The North Carolina House of Representatives is made up of 120 members of the General Assembly who are elected for two-year terms. The House has lawmaking powers, along with the N.C. Senate. Additionally, House members have the authority to tax and spend, allocate funds, override a gubernatorial veto, provide state agency oversight and elect UNC Board of Governors members. They also conduct constituent services and have the sole power of impeachment.
Candidates must be 21 years old to run for the House and they must have lived in their district for at least one year before the general election.
The N.C. House of Representatives has 47 Democrats, 71 Republicans and 2 unaffiliated members. To override a veto of any bill by the governor, three-fifths of both chambers (72 House members and 30 senators) must vote to override it.
North Carolina House of Representatives District 102 is located in central Mecklenburg County. It includes Plaza Midwood and Noda and is socioeconomically diverse. The median household income is $90,000, substantially higher than the state average, while 14% of residents are below the poverty line, also higher than the state average. This district has one of the youngest populations, with a median age of 33 and 40% of the population is Black or Hispanic.
Among registered voters in the district, 44% are unaffiliated, 40% are Democrats and 15% are Republicans.
Incumbent Democrat Becky Carney is the longest-serving member of the Mecklenburg County delegation in the N.C. General Assembly. She had a Republican opponent named Daniel Schmidt, but he withdrew from the race, so she is unopposed.
Becky Carney
Party: Democrat
Incumbent: Yes
Age: 81
Previous experience in elected office: N.C. House of Representatives (2003-present); Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners (1996-2002)
Occupation: N.C. House representative
Description:
Carney is the third longest-serving member of the N.C. House and the longest serving member of the Mecklenburg County delegation. She is seeking her 13th term in the N.C. House. Her top issues include expanding public school funding, implementing statewide arts education, strengthening healthcare infrastructure and addressing social and economic equity. She focuses on health access and child welfare, utilizing her platform to mandate CPR completion required before high school graduation and pulse oximetry screenings to catch heart defects in newborns. During her tenure in the N.C. House, she has advocated for arts education as a core graduation requirement. Carney was named North Carolina's County Commissioner of the Year in 2000.
Other personal:
Carney is from Roxboro, N.C. She attended Needham B. Broughton High School in Raleigh. She is a widow with six children, 14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. She went into cardiac arrest in her office in 2009 and had no pulse before being revived and has since been an advocate of heart health issues.
