North Carolina Democratic Party First Vice Chair Jonah Garson is poised to join the state Senate through an appointment to succeed Graig Meyer.
A Democratic Party replacement committee selected Garson during a remote meeting on Saturday, sending his nomination to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein for approval to serve Senate District 23, which covers Orange, Person and Caswell counties. Current N.C. House Rep. Allen Buansi and Rep. Renée Price also campaigned for the nomination, as did Person County advisory board member Kenneth Perry and Hillsborough resident Sheila Mikhail.
Garson earned 636 weighted votes, while Buansi earned 65 votes.
Garson — a Chapel Hill native — climbed to a leadership role in the state Democratic Party during its overhaul of leadership in 2023 after previously leading the Orange County Democratic Party and unsuccessfully running for N.C. House District 56. Professionally, he works as an attorney with Parry Law, PLLC in Chapel Hill, having practiced for more than 10 years after earning his law degree from Columbia University. His portfolio includes representing legislators in voting rights and anti-gerrymandering cases, as well as helping businesses, individuals, nonprofits and state agencies in civil litigation. Garson’s other leadership roles and community involvement include time as a member of the Board of Visitors for UNC-Chapel Hill, a member of the Orange County Planning Board, and as an executive committee member for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro chapter of the NAACP.
In his campaign, Garson also framed his previous work for former N.C. Senate District 23 Senator Ellie Kinnaird, the late state Rep. Paul Luebke, and for the campaign of former N.C. House Speaker Joe Hackney as key experience to inform his time in the General Assembly.
During Saturday’s selection committee meeting, each of the candidates made a five-minute pitch about their vision and qualifications for the office. During his, Garson talked about the importance of keeping experienced leaders like Buansi and Price in the House to maintain stability and keep some seniority in the chamber — while also pitching his own background as an organizer to help both District 23 constituents and Democrats in the Senate.
“We need a legislator who is more than just a good, community-informed progressive policy vote,” said Garson. “If we are to win the progressive policy that our communities care about — that our communities are dying for — then we need someone with the actual relationships in each of these three counties…and the strategic plan and the commitment to serving in a job over the course of years to get us from here to there.”
Meyer formally resigned from the Senate seat on Mar. 31, but effectively announced his departure from elected office earlier in March to become the executive director of the North Carolina Justice Center. The Orange County resident served two terms in the state Senate after four terms in the North Carolina House of Representatives.
In addition to the months-long appointment, Garson will represent the Democratic Party in the Senate district on the general election ballot this November. The committee took a second vote to confirm Garson as the choice for that as well. He will face off against Republican and Caswell County resident Laura Pichardo, who ran against Meyer in 2024.
The North Carolina Senate and House of Representatives will reconvene in Raleigh on Monday, Apr. 6 for the start of the short session. Stein is expected to make his approval of the nomination before then.
Featured image via Jonah Garson for NC Senate.
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