WCDP Election Central – Candidate Information
Lisa Grafstein
NC State Senate
District 13
Candidate Statement:
I am honored to represent Senate District 13 because I believe in public service, and that we are here to make a difference. I have spent my legal career trying to do just that – advocating for people with disabilities, for workers facing unfair treatment, and for people whose civil rights have been violated. North Carolina is a beautiful place with so much to offer. But our state faces many challenges. Some are the result of a decade or more of bad policy making and a failure to invest in the people who live here.
Importance of this Race:
Republicans gained a supermajority in the General Assembly in 2022, empowering them to override Governor Cooper’s vetoes of bad legislation. Since then, MAGA Republicans have rolled back gun safety laws, passed an extreme abortion ban, funneled a shocking amount of resources away from our public schools, and are in the process of reducing the corporate income tax to 0%. Before we can make progress in NC, we first must break the GOP supermajority by electing more Democrats to the State House and Senate.
Office Responsibilities:
- The NC General Assembly is the legislative branch of government and makes laws for NC.
- The Senate and the House of Representatives are collectively known as the General Assembly.
- The NCGA meets biennially and all members are elected for two-year terms.
- The Senate consists of 50 members, and the Lt. Governor is President of the Senate. In his absence, the presiding officer is known as the President Pro Tempore.
Issues:
Health and Public Education:
Healthcare and public education have suffered because that’s what happens when you starve systems of the funding they need and treat people as less important than profit.
Dignity and Respect:
Social divisions have deepened because that’s what happens when you divide people for political and financial gain and refuse to acknowledge the dignity and humanity of every person.
Gerrymandering:
Political divisions have hardened because that’s what happens when you let elected officials pick their voters instead of voters choosing who they want to represent them.