This NC House candidate isn’t a Democrat or a Republican and won’t ‘align with anybody’

About a third of North Carolina voters are unaffiliated, but none of them serve in the General Assembly.

Denton Lee, a high school teacher from Johnston County, wants to change that. He’s managed the rare feat of gathering thousands of signatures to get his name on the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate for the state House seat currently held by Rep. Donna White, a Republican.

Lee says his views aren’t aligned with either the Democratic or Republican parties, and he wouldn’t join either caucus in the House.

“I’m not represented at all, and I don’t think anybody in the political middle is,” Lee said of the current legislature. “I will actively not align with anybody. If it means I struggle and everybody hates me, I would have at least stood up for that 33% of the population.”

Lee’s campaign appears to be gaining traction. The N.C. Association of Educators has endorsed him over the Democrat in the race, Linda Bennett, who hasn’t campaigned heavily and has an unfinished website.

Signs that prominently highlight his unaffiliated status dot the rural crossroads of northern Johnston County. And he creates humorous videos for his campaign Facebook page that have amassed thousands of views.

Lee is the only unaffiliated candidate for the General Assembly on the ballot anywhere in the state this year. Getting there was no easy task thanks to state laws that make it far easier for candidates to run for office as a member of a political party.

Any unaffiliated candidate for the legislature must get 4% of the registered voters in their district to sign a petition, which is roughly 2,000 signatures for House candidates. Lee says that hurdle was “easily the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, and I quit drinking and dipping on the same day.”

To get there, he asked “every person I know” to sign and gather five other signatures, and his mother helped by spending 12-hour days at the polls collecting signatures during the March primary. Many voters were confused about the petition signing process, and many declined to help.

“I’m basically immune to the word no at this point,” Lee said.

Others have tried the petition process and fallen short, including a would-be unaffiliated House candidate in Wake County, Knightdale business owner Robert Wagner, who submitted a petition but didn’t have enough verified signatures to make the ballot. Because Wagner didn’t succeed, incumbent Rep. Darren Jackson, a Democrat, is now running unopposed.

Lee is running against White, a nurse and former school board member who is seeking a third term. She chairs the influential House Health Committee and says she’s skeptical that an unaffiliated legislator could be effective.

Both the Republican and Democratic caucuses might be unwilling to work with someone who doesn’t join a caucus, White said.

“That would hurt the people of Johnston County,” she said. “You cannot move forward in the House as a body of one.”

A congenial campaign so far

For her part, she says she’s taken a “bipartisan and bicameral” approach in the House, teaming up with Democrats and senators to get bills passed. She touts her record of constituent service, noting that she makes her personal cellphone number available and has helped thousands of constituents get their unemployment benefits.

Both White and Lee do share similar positions on a key issue for the legislature: Medicaid expansion. Most legislative Republicans, including Senate leader Phil Berger, oppose expanding Medicaid.

White has co-sponsored House Republicans’ alternative approach to expanding Medicaid to working families, and while it hasn’t gotten a vote, she says she’ll try again next year.

Lee also backs Medicaid expansion. “It’s inevitable, so why have we not done it yet?” he said.

He’s also critical of the state’s COVID-19 restrictions on businesses, and he thinks students and teachers should all have the choice of in-person instruction or remote learning.

“I don’t think it’s the government’s job to ask businesses to go out of business,” he said.

Overall, the House District 26 has been free of the negative campaigning in many of this year’s legislative races. Lee notes that “I’ve even said good things about my opponent,” and White says she welcomes the competition because “everybody ought to put their name on the ballot one time.”

This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 9:49 AM.