Source: Editorial
All 170 seats in the North Carolina General Assembly are up for grabs in the general election this November. With the session adjourned, legislators will be out across the state campaigning. Of the 170 lawmakers, many are veterans with years in the legislature under their belt. Others are seeking reelection for the first time, including Republican House Representative Mike Schietzelt, who won his first election in 2024.
With one term under his belt, Schietzelt is painting himself as a “Bold Advocate” for our state, families, and communities. On his campaign website, Schietzelt highlights the “great strides” he and his Republican lawmakers have made this year, from “Advocating Teacher Pay Increases” to “Lowering your Power Bill”.
A closer look at the bills Schietzelt helped pass leads to glaring contradictions in the picture he’s painting for voters.
Schietzelt claims to advocate for teacher pay increases given that North Carolina ranks 46th in the country for teacher pay. But he and his Republican colleagues passed a state budget more than a year late, leaving state agencies, teachers, and law enforcement in limbo waiting for critical funding. The budget that was recently signed into law includes teacher raises, but they still are not enough to keep up with inflation and rising cost of living. The new state budget gives new teachers a pay raise from $41,000 to $48,000, a 17% increase that still puts the state just below the national average for starting teacher pay.
When Schietzelt claims he worked to lower power bills for the people of North Carolina, voters can look at his votes in favor of Senate Bill 266: The Power Bill Reduction Act. Republicans touted the measure as a way to lower the utility bills of state residents as the cost of living soars and Duke Energy seeks to raise rates. However, analysts show the law is expected to shift $87 million in annual payments from the state’s commercial and industrial customers to residential customers– meaning families will pay more while industries pay less. It allows Duke Energy, which is a major donor to lawmakers who help push their agenda, to charge ratepayers for projects that may never come to fruition. Governor Josh Stein vetoed the bill, claiming politicians should not be working to raise North Carolinians’ bills. The bill became law over the governor’s objection as the Republican majority in both chambers supported the bill.
Schietzelt says he’s looking out for our state, but his votes say otherwise. Outside of his legislative work, Schietzelt works as a litigation attorney at Michael Best & Friedrich LLP and has previously worked with conservative organizations like the John Locke Foundation.
However, the most notable time in his career could be his time as a fellow at Pat Robertson’s Regent University Robertson Center for Constitutional Law. Schietzelt drafted and submitted an amicus brief in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health to the Supreme Court. The brief he worked on called on the Supreme Court to “restore our constitutional traditions and return to the people the role of determining abortion-related policy.”
Schietzelt was proud of working to help overturn the right for women to control their own bodies, having it on his campaign website in 2024 for a time, before removing the information regarding his involvement.
Schietzelt is also tied to Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 elections. Schietzelt briefly clerked for then-North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Martin. Martin was a key adviser to Trump’s attempt to undermine voters across the U.S. and overturn his loss in the November 2020 election.
The News & Observer reported that Martin “helped write lawsuits to overturn Biden’s election in key states and that it was Martin who incorrectly told the president that Vice President Mike Pence had the ability to throw out any election results he viewed as fraudulent.”
In a tweet, Schietzelt supported the attempt to suppress voters, calling the 2020 election “stolen.”
As Schietzelt uses his positions of power to control our votes and bodies, raise utility rates for already struggling North Carolina families, and allow us to remain at the bottom of the ranking for appropriately compensating our teachers, his opponent, Evonne Hopkins, wants to represent House District 35 to make North Carolina a safe and affordable place for all.
Hopkins is a Certified Family Law Specialist and is the President of Raleigh Law Center. As a family law specialist, Hopkins is familiar with working with North Carolina families in Wake County and beyond. On her website, Hopkins vows being familiar with the struggle some children and families face.
Hopkins vows to fight to fully fund our public schools and to make sure every child has the opportunity to succeed, while also pushing against the rising costs of housing, groceries, and utilities so that North Carolina remains affordable.
