Editorial Board
North Carolina’s state House District 51 encompasses all of Lee County and parts of Moore County, and this year, the candidates running to represent it include a Republican and an Independent. The Democrat who initially filed withdrew her candidacy, and Republican John Sauls, who has represented the district for 7 terms, is not seeking reelection.
The Republican candidate is Charles Taylor, a career politician who has been a Sanford City Councilman since 2007. For roughly a decade prior to his position on the Sanford City Council, Taylor was a lobbyist.
Taylor’s campaign came under fire during his primary for being backed by almost $400,000 in dark money from groups aiming to expand gambling in North Carolina. The American Conservative Fund, a PAC entirely funded by pro-gambling interests, invested in the primary, backing Taylor over his opponent, Sherry Lynn Womack.
Additionally, Taylor’s campaign has received the support of a prominent data center developer, Kirk Bradley, who gave a maxed-out donation to Taylor’s campaign in December 2025. Bradley’s company, Eco TIP, sued Chatham County earlier this year, seeking to overturn the county’s moratorium on data center development.
Interestingly, since Taylor still sits on the Sanford City Council, he has been involved in discussions and votes that the council has taken regarding allowing data centers in Sanford. In April of this year, Taylor voted in favor of zoning regulations for data centers that lowered the daily fine for noise violations from $10,000 to $100.
Generally, nearly half of the contributions that Taylor’s campaign has received have come from developers and real estate interests.
Taylor’s campaign website emphasizes repeatedly that he’s a “solid conservative” and his issue stances echo that. In a candidate survey, Taylor said he opposes raising the minimum wage; North Carolina’s minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, the lowest wage required to comply with federal law. The state, much like the rest of the country, is dealing with a cost of living crisis.
Additionally, Taylor opposes legalizing medical marijuana and believes that infrastructure improvements for the state and other state-run services should be privatized.
While Taylor said he was “neutral” on expanding gambling in the state in a candidate questionnaire, his actions perhaps tell a different story.
Recently, it was reported by The Assembly that Taylor not only failed to report multiple properties that he owns on his economic statement of interest, but also one of those properties, located at 2101 Tramway Road in Sanford, hosts a likely-illegal gambling operation.
As an elected official on the Sanford City Council, the law requires that he report property he owns as well as sources of income. Taylor failed to disclose the Tramway property, as well as another property in Sanford and two single-family homes in Snow Hill that Taylor says he is renting out.
As for the Tramway property, The Assembly reported that the home, just a ten minute walk from SanLee Middle School, contained several video lottery machines that don’t require skill to win. In North Carolina, such games are against the law. Taylor provided The Assembly with a statement, but didn’t say whether or not he knew that gambling was taking place at the property he owns.
Taylor’s opponent is an Unaffiliated candidate, April Montgomery. Montgomery’s candidacy gives House District 51 voters an opportunity they haven’t had before; supporting an independent candidate who has more loyalty to their community than to a political party.
Upon qualifying to run as an Unaffiliated candidate, Montgomery said, “Voters don’t want politics as usual. When I go to the legislature, I will only be beholden to the people, a representative who’s independent in name and in action.”
Montgomery is a small business owner who has lived in Lee County for over 20 years. She has worked in both public and private sectors, with a background in the commercial side of renewable energy and currently serves as the Chief Development Officer of an energy storage company. She and her husband also own a company specializing in restoring historic commercial buildings; one of their projects included renovating Sanford’s long-vacant Lutterloh building into housing.
Montgomery has also been deeply involved in the community, serving as chair of the Sanford Area Growth Alliance and the Lee County Environmental Advisory Board, as well as the Lee County Parks and Recreation Commission Advisory Board and as a member of the Lee County Arts Council Board.
Early voting begins on Thursday, October 15th and ends at 3 pm on Saturday, October 31st. You can still register or update their voter registration during the early voting period. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3rd.
