Last week, former Chapel Hill Town Council member Allen Buansi narrowly defeated Jonah Garson in the Democratic primary for a seat in the North Carolina State House. With no Republicans running, Buansi’s primary win all but guaranteed his election in November.
But this week, Buansi took a big step toward taking that seat a few months early.
Monday night, the executive committee of the Orange County Democratic Party officially voted to recommend Buansi to step into that State House seat effective June 1, following the retirement of longtime State House Rep. Verla Insko at the end of May.
Thank you Simon! What a great honor this is and I’m looking forward to the work ahead! I’m so grateful to @verlainsko for her excellent service & leadership. Forward together! https://t.co/NYPYlpZuIx
— Allen Buansi (@AllenBuansi) May 24, 2022
That recommendation now goes to Gov. Roy Cooper. The governor is officially responsible for making the appointment, but by state law he’s required to follow the party’s recommendation.
Monday’s development had been in the works for several months. Insko had initially planned to retire earlier in the year, but agreed to stay on through May, so the party could appoint the winner of the May 17 primary. Buansi won that primary, narrowly defeating Jonah Garson by just a few hundred votes.
Buansi won’t have any time to relax: the General Assembly is currently in its short session, with budget discussions at the top of the agenda and a vote due by the end of June.
And he says he has other key priorities as well.
“I’m looking forward to lifting up (Gov. Cooper’s proposed) budget, lifting up the importance of paying our teachers fair, competitive wages, (and) lifting up the importance of providing mental health support for our students,” he told 97.9 The Hill after his victory on Election Night. “And we also need to do better in terms of protecting reproductive rights. That’s another challenge that we have that’s imminent.”
When Buansi takes his seat on June 1, he’ll be District 56’s first new representative since Insko took her seat in 1997, a quarter century ago.
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