North Carolina House District 20 covers most of New Hanover County – largely in the northern portion. Holly Grange, a Republican, was first appointed to the seat after Rick Catlin announced he was stepping down. She then ran unopposed in the 2016 general election and won.
This year, she faces a challenge from Democrat Leslie Cohen, who beat out two other candidates from her party for the nomination. We’ll meet the candidates in alphabetical order.
Guests:
Leslie Cohen and her husband ran a commercial graphics firm for twelve years – before transitioning their business to fine art in 2002. Leslie is a painter herself – and says her work is in collections around the world. She and her husband moved to the Cape Fear region about five years ago. But it was when the state legislature passed HB2 – frequently called “The Bathroom Bill” – which originally said people had to use public restrooms that aligned with their biological gender – that Leslie Cohen was moved to jump into politics.
Representative Holly Grange, serves as Deputy Conference Leader for the House Republican Caucus and is Co-Chair of the House Select Committee on NC River Quality. She’s also the Director of Community Relations at Osprey Global Solutions, a Wilmington-based company that offers remote medical, logistics, security, training and business intelligence services. She is a 15-year US Army Veteran.
Candidates for NC House District 20: