With the 2021 municipal elections behind us, candidates have already started announcing for the 2022 midterms. Orange County is set to be a particularly intriguing area with open seats in the State House of Representatives, the Senate. state and even a seat in the National Congress.

With three new congressional maps recently approved in North Carolina, it’s worth figuring out which districts are impacting Orange County in which races – and who’s running for what.

In the North Carolina State House of Representatives, the districts of Orange County are District 50 and District 56.

Currently, District 50 is represented by Graig Meyer. However, that is expected to change as Meyer has announced that he will run for the North Carolina State Senate in 2022. Current candidates for District 50 in North Carolina are Hillsborough Commissioner Matt Hughes and Senator for the State Valerie Foushee.

She originally announced that she was running for the State Senate, but “at the request of a number of friends and supporters,” said her talents would be best served in the House.

District 56 is currently represented by Verla Insko, who has announced that she will not run again earlier this year. The current candidates to occupy the Insko headquarters are Orange County Democratic President Jonah Garson and Allen Buansi, Chapel Hill City Council Member.

The Orange County State Senate is represented by District 23. Current Senator Valerie Foushee is running for another position, so that seat will also change in 2022. Candidates announced for the State Senate from District 23 include Representative Graig Meyer, Chairman of the Orange County Council of Commissioners Renee Price and Hillsborough Chief Jamie DeMent Holcomb.

The most controversial and powerful seat for election is the open seat in Congress for US Congressional District 6. It was vacated by David Price who is retiring at the end of the year. Price has been in office for over 30 years, so whoever takes the seat has the potential to shake up Washington and bring a new voice from Orange County. The current candidates are Senator Wiley Nickel, Nathan Click, Ashley Ward and County Durham Commissioner Nida Allam.

While national politics often gets the majority of the conversation, the real impact comes from local positions like the General Assembly. It is essential that we pay attention to these local races, especially since the candidates are often our neighbors or people who have represented our municipalities in the recent past.

@dthopinion

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