The closest local election in Orange County on Tuesday was the race for North Carolina District 56, with Allen Buansi being elected by a margin of 435 votes.
Buansi held 7,653 total votes after 100 percent of the precincts reported, edging out Jonah Garson who earned 7,218 total votes.
Buansi previously served in the Chapel Hill Town Council, having announced he would not seek re-election at the end of his term 2021. At the time, he cited wishing to spend more time with his family — but when Rep. Verla Insko announced her retirement plans, he said running for state House was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. His opponent, Garson, previously headed up the Orange County Democratic Party.
Buansi told 97.9 The Hill the small gap between Garson and himself led to a “roller coaster” night for his campaign, who held an event at 401 Main in Carrboro. He ultimately credited Garson for the respect shared between the candidates throughout the primary cycle.
“I really appreciate the district we’re in, the kind of engagement we have from voters,” said Buansi. “I appreciate Jonah for running the kind of campaign he ran. Generally, our race — I think we did it the right way. I hope it serves as a model for other races that we have: keep it clean, keep the races filled with integrity, hard-fought up and down [the primary.]”
The former Chapel Hill Town Council member will take over the seat from the long-time representative Insko, who announced in September she would be stepping down from the role. She will be retiring at the end of May, making it so the winner of the primary would be appointed and set to begin their representation of Chapel Hill and Carrboro earlier than 2023.
Buansi said he’s looking forward to jumping into work at the state House, including considering the state budget tweaks proposed by Gov. Roy Cooper to the general assembly.
“I’m looking forward to lifting up that budget,” Buansi said, “and lifting up the importance of paying our teachers fair wages, lifting up the importance of providing mental health support for our students.”
Despite redistricting changes to much of North Carolina’s house districts in 2022, District 56 was left unchanged and covers exclusively the southeastern corner of Orange County.
Photo via INDYWEEK/Allen Buansi.
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