Only in 2020: NC candidates address hot topics, experience in Zoom forum
North Carolinians will elect more than just the governor for statewide office in November.
Six Democrats and Republicans who are running to lead the state’s labor, agriculture and public schools agencies, as well as lieutenant governor were part of a virtual candidates forum Wednesday night.
At an event unlikely to be held any year before the coronavirus pandemic, candidates pitched their ideas and policies before a Zoom room of about 400 people. Forum organizers said that 370 people had registered to attend, with more joining as the 90-minute forum was underway.
The candidates answered questions about what they would do about food, farms and hunger issues, but other policy and politics topics came up, too, including schools curriculum and a living wage.
The participating candidates were: Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Yvonne Lewis Holley; Republican Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, the only incumbent; Democratic agriculture commissioner candidate Jenna Wadsworth; Republican labor commissioner candidate Josh Dobson; Democratic labor commissioner candidate Jessica Holmes; and Democratic Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate Jen Mangrum.
The virtual forum, moderated by Calvin Allen, was sponsored by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, Feeding the Carolinas, the North Carolina Alliance for Health and other groups.
Republican superintendent candidate Catherine Truitt was on the original notice about the forum but was not at the event. Mark Robinson is the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor.
A garden at every school
Talking about child hunger, Mangrum said it isn’t right that children live in areas next to farms but still don’t have enough food to eat. In her answers about food and farming, she mentioned some education policy plans, too.
“Education should be project-based, and where better can we have hands-on learning than gardens in our schools,” Mangrum said.
Mangrum said she wants to rewrite the state K-12 education curriculum, saying that there is one education system for white students and another for students of color. She said her goal is to have an office of equity at the Department of Public Instruction.
“Right at the beginning, we are going to talk about race and racism,” she said.
Troxler, who is running for his fifth term, talked about existing programs in the agriculture department that help small farmers and also get food to school cafeterias and food banks.
Dobson said there are no quick fixes for food insecurity but the state can offer policies, like increasing rural health grants and the $6 million in the latest COVID-19 relief bill that will go to food banks. He said if he is elected labor commissioner, he would advocate at Council of State meetings for policies that address child hunger.
Wadsworth said the COVID-19 crisis has “exacerbated our very broken food system” and called the state’s child hunger rate “criminal.” She wants a garden on every school grounds in the state.
Addressing hunger
Each candidate who already is an elected official touted what they’ve done in office.
Troxler pointed out existing Department of Agriculture programs. Dobson and Holley, both state House representatives, talked about legislative issues they supported. Holmes, a Wake County commissioner, talked about supporting food pantries and community gardens at schools, as well as universal breakfast at high poverty elementary schools.
“I very much believe we need to put the food where people are,” Holmes said.
Solving hunger is “not something that you can do one time and think you’re done,” Holmes said. “Just because you ate today and are full doesn’t mean you won’t be food insecure tomorrow.”
Holley said the issue isn’t just about food. It’s also about housing and jobs.
“Let’s start by giving people a living wage,” she said.
Holmes, the labor candidate, said workers do not make enough money to make ends meet. People routinely thank essential workers, for example, during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Well, they can’t pay their mortgage with our gratitude and appreciation,” she said.
She wants to increase the minimum wage.
She and other Democratic candidates also advocated for Medicaid expansion.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Domecast politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Megaphone, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.
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