Here are all the News & Observer’s 2020 endorsements

The combined editorial boards of the News & Observer and Charlotte Observer have talked to candidates and others this election season to learn about the people who seek your vote in North Carolina’s 2020 election.

Here’s a recap of our recommendations for contested 2020 races on the Wake County ballot. Our full recommendations in all races can be found at newsobserver.com/opinion.

NC Governor

Under historically difficult circumstances, Democrat and incumbent Roy Cooper has been a strong and steady leader who has made ambitious proposals for a better state. Since the coronavirus pandemic reached North Carolina in March, he has shown leadership by imposing and sticking with business and social restrictions that have been tougher than those in most southern states. That approach has prevented the infection spikes that have occurred elsewhere.

U.S. Senate

The Editorial Board did not make a recommendation in the race between Democrat Cal Cunningham and Republican Thom Tillis. We explain why here.

U.S. House

NC-02: Democrat Deborah Ross of Raleigh, a former state representative and her party’s nominee against incumbent U.S. Sen. Richard Burr in 2016, would be a representative who knows the district’s towns, its citizens and its issues. Before entering state politics, Ross, 57, was state director and lead attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina. She went on to represent Raleigh in the state House for more than a decade. There, she worked to protect voting rights, promote mass transit and raise the minimum wage for state employees.

NC-04: Longtime Democratic Rep. David Price is chairman of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Committee. If Democrats keep control of the House, take the Senate and have Joe Biden as president, Price could oversee a surge of investment in mass transit, including more support for a high-speed rail corridor from Raleigh to Richmond. Price also is committed to addressing the national shortage of affordable housing and raising awareness of the need.

NC Lieutenant Governor

Democrat Yvonne Lewis Holley, a four-term N.C. House member from Raleigh, has long been a strong advocate for the under-served and a thoughtful, reasonable voice on issues that affect N.C. families. Republican candidate Mark Robinson has has been cringeworthy. On Facebook, he said Hollywood is demonic and criticized Black people for giving their “shekels” to Jewish movie producers.

Attorney General

Democrat Josh Stein has worked to curb the opioid epidemic, sued polluters and stood up for N.C. voting rights. His office missed badly in not counseling against the ridiculous UNC contract for Silent Sam’s removal, but he has approached his job broadly and effectively.

Insurance Commissioner

Republican Incumbent Mike Causey has long wanted to dismantle the N.C. Rate Bureau, but when the former Greensboro insurance agent defeated then-incumbent Wayne Goodwin in 2016, he realized that few agreed the Rate Bureau should go. Now Causey says he’s changed his mind on it. Causey, like Goodwin before him, has kept auto and homeowners insurance premiums low by regularly rejecting insurance companies’ requests for rate hikes, then negotiating reasonable compromises.

Treasurer

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a threat to some state pension plans, but thus far not in North Carolina, where state treasurers have been careful stewards of the North Carolina Retirement System. That includes current first-term treasurer Dale Folwell. We think he’s the right fit right now in this challenging financial climate.

N.C. Auditor

No public official, regardless of party, wants to hear that Democrat Beth Wood is on the line. She’s an effective, independent auditor who has a history of dogged and meaningful investigations. She also has been proactive with performance audits, including an ongoing examination of the state’s new accounting system.

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Democrat Jennifer Mangrum and Republican Catherine Truitt can agree on one thing: State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson, a Republican, has been a disaster in his first and only term. But Mangrum separates herself from Truitt with her strong advocacy for public schools and teachers. She will fight for better teacher pay and per pupil spending, and she will work better with a state Board of Education that shares her values about improving and strengthening public schools.

Commissioner of Agriculture

Republican Steve Troxler’s long tenure speaks to his rapport with farmers and his success with promoting agriculture, one of North Carolina’s largest industries.

Commissioner of Labor

Democrat Jessica Holmes will refocus the department on worker’s concerns instead of business interests. The Wake County commissioner is a workers’ rights advocate with a keen sense of social justice. Holmes could also become the first Black woman elected to a statewide executive branch office in North Carolina, also a welcome change.

Secretary of State

Democrat Elaine Marshall has presided with confidence and competence over a low-profile but essential office for business registrations and record keeping.

NC House

HOUSE 11: Republican challenger Clark Pope, an electrical engineer and first-time candidate from Cary,offers refreshing departures from some Republican positions. Medicaid expansion, he says, is “a no-brainer,” if the federal government pays 90 percent of the cost.

HOUSE 33: Democrat Rosa Gill is a fixture in Raleigh politics. The Wake County native has served on the Wake County Board of elections, on the Wake County Board of Education and in the state House since 2009. She is an advocate for education, civil rights and Medicaid expansion.

HOUSE 34: This race offers three clear choices: Libertarian Michael Munger, a Duke political science professor, is offering thoughtful ideas about affordable housing. Republican Ronald Smith, a retired U.S. Navy officer, wants to spend more on schools. However, these two impressive candidates are up against an impressive incumbent, Democrat Rep. Grier Martin. He has pushed for legislative ethics reforms and is committed to restoring the democratic process in the House. We recommend Martin.

HOUSE 35: Democratic Rep. Terence Everitt is committed to taking the partisanship out of redistricting.

HOUSE 36: First-term Democratic Rep. Julie von Haefen wants the legislature to crack down on corporate polluters, eliminate cash bail and protect women’s reproductive rights.

HOUSE 37: Democrat Sydney Batch, a family law attorney, wants to ensure all employees have paid family and medical leave.

HOUSE 38: Former Superior Court Judge Abe Jones is the Democratic candidate to replace Rep. Yvonne Lewis Holley, who is the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor. Jones is pushing for criminal justice reforms and state support for affordable housing.

HOUSE 40: Rep. Joe John brings 25 years of experience as a district judge, a superior court judge and a judge on the N.C. Court of Appeals. He favors an independent commission for redistricting and making judicial races nonpartisan.

HOUSE 41: Recently retired after serving as chief health officer at the SAS Institute, Democrat Gale Adcock’s priority is increasing access to health care.

HOUSE 49: Democratic incumbent Cynthia Ball wants to increase funding for public schools, raise teachers’ pay, expand Medicaid and fix a legislative process where bills are often rammed through with little public review.

NC Senate

SENATE 14: Democratic incumbent Dan Blue, the Senate minority leader, says his “top priority is just common sense: to expand Medicaid coverage because we’re in the midst of this pandemic.” He also wants the legislature to increase pay for teachers and and all school personnel.

SENATE 15: Sen. Jay Chaudhuri has quickly risen to be the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat. His priorities are expanding Medicaid, providing more money for public schools and helping small businesses recover from the pandemic.

SENATE 16: Democratic Sen. Wiley Nickel is among the Senate’s most progressive members. He has pushed for improved unemployment benefits and supports stronger gun control laws and an end to gerrymandering.

SENATE 17: Democratic Sen. Sam Searcy emphasizes his working-class roots. He supports more funding for public schools and state universities and Medicaid expansion.

SENATE 18: Democratic candidate Sarah Crawford is making a second run at this seat after losing to Republican incumbent Chad Barefoot in 2014. Her priorities are familiar Democratic ones: support public schools, expand Medicaid and stronger environmental protections.

Wake Board of Education

DISTRICT 1: First-term incumbent Heather Scott, a former music teacher with two children in Wake schools, is being challenged by a Deborah Prickett, a former board member who was part of the conservative neighborhood schools group elected in 2009 whose acrimonious leadership led to explosive meetings, demonstrations and arrests of protesters. There’s no need to revisit that era. We recommend Heather Scott.

DISTRICT 2: Monika Johnson-Hostler remains on the board after an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for Congress in the 2nd District.

DISTRICT 7: Board member Chris Heagarty served in the state House from 2009 to 2011. He wants to step up school construction and add magnet schools in western Wake County.

DISTRICT 8: Incumbent Lindsay Mahaffey taught elementary school students in Washington state and has a master’s degree in education. She has three children in Wake public school and her top issue is reopening schools safely during the pandemic.

DISTRICT 9: Bill Fletcher, a board member for 19 of the last 27 years, has deep knowledge of how the school system works. His priority is to have every child reading at grade level by third grade.

Wake County Board of Commissioners

DISTRICT 1: Incumbent Sig Hutchinson is working to expand mass transit across the Triangle. He has played a key roll in pushing for a passenger rail line that could one day extend from Clayton to beyond Durham.

DISTRICT 3: Maria Cervania set her aim on replacing Jessica Holmes well before the pandemic arrived, but as a consultant who works in public health research, she thinks she is now especially well-suited for the job as the county responds to COVID-19. Cervania, of Cary, says her first concern is helping the county recover from the pandemic by supporting the county’s relief and public health programs.

DISTRICT 6: Democrat Shinica Thomas of Wake Forest is director of advocacy and educational partnership for the Girl Scouts in North Carolina’s central and eastern counties. She’s running on a platform of supporting Wake schools, encouraging economic development and improving human services, especially for the homeless.

DISTRICT 7: Democratic Commissioner Vickie Adamson is seeking a second term and focusing on what has long been her top issue: supporting Wake Schools. Adamson, of Raleigh, said the pandemic and remote learning will only add to schools’ needs.

Raleigh bond

Raleigh voters should find one item on this year’s ballot on which they can all agree – the affordable housing bond.

The city wants to borrow $80 million to provide more affordable housing in a market where the cost of a home is rising at almost twice the rate of incomes. The gap was a concern before the COVID-19 pandemic slowed the economy and caused a spike in unemployment. Now the need is even more intense.

We recommend voting yes.

NC Supreme Court Chief Justice

Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, appointed then-Associate Justice Cheri Beasley as chief justice of the seven-member state Supreme Court in February 2019, making her the first Black woman to lead North Carolina’s highest court. It has proven to be a wise and prescient appointment.

Beasley is a fine jurist with deep experience across the judicial system. She has served as an assistant public defender, a district court judge in Cumberland County, as a member of the Court of Appeals and, since 2012, as a member of the state Supreme Court. She has proven a decisive leader of the judicial system.

NC Supreme Court Associate Justices

Berger-Inman: Democrat Lucy Inman is a less ideologically rigid judge who has drawn endorsements from Republicans and Democrats. She is concerned that justices not rule based on politics. “The job of the judge is to separate one’s views from the law,” she told the Editorial Board. Phil Berger, a Republican and son of the N.C. Senate leader, did not accept an invitation to meet with the Editorial Board.

Davis-Barringer: The race between Mark Davis, a Democrat, and Tamara Barringer, a former Republican state senator from Cary, presents a dilemma caused in part by the recent addition of partisan labels in Supreme Court races. Davis has considerable experience in private practice, in state government and as a judge on the Court of Appeals. Barringer, a professor of legal studies at the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, is a former legislator who focused on foster care and child welfare and was known for presenting bills that gained bipartisan support. Her background as a lawmaker, business owner and educator brings diversity in perspectives to the court.

Davis is a high quality judge but Barringer could add a valuable dissenting voice to the court. Having both parties present on the court will bolster public confidence in the fairness of its proceedings.

NC Court of Appeals

SEAT 4: Democrat Tricia Shields brings 35 years of experience in the courtroom and is well respected by her peers. She’s also been endorsed by a range of organizations, including the North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police and North Carolina Police Benevolent Association.

SEAT 5: Democrat Lora C. Cubbage of Greensboro, currently a Superior Court judge in Guilford County, brings a broad range of experience to the bench. She has been an assistant district attorney and assistant attorney general, served as a District Court and Superior Court judge, and she’s argued civil and criminal cases before the Court of Appeals.

SEAT 6: Few candidates come to Court of Appeals races with the credentials and high regard of peers as Democrat Gray Styers. The Raleigh attorney began his 30-plus year career serving as a law clerk for Chief Judge Sam J. Ervin III on the Fourth Circuit, and he offers significant litigation experience, including arguing in front of the Court of Appeals and filing an amicus brief before the N.C. Supreme Court in the landmark Leandro case.

SEAT 7: Democrat Reuben Young has served on the Court of Appeals since 2019, when he was appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper. Young has been a prosecutor, defense attorney and Superior Court judge, and he served under three governors, including as Secretary of the Department of Public Safety.

SEAT 13: Chris Brook, a Democrat, has served on the court since his appointment by Cooper in 2019. During 14 years of private practice, he has successfully litigated cases in state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

District Court

Two lawyers with different backgrounds are seeking a place on the Wake District Court bench. Republican Beth Tanner is a former assistant attorney general and assistant general counsel with the North Carolina Department of Justice. She is now the associate director of the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission, a state agency that reviews post-conviction claims of innocence. The Democrat Tim Gunther is a trial lawyer in Wake County since 1992 and a court-appointed defense attorney since 1994. Both candidates have relevant legal experience, but Tanner has shown strong administrative ability. We recommend Tanner.

This story was originally published October 29, 2020 at 8:41 AM.