N.C. House District 89 includes southwest Iredell County and most of Catawba County. Incumbent Republican Mitchell Seltzer has served thirteen terms and is the second-longest serving legislator in the N.C. House. District 89 is 17% Democrat, 47% Republican and 36% unaffiliated. It has the third-lowest percent of registered Democrats in the state.
Republican Mitchell Smith Setzer
Setzer is running for his 14th term and was first elected in 1999. For 2023-2024, Setzer served as chair of the Insurance Committee, vice chair of the Ethics Committee, and senior chair of House Finance Committee. Outside of the legislature, Setzer is the vice president of Smith Setzer & Sons Inc, a pipe company based in Catawba, and he is a former town board member and mayor. He has the “second-longest tenure of anyone currently in the chamber.” When asked about his top issues, Setzer says, “I’m generally constituent-based. So, I don’t have a personal agenda. If issues come up that involve my constituents, then that becomes my direct interest." Additionally, Setzer hopes to lower taxes, focus on law enforcement funding and craft better election security measures. Setzer is a lifelong resident of Catawba. (Age ~59)
Cranford works as a substitute teacher after retiring from full-time teaching in 2014. In an email to The Ledger, Cranford said “This is my third run against incumbent Mitchell Setzer in a very red Republican district. I am not actively campaigning. However, I am running to give progressive and liberal voters in the district a choice.” Additionally, he has voiced his support for the expansion of Medicaid, Black Lives Matter and LGBTQAI+ rights. He has a B.A. in social studies education from UNC, a MEd in Educational Administration from the University of South Carolina, and he served in the Army for six years. Cranford lives in Newton, where he moved in 2018 to take care of his father. (Approx age: 64)