Candidates for the District 7 seat in the North Carolina Senate David Hill, left, and incumbent Sen. Michael Lee answer questions Thursday during the Greater Wilmington Business Journal's Power Breakfast: Election 2024. (Photo by Cece Nunn)
Republican incumbent Sen. Michael Lee and Democratic challenger David Hill outlined their policy positions and priorities Thursday morning during the Greater Wilmington Business Journal’s Power Breakfast: Election 2024.
The two are locked in a contentious race to represent District 7 – an area encompassing much of New Hanover County – in the North Carolina State Senate. Topics ranged from abortion and growth and development to school funding and workforce issues. The candidates will face off on the ballot on Nov. 7, with early voting starting Oct. 17.
Lee, an attorney, is serving his fourth term in the N.C. State Senate and has also served on the N.C. Board of Transportation and N.C. State Ports Authority Board. He said if re-elected, infrastructure will be his primary local focus, including securing funds for investment in roads and water and sewer infrastructure. Lee said other priorities include investments in mental health initiatives and economic development incentives.
For Hill, a pediatrician who’s lived in the Wilmington area for 22 years, top local priorities include the economy and housing – two issues he said he often hears families raise as top concerns. He also wants to focus on investing in the public school system.
Both candidates expressed support for promoting the construction of affordable housing units in the Wilmington area and across the state and streamlining aspects of the homebuilding process.
“The ability to build houses is really critical," Hill said. "If there's a piece of red tape that's not doing something important, let's get rid of it.”
Both candidates also expressed support for continued investment in workforce development and locating electric vehicle component manufacturers – like electric vehicle battery component manufacturer Epsilon Advanced Materials – in North Carolina.
When it comes to contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, Hill said he wants to see more investments in large-scale studies examining the health impacts of the contaminants and more efforts to stop the pollution at its source. Lee said the state is already taking a comprehensive approach to the PFAS contamination.
“We can't just talk about enforcement, we have to talk about filtration, we have to talk about studies," Lee said. "We're doing it.”
The two candidates were divided on their stance on abortion. Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, the North Carolina legislature approved a 12-week abortion ban. Hill said he believes the new abortion law has limited options for health care providers and women throughout the state.
“What I'm hearing from the people that I work with every day is that they feel that their hands are tied, in this case,” he said. “The mothers that I talk to feel that there's a lot of uncertainty about what they can do, and I just would like to see us go back to where we were.”
Lee, in contrast, highlighted exceptions in the law that allow for abortion in cases of rape, incest or fetal anomaly. He said those exceptions provide needed flexibility within the law.
“People are saying that we've banned abortion in North Carolina – it's just not true,” he said. “Yes, there are restrictions. We've affirmed the right for three months, but there are important exceptions that we've embodied in our law to protect women and families.”
If re-elected, Lee said his top budget priority would be to invest in infrastructure, while Hill said education funding would be his top goal.
“I think refunding our public education is critical – that is an absolute engine of business development, technology, bringing people into the state,” he said, “and I think we need to make sure that we go back to being that city on a hill that was the envy of the entire country in terms of our public education system.”
Hill said people should vote for him because, as a doctor, he has experience solving problems using evidence and collaboration.
“Not finding solutions that are partisan, not finding solutions that are ideological, but just following the evidence where it leads,” he said. “That also means working with anyone and everyone who can lend a hand.”
Lee said it’s his continued leadership and accomplishments that should earn votes in the upcoming election.
“Leadership is really what it comes down to,” he said. “It's all about leadership, whether it's funding policy or working with everyone to get things done.”
