Republican Bonni Leone from Cornelius and Democrat incumbent Natasha Marcus from Davidson are candidates in the race to be the N.C. General Assembly representative for the state’s Senate District 41, which includes north Mecklenburg.
Candidates were asked to introduce themselves, summarize their campaigns and state their reasons for seeking office.
Bonni Leone
Bonni Leone
My name is Bonni Leone, a business owner and grandmother of four, who is running for North Carolina Senate, District 41.
The events of the past few years awakened me to the reality that the people in office were not speaking for nor protecting the Constitutional rights of citizens like me and my neighbors. When it was brought to my attention that the incumbent Senator from my district had no opponent as the filing deadline approached, I realized it was time to take action. I am running for N.C. Senate to stop the encroachment of state government into the lives of local citizens. As a registered Republican, I am running to create a veto-proof supermajority in the N.C. General Assembly.
My legislative goals would be to ensure that all laws would support the N.C. Constitutional rights of the people of North Carolina. This would mean repealing those laws that restrict and prevent the free exercise of liberties at the local level. I will support legislation that defends the rights of parents in the education and health decisions of their children, removes the barriers to small-business creation, supports the First and Second Amendment rights of the people, develops trust in our electoral system by ensuring that every vote that is counted is lawful, and protects the property rights of current and future homeowners by stopping the expansion of corporate takeover of our homes.
Natasha Marcus
Natasha Marcus
Natasha Marcus was elected to the N.C. Senate in 2018, where she serves on the Judiciary and Elections & Redistricting committees. She is the Chair of the Mecklenburg Delegation to the NCGA. Her district includes Davidson, east Cornelius, most of Huntersville, Mountain Island Lake, and west Charlotte. Previously, she worked as an attorney, judicial clerk and in nonprofit development.
I have been a strong advocate for affordable health care, public education, voting rights, fair redistricting and women’s and LGBTQ rights – all of which are threatened by the current Republican majority in the NCGA.
This term, I worked on and supported bipartisan bills to legalize medical marijuana and close the healthcare coverage gap, but both were ultimately blocked by the Republican majority. I also filed SB888 to Codify the Protections of Roe v. Wade in North Carolina, which would maintain the status quo as it was before the Dobbs decision. No Republican Senators supported SB888; we know they intend to enact strict bans if they take a supermajority this year.
I sought state funding to determine the cause of ocular melanoma and to design affordable housing plans in my district, but Republican budget writers refused to fund these initiatives, despite our $7.9 billion state budget surplus. The pattern is clear – we need more Democrats in order to get these things done.
We’ve had some key victories. I’m proud of our bipartisan agreement on climate change (HB951), our significant criminal justice/policing reform bill, and the funding I helped secure for safer pedestrian crossings and for rape victim assistance.
My office regularly assists constituents concerning unemployment, DMV, HOA questions, state roads, gun permit applications, grant funding, the UNC system, eligibility for assistance, legal questions, incorrect toll lane bills and more.
If the voters re-elect me, I will continue this work to benefit the people of my district. I will be a responsive public servant you can count on to advocate for public education (including a need to address the teacher shortage), free and fair elections, equal rights for women and LGBTQ people, local needs and the increasingly urgent crisis caused by climate change.
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