Five contend for NC House District 36 seat

The incumbent

Nelson Dollar, a Republican, is running for his seventh term in the state House.

The challengers

Mark Villee is challenging Dollar for the Republican nomination. Woodie Cleary and Jennifer Ferrell are seeking the Democratic nomination. Brian Irving is the sole Libertarian candidate.

Where the candidates stand

If re-elected, Dollar vows, he’ll keep pushing for lower taxes, jobs and simpler business regulations. He says changes he has worked for in the legislature in the past five years have resulted in lower unemployment and more than 300,000 new jobs.

“I have fought the Democratic establishment and helped turn the state around, and I will continue to fight for families of the 36th District,” he said.

Dollar also says he’ll protect Second Amendment rights and improve the state’s education system.

Villee, a former 36th District party chairman, is running on a campaign to reduce the size and scope of government.

“Government is spending too much money on special interest projects it shouldn’t be involved in,” he said.

In his district, Villee said, he would like to work toward building the I-540 extension, without tolls, through prioritization of funds.

In the Democratic race, Cleary’s focus is on addressing inadequate education funding, which he said has resulted in larger classroom sizes, a reduction in teaching assistants, a lack of resources and more problems.

“We have decreased our per-person funding down to 47th (in the country), and it’s very alarming and not sustainable,” he said.

Cleary also says he wants to tackle growing inequality caused by the state’s new tax code and its failure to expand Medicaid.

The daughter of a teacher and a former Virginia county school board member, Ferrell’s top priority is education. She hopes to prevent further cuts to resources and, particularly, teaching assistants.

“Teaching resources like textbooks and desks – basics – we have a lack of,” she said. “My position is to fully fund all those resources where we can.”

Ferrell opposes recent state law changes regarding women’s health choices, including one enacted this year that requires doctors who perform an abortion after the 16th week of pregnancy to send an ultrasound image to state officials.

The only Libertarian candidate in the District 36 race, Irving is running to offer more education choices, including home schooling, charter schools, tax scholarships, vouchers and more. He also believes the Wake County Transit Plan is headed in the wrong direction.

“People want to use their private automobiles to get around,” he said. “Things like buses and the rail system are nice, but that’s not what people want to use. It doesn’t even come close to paying for itself.”

This story was originally published February 16, 2016 at 5:09 PM with the headline "Five contend for NC House District 36 seat."