Ricky Hurtado, candidate for NC House District 63
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Candidates for NC House District 63
Republican Stephen Ross is running against Democratic incumbent Ricky Hurtado. District 63 covers Alamance County. Get to know the candidates with our NC 2022 Voter Guide.
Name: Ricky Hurtado
Political party: Democrat
Age as of Nov. 8, 2022: 33
Campaign website: www.rickyhurtado.org
Occupation: Nonprofit director
Education: Bachelor’s, UNC-CH; master’s, Princeton
Have you run for elected office before? Yes, running for reelection in HD-63.
Please list highlights of your civic involvement: I am on the board of the Alamance Partnership for Children, Alamance Eldercare, and serve on Gov. Cooper’s DRIVE Task Force to improve teacher diversity. I am also the co-founder of LatinxEd, a nonprofit that focuses on leadership and education equity for Latino youth in NC.
What are the three issues that you see as most important to your district and what will you do to address them?
Expanding opportunity: We need to address the teacher shortage in our classrooms and fully fund schools.
Community/school safety: Youth violence is on the rise — we need greater training for law enforcement, more community outreach programs and mental health support for youth. I supported investments in school safety grants and to get more school resource officers in our schools.
Affordable housing and health care: life is too expensive for families, so we need to invest more state resources to lower the cost of living.
At a time when costs are rising, state government has a surplus. How should it be used?
We should use our surplus to make life more affordable for working families. That means investing in affordable child care, health care and housing.
Will you vote for Medicaid expansion in North Carolina?
Yes.
What has the legislature gotten right, and what has it gotten wrong, about public education in North Carolina?
The legislature has provided support to the community college system to continue making it one of the best in the nation. However, it’s difficult to tout post-secondary successes given that the Republican leadership in the legislature refuses to comply with its constitutional duty of providing a sound basic education for every child. We need to fully fund our schools per the Leandro decision in order to move our public schools forward. That includes addressing the teacher crisis ASAP.
Should North Carolina change its abortion laws? How?
There should be no restrictions on abortion.
Please add anything else voters should know about your position on the legality or availability of abortion in North Carolina.
Women should have the freedom to make a decision of when and how they want to raise a family. We do not need politicians getting in the middle of such intimate, personal matters.
Should medical marijuana be legalized in North Carolina?
Yes.
What, if anything, should the legislature do to shape curriculum dealing with topics of race, sexuality and gender?
There should be limited legislation, if any. But in the case that these topics are addressed in legislation, it should consult with educators and researchers who work in the fields of race, sexuality and gender to make sure we are promoting accurate, evidence-based curricula on these topics. Not falsehoods or historic inaccuracies.
Do you accept the results of the 2020 presidential election?
Yes.
