On this edition, our focus is North Carolina House District 18 – which covers the northern tip of Brunswick County and the northwestern corner of New Hanover.
Democratic Representative Deb Butler won appointment to the seat after Susi Hamilton left the House to serve in Governor Roy Cooper’s cabinet as Secretary of Natural and Cultural Resources. That was in February of 2017. This is her first election as an incumbent; she faced no primary contest. She does have a Republican challenger this year, Louis Harmati, who has declared that his candidacy is no longer active. However, he will be on the ballot. Joseph Sharp, Libertarian Challenger, has not responded to multiple requests for interviews.
Deb Butler grew up in North Carolina. After practicing law in New York City, she returned to the port city in 1994. Some of the boards and commissions on which she’s served include the Board of Directors of the New Hanover Commission for Women, The Historic Wilmington Foundation, The Cape Fear Green Building Alliance, The Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors, and Equality NC.
Candidates for NC House 18:
Representative Deb Butler, Democrat
Louis Harmati, Republican, Declared candidacy inactive
Joseph Sharp, Libertarian