LUMBERTON — A race for the District 47 seat in the state House of Representatives took shape Thursday.
Olivia Oxendine, of Lumberton, filed Thursday as a Republican candidate for the seat currently occupied by Charles Graham, a Democrat from Lumberton. Graham filed for re-election on Dec. 9. He is seeking his sixth term as the District 47 representative.
Oxendine did not provide information to The Robesonian.
The race for the N.C. District 9 seat in the U.S. House of Representatives got more crowded Thursday.
Cynthia L. Wallace, of Charlotte, Marcus W. Williams, of Lumberton, Clayton W. Brooks of Lumberton, filed Thursday as Democratic candidates for the seat held by incumbent Dan Bishop, the sole Republican candidate as of late Thursday afternoon. There are now four Democrats seeking the seat in a district that includes Robeson County. The other Democrat candidate is Harry Southerland of Raeford.
Bishop won the seat in a Sept. 10 special election by defeating Democratic Dan McCready. According to early voting results, McCready lost the race for the District 9 seat to Republican Mark Harris in the 2016 general election. But, those results were voided by the N.C. State Board of Elections because of concerns about tainted absentee ballots and ordered a redo election.
According to information given to The Robesonian, Wallace is a financial services vice president and Democratic Party chair of the North Carolina Congressional 9th District.
“I am running for Congress to represent all of its residents,” Wallace said. “I will advocate for those who have been ignored by politicians in Washington, D.C. I have spoken with 9th District voters, and my values align with theirs. They want a representative who will fight for things that truly matter, like affordable health care, jobs that pay enough for families to thrive, and college tuition that won’t send families spiraling into debt.”
The granddaughter of farmers, Wallace grew up in the small town of Springfield, Georgia. After watching her father, the late Homer Lee Wallace, grow from a local activist to the first African-American county commissioner elected in Effingham County, Wallace was inspired to serve her community as a volunteer and Democratic Party leader.
Wallace, of Charlotte, received her bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Spelman College in Atlanta. She also holds a master’s degree in Statistics from the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.
Brooks, a Laurinburg native, is a graduate of Scotland High School, Harvard University, and Union Theological Seminary. A Baptist minister, his career has spanned work in churches, nonprofits, government, and political campaigns.
Accordin to Brooks, he “has seen how our social safety net so often fails those who need it most. As a person who has experienced joblessness and a lack of access to health care, (I know) that too many North Carolinians struggle to make ends meet.”
He is currently first chair of the Wake County Democratic Party and resides in Cary. He plans to move back to Laurinburg in January.
Williams did not provide any information.
The filing period ends noon Friday. The primary elections are March 3, and the general election is on Nov. 3.
