be said for Representative Ted Davis.)
Hill also claimed that doctors and other healthcare providers he works with expressed deep concerns about the bill. While we can’t fact-check individual conversations, SB20 was criticized by several healthcare organizations, including the North Carolina Medical Society, the North Carolina Obstetrical and Gynecological Society, and the North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians.
House Candidates
FRANK ILER
On taxes
Claim: “We’ve cut the taxes about half since I’ve been there — your tax rate for the state.”
True or False: True, but more like by a third.
Rep. Iler was appointed in 2009, when the North Carolina individual income tax rate ranged from 6% to 7.75%, depending on income. In 2013, Iler voted to pass the Tax Simplification and Reduction Act, a Gov. Pat McCrory-era law which did away with nearly all of North Carolina’s state tax credits and numerous deductions. That law also slashed individual income and corporate tax rates.
Since then, the individual income tax rate has gradually dropped to a flat rate of 4.5%, with more decreases scheduled for 2025 and beyond.
On teacher pay
Claim: “The previous governor and the other party had frozen teacher pay. We unfroze it, and we started doing teacher pay in every budget.”
True or False: True. Rep. Iler is referring to the historic 2008 financial crisis, which left Gov. Bev Perdue with a $3-billion budget shortfall for the fiscal year. Perdue chose to shore up $65 million by making a half-percent pay cut over two months for all state employees. That included teachers. After that, Perdue and the Democratic-controlled legislature froze teacher pay. Over two years, North Carolina’s average teacher salaries dropped from 28th in the U.S. to 46th in the U.S.
With the exception of a 1.2% increase in 2012, that pay freeze continued through the 2010 midterms, when state Republicans took over the legislature, and through the election of Gov. Pat McCrory, which consolidated Republican legislative power.
Teacher pay actually decreased in McCrory’s first year, due to his elimination of master’s pay (a salary bump for teachers with a master’s degree). Then, in 2014, the NCGA introduced a 7% pay increase – a substantial change, but not enough to pull North Carolina teachers out of the bottom.
On PFAS contamination
Claim: “It also came to light that DEQ had the power to stop what was going on already and didn’t do it under the current administration … We’re in the legislative branch, executive branch handles DEQ, but they did have the power to do it, and we found that out during that committee also.”
True or False: It’s complicated. Rep. Iler is referring to the 2017 discovery of PFAS and GenX in the Cape Fear River. In 2018, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality fined Chemours $13 million for discharging PFAS and GenX into the river, and entered a consent order mandating the company investigate and remediate their pollution.
But prior to that consent order, many environmental advocates argued that DEQ had the ability to do more. DEQ officials received a research report from the EPA and NC State scientists showing high levels of GenX in the Cape Fear watershed a year before StarNews brought the issue to public awareness in 2017. The Southern Environmental Law Center held that DEQ had the authority under the Clean Water Act to enforce limitations on PFAS emissions.
The DEQ has also been criticized for not imposing stricter regulations overall on PFAS levels in drinking water supplies, which regulatory agencies in states like Michigan, New York and New Jersey have done. DEQ officials maintain that their hands are tied by the North Carolina legislature, which, under a Republican supermajority, had prohibited state agencies from introducing rules stronger than the federal government’s laws.
In August 2024, Cape Fear River Watch along with other river watchdog groups and the Southern Environmental Law Center petitioned the EPA to revoke its delegation of Clean Water Act enforcement to the DEQ. The group argued that the state legislature had essentially made it impossible for the DEQ to manage water pollution.
Earlier this month, DEQ established temporary rules to guide the remediation of PFAS groundwater contamination for eight substances.
CHARLES JONES
Democratic candidate Charles Jones is running against Republican incumbent Frank Iler for the district 20 House seat.
On his opponent’s campaign contributors
Claim: “He has taken campaign cash from real estate developers, but has not met Brunswick County affordable housing needs.”
True or False: True. According to OpenSecrets, Rep. Iler has accepted $12,100 from the finance, insurance and real estate sector and $5,600 from the construction sector this year. Iler’s top donors are former Ocean Isle Beach mayor and realtor Debbie Sloane Smith, real estate developer Barron Thomas Young, and the North Carolina Association of Realtors.
When questioned about his campaign finances during the forum, Iler maintained these contributions would not interfere with his ability to legislate fairly.
“If somebody’s implying I can be bought, then they don’t have any idea who I am,” he said. “And everybody pretty well knows who I am in Brunswick County.”
On private school vouchers:
Claim: “The vouchers are taking money out of the public funds for our public schools, and that isn’t fair, to basically give Christian schools more funding for that.”
True or False: Partially true.
A better word to describe the function of private school vouchers is “diversion.” Essentially, the voucher program does not draw down funds previously dedicated to public schools, but it does represent significant funding that could be used for public schools if there was the political will to do so.
According to Gov. Roy Cooper, a North Carolina public school gets about $7,500 in state funding per enrolled student. If a student leaves a public school – whether or not they use a voucher to go to a private school – the public school loses about $7,500. The voucher program does include a mechanism to reinvest some of that money when wealthier families, who receive smaller voucher amounts, leave public schools. For more on this, see Rep. Ted Davis’ fact check.
Also, not all private schools are Christian.
On his opponent’s stance on the environment
Claim: “He serves with the environmental committee, but stands by as our water remains polluted with PFAS and developers destroy our wetlands and clear cut trees.”
True or False: It’s a mixed bag. Rep. Iler has supported multiple bills governing PFAS, most recently sponsoring the PFAS Pollution and Polluters Liability Act, which would give the DEQ authority to order polluters to cover decontamination costs.
Iler and his colleague Rep. Ted Davis have been pushing for stronger PFAS legislation for years. Rep. Davis introduced this bill in 2022 and 2023, but both times failed to secure its passage. During the candidate forum, both legislators claimed that a key roadblock to getting it passed has been the N.C. Chamber of Commerce. The chamber advocates against stronger PFAs legislation, saying that tighter restrictions would hurt business.
But Rep. Iler has also voted for the controversial 2023 Farm Bill, which included a provision to remove state protections for wetlands. The vote followed the Supreme Court’s ruling on Sackett v. EPA, which changed the definition of waters protected under the Clean Water Act to mean, “wetlands with a continuous surface connection to bodies that are ‘waters of the United States’ in their own right.” All told, the Sackett ruling and the Farm Bill left 2.5 million acres of North Carolina wetlands vulnerable to development and pollution.
Rep. Iler has not introduced any legislation related to clearcutting or logging in North Carolina.
JILL BROWN
Democratic candidate Jill Brown seeks the District 19 House seat against Republican incumbent Charlie Miller.
On the Opportunity Scholarship program
Claim: “Those schools have very arbitrary rules, they can expel or not accept children based on all kinds of factors — on race, on religion, on their gender identity, their family structure and the scary thing is that if children are ejected from these schools for these reasons, those dollars that went to that school, stay with the school. They don’t follow the child. So there’s incentive for those schools to admit children they know they are going to eject.”
True or False: Not completely true.
Private schools must comply with the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin. However, there are no restrictions on other forms of discrimination, including religion, gender identity, family structure, disability, academic performance and behavior.
Brown’s claim that the scholarship money “stays with the school” is true. If a student on scholarship transfers from a private school to a public one in the middle of a school year, the scholarship money is not transferred. In addition, the public school district did not receive money for that student, as the state allotment formula is based on enrollment in the first month of the school year.
There have been no reports of private schools admitting students to purposefully eject them later in the school year.
On holding PFAS polluters accountable
Claim: “Funding to the Department of Environmental Quality has been reduced over the past several years, rather than being increased — when we hold the number-one most-PFAS polluted water in the country, in the Cape Fear region.”
True or False: Mostly true.
A few days after it was revealed in 2017 that the toxic chemical GenX was found in the Cape Fear River, state lawmakers instructed NCDEQ to cut $1.8 million from its budget over the following two years.
As reported by the News & Observer, this was done after a decade of decreasing funds for environmental regulation. Around 70 water quality positions at NCDEQ were cut from 2013 to 2017, resulting in a backlog of permit issuances. The permit for Chemours, the company responsible for dumping GenX into the river, expired in October 2016.
More recently, the department has experienced budget cuts at the federal level, namely for the Weatherization Assistance Program.
Because of PFAS pollution, the Cape Fear region does have one of the most polluted water sources in the country – although it’s worth noting organizations like the Environmental Working Group are tracking thousands of sites polluted with PFAS from fire-fighting foam, military installations, and manufacturing sites — among other sources.
Though the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority has installed technology to filter out most PFAS, local residents that were drinking the water for years could experience negative health outcomes as a result. Studies have linked PFAS to certain cancers, immune system damage and pregnancy defects.
Brown said she is one of the people affected:
“I was recently diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s B-cell lymphoma and my doctor said that we are a cluster for this kind of cancer here, and that is because our water is polluted.”
On addressing growth and overdevelopment
Claim: “The growth that we’re seeing is far outpacing our infrastructure. In many cases they’re putting the cart before the horse because the people in charge — the county commissioners and so forth — are allowing plans to be approved without even having traffic impact studies done. So they do the traffic-impact study after they approve a development of 4,000 houses.”
True or False: This needs context.
Traffic impact analyses are not typically completed for every development project; they often have to meet certain thresholds to be required. In New Hanover County, TIAs are required if the development is expected to generate more than 100 peak-hour trips in one day. Smaller projects may not meet this threshold, though a 4,000-unit residential development likely would.
According to the county’s planning director, Rebekah Roth, conditional rezoning requests require a completed “prior to the Planning Board meeting and that it be approved by the WMPO & NCDOT before it is calendared for a Commissioners public hearing.”
TED DAVIS Jr.
Republican incumbent Ted Davis Jr. seeks the District 20 House seat Democratic challenger Jon Berger.
On private school vouchers
Claim: “One thing that’s been said here that is incorrect, money is not taken away from public schools for the opportunity scholarships, they come from two entirely funding mechanisms within the budget. One does not take away from the other. And that’s something that’s being said. That’s very much misinformation. The other thing people don’t talk about is, on the opportunity scholarships, it’s on a sliding scale.”
True or False: Mostly true, but needs context.
The opportunity scholarships provide funding at four different levels, tied to family income. Tier one is for under $57,720 income per year and provides $7,468 per scholarship; tier two: up to $115,440 income per year, $6,722 per scholarship; tier three: up to $259,740 income per year, $4,480 per scholarship; tier four: over $259,740 income per year, $3,360 per scholarship.
The state currently provides around $7,500 per student. If a student were to leave a public school for a private one, that district would receive $7,500 less — with or without the opportunity scholarship program in place.
If a student from a higher-tier family leaves, the difference between their voucher amount and the per-student funding goes into a reinvestment fund, which in theory could be used for a host of education purposes. (For example, if a tier-four student left, their voucher would be $3,360, and almost $4,000 would go into the reinvestment fund.)
However, research has shown many families taking advantage of voucher programs already had their children in private schools (and the majority of the families asking for vouchers this year came from the upper two tiers).
Several Democratic candidates did represent the voucher fund as directly pulling money out of the public school budget, including Jill Brown, who said the program is “fleecing our public schools.”
While Davis is correct that the voucher program does not directly reduce public school funding, it does represent over $200 million in annual spending. Education advocates, and several Democratic challengers in the Cape Fear-region House and Senate races, have said that money would be better directed toward teacher pay and public schools.
On the state’s reaction to PFAS
Claim: “Ratepayers should not have to pay for this. The people who pollute it should. And, unfortunately — and I cannot believe this — but the biggest resistance I’ve gotten from that bill is from the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce and other business entities that see it as a hindrance for businesses to be here, and I don’t.”
True or False: True.
Davis, along with fellow Republican Rep. Frank Iler from Brunswick County, have twiced filed legislation that would put polluters on the financial hook for the significant cost of filtering drinking water – but the bill has floundered, with Davis and Iler calling the state’s Chamber of Commerce the main antagonist.
Chemours has pushed back against the bill, citing support from the American Chemistry Council, the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce, and the North Carolina Manufacturers Alliance. Wilmington’s own chamber of commerce has declined to comment on the issue.
Manufacturing interests have worked to block a variety of PFAS legislation, including the Manufacturers Alliance’s opposition to a broad-spectrum assay of chemicals in waterways around the state – saying it would open “Pandora’s box.”
Davis has sponsored other PFAS legislation that has also struggled. In 2018, David put forward a bill that was all but mocked by Senate leader Phil Berger, who said it “does nothing.” A 2021 bill to regulate the use of PFAS in firefighting foam made it out of the House but has stalled in the Senate.
On his 2023 vote on the state’s abortion bill
Claim: “Two years ago, when we had this forum, I was asked as a standalone question, would I support the 20-week abortion limit that was presently the law? And I said that I would and I meant it.”
True or False: Mostly false.
During the 2022 candidates’ forum held by WECT, Port City Daily, and WHQR, Davis was asked if he would support the then-current abortion law. At the time, State Senator Michael Lee had championed a “compromise” 12-week limit, while more conservative Republicans were considering a stricter ban.
Davis said he would respect the current law.
When the initial vote on SB20 — the 12-week ban that Lee helped craft — came up for a vote, Davis was strategically absent. He would later say this allowed him to keep his word.
However, after Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the bill, the Republicans needed Davis as the deciding vote to override. Davis joined his party and pushed the override vote over the top.
“I knew that everyone other than me was going to vote for the override and I was not going to turn my back on my fellow Caucus members,” Davis would later write in a statement.
Davis argued the vote to override Cooper’s veto was an entirely separate matter from the initial vote on the bill.
Functionally, Davis cast a deciding vote to significantly tighten abortion restrictions.
Davis has also cited the bill’s regulations on clinics and the introduction of a new criminal charge for doctors who take “overt action” to kill babies born alive after an abortion procedure as reasons for his decision — but that doesn’t explain his absence from the initial vote, nor is it likely to convince many people judging his actions by their outcome rather than by his post-hoc explanation.
Jon Berger
On clean energy statewide
Claim: “Solar and wind are the fastest growing [energy sources] in our country and in our state.”
True or False: Mostly true. According to an August S&P Global report, solar and wind were the fastest growing energy sources in the country during the first half of 2024. The U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts solar and wind will lead growth in the energy sector over the next two years.
Duke Energy produces the vast majority of North Carolina’s electricity and controls most of the state’s distribution and transmission as a regulated monopoly. A 2021 law, HB 951, requires Duke to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Its most recent carbon plan includes building 6,700 megawatts of solar and 2,700 MW of battery storage by 2031 and 1,200 MW of offshore wind by 2034.
However, the utility seeks to build new fossil fuel infrastructure to make natural gas the largest single new energy source with 8,925 MW of power by 2033. The Utilities Commission is reviewing the plan and will accept or reject it later this year.
About measures taken to ensure resilience in the face of natural disasters
Claim: “There are a number of things that have happened that have loosened building codes in North Carolina and some are suggesting that previous loosening may have contributed to what happened in Western North Carolina. Regulations were loosened in terms of allowing certain housing to be built on steep slopes and also buildings built on the floodplain.”
True or False: True. Critics, including Gov. Roy Cooper, Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, former FEMA director Craig Fugate and the North Carolina Fire Marshals’ Association, have argued recent building code reforms in North Carolina have made the state more vulnerable to natural disasters and reduce grant opportunities. The impact of North Carolina’s building code laws on Helene damage gained national attention after an Oct. 3 New York Times report.
A 2013 bill, HB 120, shifted most of the state’s building code updates from three-year to six-year cycles; most states adopt the International Code Council’s three-year code updates. North Carolina did not adopt a model 2015 provision requiring new homes in flood zones to be built a foot above the anticipated height of significant floods. The General Assembly did not move forward on multiple bills between 2007 and 2011 to limit construction on slopes at risk of landslides in recent decades.
A 2023 bill, H.B. 488, put a moratorium on energy efficiency updates until 2031. It includes a provision banning local governments from requiring roof sheathing inspections unless they are exposed to winds over 140 miles per hour.
On the 12-week abortion law
Claim: “Nobody was clamoring to repeal Roe v. Wade except for a small group of evangelical and right-wing people. The rest of the country was absolutely fine with the law that we had for 50 years.”
True or False: Not entirely true.
According to a 1975 Gallup poll, 22% of Americans supported making abortion illegal in all circumstances at the time. A 2018 follow-up poll put the figure at 18%. According to a 1979 Michigan Law Review report, the pro-choice position was increasing in the 1960s and 1970s but there is insufficient evidence to determine if a majority held pro-choice views in 1973.