State House Rep. Graig Meyer is poised to officially switch chambers, as vote totals indicate he will be elected to North Carolina Senate District 23.
Meyer, a Democratic candidate currently serving state House District 50, earned 67 percent of the vote after all precincts were reported on Tuesday night. Landon Woods, the Republican candidate in the race, earned approximately 33 percent.
Meyer’s victory, and decision to run, followed Sen. Valerie Foushee’s announced departure from the state legislature to run for U.S. Congress in House District 04. Unofficial results on Tuesday night projected Foushee to be elected to Congress.
The District 23 of North Carolina’s Senate is set to change which areas it covers due to the latest redistricting in the state. Instead of representing Orange and Chatham counties, as it did while Foushee has been in office, Meyer will represent all of Orange, Caswell and Person counties.
After his race was called on Tuesday, Meyer spoke with 97.9 The Hill and said he’s embracing the chance to switch chambers — especially as the Senate appears to have gained a Republican supermajority.
“The Senate is really where the power is held in North Carolina,” he said. “When there’s deals to be made, that’s where they’re made, and when…the majority party wants to cram things through [the legislature], that’s where you need strong voices to make the argument about why it’s the wrong thing to do, no matter what the majority decides.
“I want to be someone who represents Orange County in all the best ways that I can,” Meyer continued, “being able to advocate for our values and find opportunities to advance our values, but also standing up for what we believe is best for North Carolina even when the majority party is trying to push things that we don’t agree with.”
Meyer, who’s background is in social work, was selected by the Democratic Party to take over NC House District 50 in 2013 to replace Foushee, who was elected to District 23. He then won election in 2014 over Republican Rod Chaney, who Meyer defeated again in 2016. Meyer ran unopposed in District 50 for the 2020 election cycle.
Representing areas like Caswell and Person counties, Meyer said he’s grown to understand and appreciate the efforts needed to reach more rural voters. He said as statewide races reflect the ongoing rural preference for Republicans, more effort is needed to connect with those parts of North Carolina.
“There will be a lot of folks who look at this [cycle] and say, ‘Democrats will have to have a different message because they’re losing folks in rural areas,'” Meyer said. “And I would say Democrats just have to have a message in rural areas. Leadership means communicating to people what you think is best for them and building coalitions that work toward that. You don’t have to have everyone agree with you, but you do have to build majorities — and in order to do that, you have to show up.”
The state senator-elect said he still believes that North Carolina can be “the beacon in the south” and that even a divided state legislature can still take critical steps to helping all North Carolinians, including his constituency.
“[We must] make sure that we have an education system that supports an economy that gives people the ability to take care of their families, prepare for retirement, and jobs that are well-respected,” said Meyer. “Doing all of that while taking on big-picture challenges, like protecting our democracy, taking on climate change, trying to ensure that every North Carolinian has what they need in terms of health care and mental health care. We’re capable of doing big things and where it’s possible to work with Republicans, we will 100 percent do that. And where they fall short, we’ll point out what we could do and get people to support or speak out about what we think is possible.”
Photo via Committee to Elect Graig Meyer.
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