Tag Archive for: #nchouseofrepresentatives

N.C. House, Senate Contests In March 2026 Primary

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The two N.C. House races that Vance County voters will see on their ballots in March include some familiar names – in District 32, former legislator Frank Sossamon is facing off against Pamela Ayscue, and Henderson Mayor Melissa Elliott is looking to take the upper hand against her primary challenger to move to the general election in November.

Sossamon was elected to the House District 32 seat in 2022 but lost to Bryan Cohn in 2024. Cohn did not seek re-election for the 2026 contest.

Sossamon and Ayscue will be on Republican ballots; Elliott and Curtis McRae filed to run in the Democratic primary. The winners of each primary will vie for the seat in the November mid-term elections.

The District 7 race has Mark Speed, a Democrat from Louisburg, facing Republican challenger Cory Thornton, also of Louisburg.

District 32 includes all of Granville County and a little more than half of Vance County; District 7 includes all of Franklin County and some of Vance County.

In the N.C. Senate District 11 contest, incumbent Lisa Barnes, a Republican, is seeking to retain her seat, facing challengers James Gailliard, a Democrat from Rocky Mount and Libertarian Gavin Bell from Kittrell.

District 11 includes all of  Vance, Franklin and Nash counties.

The primary will be held March 3, 2026; the general election follows on Nov. 3, 2026.

 

Sossamon Announces Bid For District 32 House Seat In 2026

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Frank Sossamon has announced that he will run again in 2026 for the District 32 seat in the N.C. House of Representatives.

In a press release dated Aug. 27, Sossamon said, “I have been serving in this community as a pastor, job creator, grief counselor and volunteer for over four decades. My life is about direct service to our community and I look forward to returning to Raleigh and representing the true voice of District 32.”

Sossamon said he is running to reclaim House District 32 to bring a true voice of Vance and Granville counties back to Raleigh. Initially elected in 2022, Sossamon served one term and was beaten in the 2024 election by Granville County’s Bryan Cohn. He has listed several priorities in the upcoming campaign, which include protecting Medicaid for the most vulnerable, fully funding classrooms, safeguarding agriculture and more access to mental health services.

During his first term, the press release stated that he brought a record $45 million to Vance and Granville counties in appropriations for economic development, infrastructure and property beautification. He also voted to increase Medicaid which has improved healthcare access to rural communities.

Sossamon served on the Appropriations on Education K-12 Committee, as well as the Appropriations, Commerce, and Transportation committees. After leaving the House, Sossamon continued his service to District 32 leading the “Faith in Mental Health” initiative, a groundbreaking pilot program for Vance and Granville counties, and sits on Vance County’s Juvenile Crime Prevention Council where he has served for 40 years.

House Bill 87 Proposes Cell Phone-Free Education Policy For All Public Schools

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A bill to regulate students’ use of cell phones in public schools sailed through the N.C. House Tuesday.

At present, there is no statewide statute regarding cell phone use by students in public schools, but House Bill 87 would require governing bodies of public school units to adopt a policy on use of cell phones by students during instructional time.

If the bill becomes law, it will be effective for the 2025-26 school year.

According to information from the N.C. School Boards Association, 77 of the state’s 100 counties have policies on cell phone use by students in schools.

Vance County is one of those counties; while there are limitations to using phones or other wireless communication devices, the policy states that students may use such devices for instructional purposes, when the teacher authorizes – and supervises – such use.

Vance County Schools policy states the following:

“Administrators may authorize individual students to use wireless communication devices for personal purposes when there is a reasonable need for such communication. Teachers and administrators may authorize individual students to use the devices for instructional purposes, provided that they supervise the students during such use.

Although use may be permitted, before, during and after school, use of cellular phones and other wireless communication devices may be prohibited on school buses when noise from such devices interferes with the safe operation of the buses. In addition, elementary and middle school students who participate in after-school programs are prohibited from using wireless communication devices during such programs.”

House Bill 87 would require school districts to adopt a cell phone-free education policy which would eliminate or severely restrict student access to cell phones during instructional time. Parents would have to be notified at the beginning of each school of the cell phone-free education policy adopted by the governing board. Likely exempt from the requirements would be remote charter academies, remote academies and virtual charter schools participating in the virtual charter school pilot program.