March 18, 2020/Press

North Carolina Democratic Party Recognizes Women Candidates during Women’s History Month

Raleigh – Today, the North Carolina Democratic Party announced a new series highlighting the historic slate of female candidates running in North Carolina this year. 

Over the coming weeks, the NCDP will recognize female challenger candidates running for Congressional, Judicial, Council of State and General Assembly offices. 

Today, the party will recognize Deborah Ross (candidate in NC-02), Kathy Manning (candidate in NC-06), Pat Timmons-Goodson (candidate in NC-08) and Cynthia Wallace (candidate in NC-09). With the addition of third term incumbent, Rep. Alma Adams (NC-12), the Democratic party is carrying the largest slate of female congressional candidates in recent memory. 

“Women have led blue waves across the country and I could not be more confident that our candidates will do the same this fall,” said Executive Director of the North Carolina Democratic Party, Meredith Cuomo. “We are proud to share their incredible stories and we are very proud to support them as they seek elected office.” 

The North Carolina Democratic Party has put forward a diverse, qualified slate of candidates and saw record enthusiasm during the primary election, both of which set NCDP up for a strong fall election. 


Read the initial profiles below: 


NC-02: Deborah Ross has Served the Raleigh Community for 25 years, Now She is Ready to Serve in Congress

  • Democratic nominee in the Second Congressional District, Deborah Ross came to North Carolina for an education but says “what I gained was so much more.” She has lived and worked in Raleigh for over 25 years, “a community that cares about our region, our people and our future.”
  • Her commitment to Justice is told through her work at the American Civil Liberties Union in the 1990s. Alongside then State Senator Roy Cooper, she overhauled North Carolina’s system for dealing with youth offenders. She also addressed racial profiling by successfully encouraging state and local law enforcement o collect race-based statistics for traffic stops.
  • Ross’s public service started in 2002 when she ran for and won a seat in the N.C. House of Representatives, where she served for more than ten years.  During her time in the General Assembly, she served as both Majority and Minority Whip and chaired the Judiciary, Ethics and Election Laws Committees.



NC-06:  Kathy Manning has Spent her Life Bringing People Together. Now She Wants to Take Those Skills to Washington.

  • Manning has spent the last 30 years bringing people together to solve problems in her community. Before starting her own law firm, Manning was a partner at a large firm in Greensboro where she led the firm’s immigration practice, helping organizations navigate the country’s complicated immigration system.
  • She was the first woman to chair The Jewish Federations of North America, an organization whose work includes providing relief to people impacted by natural disasters, war, and economic devastation.
  • “I have a thirty year track record of bringing people together to get things done. Now, I want to take that mission to Washington to fight for all North Carolinians,” said Kathy Manning, Candidate for US House in NC-06. “I will be a champion for solutions to the problems that keep North Carolinians up at night: affordable health care and prescription drugs, bringing good-paying jobs to our communities, and making our schools the best they can be.”



NC-08: Pat Timmons-Goodson is a Trailblazer. Now, she is Poised to Chart a New Course.

  • In 1984 at 29 years of age, [Timmons-Goodson] became the first African American District Court Judge in the 12th District of North Carolina. She would go on to be elected to three consecutive terms by the voters of the district.
  • Nine years later, she became the first African American woman on the North Carolina Supreme Court. North Carolina voters ratified the Governor’s appointment in a resounding statewide victory later that same year.
  • In 2016, President Obama nominated her to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, a 44-county region. If appointed, she would have been the first black judge in the district, and would have filled the seat left vacant for a decade. Unfortunately, the federal appointment was blocked by the Republican-held U.S. Senate.
  • If elected, she would be the first black woman to serve North Carolina’s 8th district in Congress.



NC-09: Nobody Knows NC-09 Better than Cynthia Wallace

  • Wallace has lived in Charlotte for 14 years and considers NC her home. She has served as chair of the 9th Congressional District of the NC Democratic Party since January 2017.
  • Under her direction, the 9th Congressional District Executive Committee expanded all eight county committees’ political and social media presence. The team supported the run of a democratic candidate in every North Carolina House & Senate Race in the 9th District in 2018, flipping a state Senate seat and three state House seats.
  • That experience and skill has set her up to hit the ground running as a congresswoman, and she is committed to passing legislation that will deliver programs and policies that will put the families of the 9th District first. She is prepared to fight for kitchen-table issues: creating good paying jobs with living wages, addressing prescription drug prices, and investing in our children and their education.

 
Read more on the NCDP medium account.