Welcome And Ballot Basics

Amanda Benbow Lunn 0:08

Hello friends, you're listening to the NC Deep Dive, and I'm your host, Amanda Benbow Lunn. This episode features one of our candidate conversations for the 2026 general elections. By my best accounting, it looks like we have 18 contested races with 46 candidates in southern Wake County, specifically in Holly Springs and Fuquay Varina. There are a few other races that have only one candidate running that will be on your ballot, but we are not covering those races. Of course, the races on your particular ballot will vary based on your address and the specific districts your residence falls within. You can always find your jurisdictions and eventually your sample ballot by searching NC Voter Search made available by the North Carolina State Board of Elections. Once you get to the page, you'll fill out your information. It will populate with all those who share your name or the information you provided. You're going to scroll until you find you and then click on it, verify your name and address are correct, and then if so, you'll scroll down to the appropriate sections. Since there are so many races, your ballot will likely have a front and back, so be aware of that that you'll have to flip it over. And keep in mind if your time is short, you can see each episode's transcripts at www.ncdeepdive.com or you can search the episode's chapter titles for each of the particular questions so that you can find the ones that most interest you. For this particular episode, we are delving into the US House of Representatives race for District 13. There are three candidates running in this race, and you will have the opportunity to vote for one of them. The candidates include Paul Barringer, affiliated with the Democratic Party, Steven Swinton, he is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, and Brad Knott, who is affiliated with the Republican Party. Without further ado, my friends, let's dive in.

Meet Paul Barringer: Introduction, Why, & Experience

Amanda Benbow Lunn 2:10

On this episode, I am pleased to be speaking with Paul Barringer, who is the Democratic candidate running for the U.S. House of Representatives for District 13. Paul, if you just want to take a moment, tell us a little bit about yourself, and then you can go into why you're running for this office and what experiences have prepared you to serve in this role.

Paul Barringer 2:31

Sure. Well, thank you, Amanda. I really appreciate the chance to be on the podcast. Really nice to be here and for all the folks listening, great to have the chance to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about why I'm running. Again, I'm Paul Barringer and I'm running for United States Congress in North Carolina's 13th Congressional District. The 13th district is oddly shaped and gerrymandered district that runs around Raleigh Durham and Chapel Hills. So it includes Lee County, which is where I live, Harnette County, Johnston County, the outskirts of Wake County, Franklin County, Granville, most of Granville, and then all person and Caswell. So basically all the way, almost from Southern Pines to the Virginia border. So really big area. And I am a lawyer and a tree farmer in Lee County. My family's been here for a long time, and I live on a farm that my family's had for a long time. And I'm running honestly just because I couldn't take the news one more day. I was really not happy with what was happening in the country, and I felt like we needed a different approach. And looked at the district and looked at myself in the mirror and thought maybe I could make a difference. And that's that's why I'm here.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 3:34

Awesome. And what has prepared you to serve in this role?

Paul Barringer 3:38

Sure. I am a lawyer and by training and I worked in healthcare for about 35 years. And I have always dealt with healthcare policy. I worked as a healthcare lawyer for a while. I was general counsel of a health form nonprofit, and I worked in the healthcare space and the corporate world for a long time. So always I was dealing with um public policy issues, especially related to Medicare and Medicaid. And I have definitely some perspectives on healthcare about things that need to be addressed and ways that we might improve the system. And I have a real passion for making sure that people do have access to healthcare. So my legal experience, my background in public policy, both from an academic standpoint, I went to public policy school a long time ago and worked, like I said, in health policy, I think has given me a lot of perspectives around, especially around the healthcare space. But I've done a lot of outreach work through the years too, both advocacy work in the policy space, but just generally, you know, interacting with people. And I know a little bit about this district because I grew up here and the small towns and rural areas are very near and dear to my heart. So I feel like the background that I have both in the district, but also experience with both public policy and my legal background gives me a good training and kind of experiential background that positions me to both represent the district effectively, but also have subject matter expertise that will be useful as the district representative.

Biggest Challenges For District 13

Amanda Benbow Lunn 4:58

Perfect. What do you believe is the most important issue or challenge facing the people you would represent?

Paul Barringer 5:04

Well, there are three things that I'm really focused on in the campaign. One is affordability, second is health care, and third is corruption. And I think all three of those are very important in the district and in the country as a whole. Things are just very expensive right now, and we unfortunately have an administration that is intent on making policy choices and decisions that are driving costs higher, particularly with the war and with tariffs. And I think it's made people's lives harder and harder. And so we need a Congress that doesn't just rubber stamp what the administration does, but rather is prepared to be independent and to keep in mind the lives of ordinary people, not just of billionaires. So from an affordability standpoint, I think there's a role for Congress around things that have happened over the last year and a half where Congress should have played a role and they didn't do that. And then in healthcare, we have a lot of problems with the healthcare system in this country. I mean, it's really, in a way, a subset of affordability because the reason that people have issues with healthcare is because the cost of so high in terms of both what it costs directly to access the system, but also what people are paying for premiums. And the thing is, the current administration, particularly with the changes that came from the Big Beautiful bill, which passed last summer, they've made changes that are making it harder for people to access healthcare. So the Big Beautiful bill will lead to north of 11 million people around the country losing Medicaid coverage as a result of the new, they call them work requirements, but they're really paperwork requirements because it's administrative requirements that are intended to be so bureaucratically burdensome that they mean that people lose eligibility and therefore they lose their coverage. And also they shut down the government last fall over the refusal to extend enhanced subsidies for folks who are receiving Affordable Care Act coverage. So in both of these places, you'd kind of see health care and affordability melding because people's issues with healthcare, a lot of the problems stem from the fact that it's so hard to afford care. And unfortunately, the changes that the current administration is making and that the Congress doesn't do anything to stop are having the impact of making it harder for people to access health care. And then finally, corruption. You know, the things that are happening are just kind of next level, whether it's the $1.776 billion slush fund or the plane from Qatar or the 4,000 individual stock trades that the president made in the first quarter, or the, you know, $2.2 billion that he made last year in 2025, uh, two-thirds of which was a result of crypto investments. All of this is stuff that if it's not illegal, it definitely isn't ethical for the commander and chief to be profiting this immensely from the position that he holds. And there's members of Congress too, both Democrats and Republicans, have made a lot of money trading individual stocks. And you know that they're so successful at it that it must have something to do with the inside information that they have. That's not right either. So we need new rules and a new approach to ethics. And I think that's something that people are really fed up with, and I mean to be a part of when I get elected.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 7:58

Okay.

Priorities & Hopes for Accomplishment

Amanda Benbow Lunn 7:59

I think you've answered a lot of it for this question. But if elected, what would you prioritize and what specifically would you hope to accomplish during your term?

Paul Barringer 8:07

Oh, sure. Thank you, Amanda. I guess that three things affordability, healthcare, and corruption. And so on affordability, I'll just be more specific on this one. So affordability. Everybody talks about affordability, but open up the hood, and it's really what are the things that administration is doing that are driving up costs where Congress should have a role? And so, particularly on the war and on tariffs, those are both areas where Congress should have played a role and they did not, and they should. And as the elected representative of this district, I mean to be a part of that. So that's one affordability. Second is healthcare. When I get elected, I'll be a vote for reversing the changes in the big beautiful bill that are affecting eligibility for 11 plus million Americans on Medicaid coverage around the country, including 30,000, some folks here right in District 13. And I'll be a vote for continuing the enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act to make sure that people have the ability to continue to access coverage through the ACA. And finally, I'll be a voice for consideration of alternatives in healthcare that position us truly to have affordable and accessible options for every person in the country in the long term. And then finally, on corruption, the first thing I'm going to do when I get elected is either introduce or sign on to a comprehensive anti-corruption bill that will overturn Citizens United, that will ban stock trading by members of Congress, that will put limits on dark money and politics and corporate packs and so forth, all of which I think we sorely need in order to improve the overall environment for political interaction in the country.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 9:34

Okay. And

Fixing The ACA Without Losing Coverage

Amanda Benbow Lunn 9:35

with your background in health care, do you think that the ACA is perfect as is, or are there ways that we could improve that? What are your thoughts on the ACA?

Paul Barringer 9:45

I definitely don't. So I've done a lot of work over the last 10 years to help state Medicaid programs improve their programs and operations. And I did a lot of work around the launch of the Affordable Care Act, working with different state-based exchanges to help improve their operations and get people enrolled in the coverage. And as you may recall, I mean it's a long time ago now, but when the ACA first rolled out, there was a lot of problems with the technology. They spent a ton of money on the exchanges, both at the state and federal level. And they both at the state and federal level, those technology platforms had a lot of issues. And so I was involved with a lot of kind of repair and restoration work related to the federal, but especially the state exchanges. And I saw in the work that I did with the state exchanges how impactful it could be when we got people enrolled in the coverage. So that's something that's always stuck with me. And I think it's very important because having access to health care is a very, very significant aspect of people's lives, right? To live a happy and healthy life, you need to have access to medical care. And so I think the first thing is to make sure that people have access to coverage options. And in the world that we live in right now, coverage is really what enables people to have care, right? Because the price of individual healthcare services is so high. If you don't have insurance, it's really hard for people to pay out of pocket for most things. And there are some things around the edges where people don't have coverage, but they find a way. But for the most part, people need to have healthcare coverage. And so we need to make sure that those systems are in place that help people get coverage, pay for it. And so I think the ACA does a lot to do that. Folks have been carping about the ACA ever since it was created, but I mean, I think they often forget that it was a Republican, Mitt Romney, who in Massachusetts led the health reform effort that really was the precursor to the ACA. And there have been Republicans, you know, we could go back many, many years and talk about Democrats and Republicans that have reformed, have proposed health reforms. And I was doing this the other day for someone and they said that's too long. You can't talk that long. But since we're on a podcast, maybe I can do that now. Oh, but Truman, right, proposed health care, like health care reform. Then it didn't pass. But Eisenhower proposed more limited reforms that were targeted at all folks. And then, of course, in the 60s, right, Johnson was president when they got the Medicare and Medicaid enacted. And then Nixon had a very comprehensive health reform plan that he proposed in the early 70s. And then, of course, Clinton proposed like a comprehensive health care reform in the 90s, which went nowhere. But then George W. Bush got Part D passed, which is drug coverage and Medicare. And then of course Barack Obama led, you know, Affordable Care Act. So my point is not to bore anyone with a history lesson, but it's just that there's Democrats and Republicans that have done things on healthcare through the years. And so I think that to think that we're in a policy impasse where you can't ever find a way to find common ground, I think, on healthcare. Maybe it's naive to think that we can in this environment, but I hope that it's possible. And I think we're going to need to find some common ground to move forward and help people have access both to coverage options that give them access to care, but that also don't bankrupt the country either.

Cost Of Living And Federal Levers

Amanda Benbow Lunn 12:52

What should Congress do about the cost of living, particularly housing, healthcare, and everyday household expenses?

Paul Barringer 12:59

Well, a lot of people have said this before. I mean, a lot of times there's a lot that the president can talk about, but often cannot do, right, when it comes to the economy. But the first rule ought to be do no harm. And unfortunately, this is an administration that has chosen to do things that are driving the cost of living higher, right? Especially the war and especially tariffs. And also, to some degree, immigration, right? Because the crackdown on immigration has made it harder for, especially in the ag sector, to for folks to find labor. And that then has cascading effects through the system. So we need to try to find a way to hold the administration accountable on the things that they're doing that are driving up costs for every single person in the country on the war, on tariffs and immigration. So I think that's the number one role for Congress around addressing cost of everyday living, right? And then from a healthcare standpoint, it really is making sure that people have access to options. And therefore, Congress needs to reverse the changes in the big beautiful bill that are going to lead to 11 plus million people losing coverage, continue the enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act in order to give people that access to coverage. But then also we really need to find new approaches in the longer term to get people access to coverage that's more affordable, not just at the point of service, but for the country as a whole, right? To bring down the underlying cost. Because if we can't do that, we're going to still have the same problem. Economists talk about if you subsidize something, you tend to get more of it. And the underlying cost tends to go up, right? And I think we've seen that in a number of sectors. So we I think subsidizing something in order to make it affordable in the long term is not the right direction to go. But cutting people's access to care and to coverage is not the right short-term strategy either. And then with housing, it does come back to tariffs and immigration in the war, too, right? Because those ripple effects through the economy of materials that are affected by higher transportation costs as a result of higher fuel costs due to the war, or those materials that are subject to greater tariffs that therefore we have higher costs for. Again, it comes back to the same underlying issues. We can help make those more affordable in part by addressing these issues and making sure that we don't have an administration which is intent on doing things which just drive costs higher for every single person in the country.

The War And A Path Forward

Amanda Benbow Lunn 15:23

And you've mentioned the war a few times. What do you feel like would be the way forward?

Paul Barringer 15:29

It's an almost intractable problem, I'll just be admit, right? Because the thing is, when you make a mess, right, you can't just sort of have it go away, right? The mess is there. Keep coming back to the analogy. If you had a cherry pie that you took out of the oven in a white carpet and you threw it on the carpet, right? I mean, it doesn't matter whether it was Democrat or Republican that threw the cherry pie in the carpet. The red is going to be hard to get out, right? Just a fact. But the thing is, they had an agreement with Iran 10 years ago that was painstakingly negotiated over approximately a two-year period that involved the international community that would have been involved in oversight and inspections of Iran's nuclear program. And I mean, I think eventually we're going to have to find a way to get back to that. And not that anyone can necessarily trust the Iranians, but I think it's been pretty clear that they're pretty savvy in terms of how they're approaching this too. So and it's hard for them. They've seen so many declarations of we've won or we control this or we don't. I mean, it's hard for them probably to have a lot of confidence of what exactly our commander-in-chief would do at any given point as well. So it will take dialogue and ultimately the international community, I think, to get back to a place where we have something that resembles what was achieved at the end of the Obama administration, which is maybe as imperfect, but is better than what we have right now.

Infrastructure For Fast Growing Communities

Amanda Benbow Lunn 16:52

What role should the federal government play in transportation and infrastructure in rapidly growing communities?

Paul Barringer 17:00

Well, I definitely feel that the government has a role to play in making investments in infrastructure, and also local communities have a role to play. So it has to be collaborative dialogue, the way it has worked in the past with infrastructure investments that the states can get access to funding to support, and there's cost share and you know state investments as well. I think there's great opportunities there. And I'm also very committed when I get elected to trying to find ways to bring additional resources to support our community, particularly where we need more infrastructure to support rapid growth in places like Southern Wake County and Johnston County and Harnett County.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 17:35

Okay.

Balancing Rapidly Growing & Established Communities

Amanda Benbow Lunn 17:36

How should a member of Congress balance the needs of rapidly growing communities with those of more established communities?

Paul Barringer 17:43

Well, I think that the things that the member of Congress should do is to show up and listen and try to discern what the true needs of the community are. And I think that means both the leadership in the community and also regular folks. So one thing that I'm totally committed to doing is to getting out there and talking to people and to being a presence in the community when I get elected. The current representative has done almost no in-person events open to the public in the district since getting elected. And we're going to do town halls. We've already done a whole series of eight town halls, one in every county in the district that we did in the second quarter. We're going to do the same thing in the third quarter or before the election because I believe it's really important to listen. And I'll continue to do that when I get elected. And I think that positions me to help kind of effectively balance needs and priorities across communities in the district, working with local leaders and also people in the community. All right.

AI Data Centers, Impacts, & Federal Role

Amanda Benbow Lunn 18:37

Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming a major driver of the global economy. How should the federal government balance maintaining America's leadership in AI, ensuring we don't fall behind globally while protecting the resources, environment, economic interest, and the quality of life for the American people?

Paul Barringer 18:55

Well, I mean, there's a lot there to unpack. And we're not going to put AI back in the bottle, but the impacts that AI and unconstrained, unrestrained growth, particularly of AI data centers, has on our communities is something that we need to be mindful of, especially given the absolutely enormous sums of money that the tech companies have that they're putting towards developing data centers in rural communities, including across District 13. So that's why I think that Congress has a role and the federal government has a role in creating standards around data centers. I think it's appropriate to have a pause, right? Let the people catch up a little bit because the companies have so much money, so much economic power. There's already AI that's developing now, right? But in terms of the development of data centers, let's put a pause on it just for a little while to figure out an approach that balances the needs of communities with the needs for us to continue to have leadership in this space. I think the potential impacts of not doing that are very substantial for our communities. Once we've cleared the land, these centers are massive, right? And you put in the concrete pad, you've got the noise, you haven't thought about the water, you haven't thought about the light pollution, all that. I mean, it has a lot of potentially negative impacts for communities that will not go away. So I think it's appropriate for there to be federal standards around how AI data centers, particularly the hyperscale data centers, should be created to minimize the impacts on the environments. But then also, I think people have a lot of concerns about what AI is going to do to employment, to the economy, to people's ability to have a life, right? So I think it's a fair consideration. I think it's a fair for us to have a pause around the development of, especially the hyperscale data centers, just to give the people a chance to catch up.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 20:45

Okay. Government

Security & Oversight Versus Privacy & Due Process Rights

Amanda Benbow Lunn 20:46

agencies now have access to an unprecedented amount of personal information from healthcare and benefits records, voter information, and data from automated license plate readers like flock cameras. Where do you believe the line should be drawn between the government's legitimate need to verify information, prevent fraud, and enforce the law and protect public safety and an individual's right to privacy and due process?

Paul Barringer 21:10

I think people have a right to privacy and people have a right to due process. So those are foundational. And then in terms of the technology, there should be limits and firewalls and controls and oversight and accountability in terms of how this data is being used. I think that's one of the biggest things that was concerning about what happened with Doge at the beginning of last year was that they grabbed access to incredible amounts of data. And then that aligned with the companies that they were contracting with that have tremendous AI models and computing power. I think everyone should have pause about the information that they have gained access to, right? I'll give an example around Social Security, the Social Security Administration or tax data. I mean, both of the IRS and Social Security Administration had limits around people. The government's and other parts of the government's ability to access that information. There are very few people within the IRS who had access to all the information that the agency held. And those controls should remain in place. We should have accountability, firewalls, oversight, and so forth. And I think we've seen an incredible erosion of that in the current administration. And we need to do more to take that back, to give people that right of privacy that they deserve, and also to make sure that their confidential and personal data is safeguarded. The government holds a lot of data. They have an incredible obligation to safeguard that.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 22:35

Okay. Do you think a warrant or other judicial authorization should be required before that's passed to different agencies or like law enforcement? Do you think federal standards should be held around that piece?

Paul Barringer 22:49

Yeah, I think so. However, they need to do the firewalls and protections, that could be part of it. But the main thing is making sure that people who shouldn't have access to your personal data do not have the ability to get access to that. And the things that have happened in the current administration do not give anyone reason to be comfortable or confident that that's not the case.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 23:12

Okay.

Approach to the Responsibilities and Decision-Making Authority of this Office

Amanda Benbow Lunn 23:13

How would you approach the responsibilities and the decision-making authority of this particular office?

Paul Barringer 23:19

The responsibility of being a member of Congress. Well, I mean, first and foremost, I if I'm a representative, I mean the word represent is right there in the name, right? So I've got to get out and talk to people, gotta listen to people. I've always believed you learn a lot more by listening than by talking. So we got to listen to everyone. And my goal is not to represent the Democrats in the district. I'm running as a Democrat, but I want to represent the Democrats and the Republicans, everybody. So I have to find ways to identify and support positions that are in a line with as many people as possible in the district. So we're gonna do events, we'll be present, we'll get around, we'll listen, we'll learn people's needs, and we'll try to advocate for and represent those needs effectively as part of the legislative process in Washington.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 24:02

Okay. What do you believe voters misunderstand about what a member of Congress can and cannot do?

Paul Barringer 24:08

Well, it's a good question. I mean, I have got some random questions for people that will say, like, well, can you help me with this? Like, uh, I mean, one person was really fired up about his shop on the street, like the cars kept running into it, and like, what can I do about that? Like, I can't, I don't know that I could do anything about that. And, you know, you got to do this. How are you gonna hold this person accountable? How are you gonna get this passed? Well, I mean, I'm what I would be one person, right? And one of the newest people in the whole place, but I will be a voice for people here, and I will do my best to represent those effectively, and I'll listen to everybody's concerns and try to find a way to bring those forward.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 24:46

Okay.

Deciding What Takes Precedence

Amanda Benbow Lunn 24:47

When priorities compete or resources are limited, how would you decide what takes precedence?

Paul Barringer 24:52

I think it comes back to what are people saying here in the district and how can I best represent as many people as possible here in the district? It's like comes back to that word represent. How do I show up? How do I be their person, their voice, and align with the needs and interests that they have? That's my top focus.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 25:09

Okay.

Paul Barringer 25:09

And that's not just the people that voted for me, that's the people who didn't vote for me.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 25:13

What

Accountability: What & How

Amanda Benbow Lunn 25:14

should voters hold you accountable for if you're elected and how?

Paul Barringer 25:18

Well, they should hold me accountable for all the stuff I said, right? Did I work on healthcare? Did I try to get things done that would help bring down prices? Did I work around, try to bring additional ethics and to integrity rules into the process as part of the anti-corruption effort? Did I actually listen to them? Did I get out? Did we do town halls? Are we bringing resources back into the district that help support different projects? And I'll do my best on all of that. So all of these things I think I would expect them to hold me accountable for the next election, right? If I can get elected, I think I might try again after one term. But I will say this, I'm gonna do the right thing no matter what it is, and I'll do the right thing for the district. And if I lose by doing the right thing, you know, after one term, that's okay too, because I think it's very important to do the right thing.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 26:01

Mm-hmm.

How To Learn More

Amanda Benbow Lunn 26:02

And as we wrap up, is there anything we haven't discussed that you would like voters to know or anything from our conversation that you'd like to expand upon or clarify?

Paul Barringer 26:11

Well, probably the biggest thing is just that we'd love to have people learn more. You can find out more about our campaign at paulbaringer.com. And for those who are interested, I hope you'll reach out and with any questions that you have. And if folks are interested in volunteering, we would love to have your help. At paulbaringer.com, there's an events tab where you can find out about events that we have and also a volunteer tab where you can see about volunteer opportunities. So this is a red district, right? But my feeling all along was that in a red district, if I could get through the primary and run as a very moderate candidate that focused on common sense, kind of like real kitchen table issues and trying to represent the district, that we had an opportunity. And I think we do have an opportunity. I think we can win in November, but we would love to do it with anyone here who's interested. So it's like I say to people, we're gonna win this election. We have to win, but we're gonna do it together. So anyone who's out there who's listening and would be interested in learning more or volunteering, please check out our website and we would love to have uh to hear from you and to have your help.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 27:13

All right, perfect. And I think that is all. Thank you so much, Paul, for taking the time. I know campaigning is a very, very busy season and you've your time is u very limited. So I appreciate you taking the time to speak with us today and sharing all of your thoughts. And I wish you the best of luck on your campaign.

Paul Barringer 27:30

Amanda, thank you so much. I know you have a lot going on too, so it's great to be on the podcast, and I just really appreciate the chance to share some information and to get to have this good conversation.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 27:40

Thank you.

Closing Reflections & Voting Info

Amanda Benbow Lunn 27:42

Democracy is built on participation. Politics can sometimes feel distant or abstract, but the decisions made by our elected officials at the county, state, and federal levels have a profound effect on the communities we call home and the way we live our lives. From the roads we drive on and the schools our children attend to public safety, parks and recreation, housing, health care, taxes, the economy, and the many other services and amenities that make up our communities, government plays a role in shaping both our everyday experience and our future. That makes taking the time to understand the choices on your ballot and the people asking for your vote an important part of being an engaged member of your community. Early voting for the 2026 midterm election begins October 15th and runs through October 31st. In Southern Wake County, there will be early voting locations at the Hunt Center in Holly Springs, the Hilltop Needmore Town Park Clubhouse in Fuquay Varina, Beech Bluff County Park, and Southern Wake Tech campus close by. Election Day is November 3rd. A general reminder that you will need a valid photo ID to vote. The regular voter registration deadline is October 9th, although you may still register when you vote during the early voting period. Please note that you cannot register to vote on Election Day itself, and that that day you will absolutely have to vote at your designated precinct location to have access to your full ballot. And because there are so many races and ballot measures this year, your ballot will likely be double-sided. It can be helpful to start on the back so that you don't accidentally overlook anything. You'll vote for the races that apply to your jurisdiction along with statewide amendments and for Southern Wake County voters, local Wake County bond referenda. Voting is one of the ways we take part in the communities we share. You don't have to agree with your neighbors or even with the candidates you've heard here to recognize that our communities are shaped by the people who show up, ask questions, learn about the choices before them, and cast their ballots. So please take the time to get informed, make your voice heard, and encourage the people around you to do the same. Your vote matters, your voice matters, and you absolutely matter, my friend. And with that, this episode of the NC Deep Dive has come to an end. Please feel free to check out this episode's show notes at ncdeepdive.com for further information and relevant links for this candidate along with general election information. As always, if you have any topics or thoughts you'd like to share, you can find us on social media or email us at ncdeepdive at gmail.com. If you found value in this episode, I'd love for you to subscribe, rate, and share it so that others may more easily be informed. Please make sure to stay tuned for all the relevant candidate, amendment, and referenda episodes for the 2026 midterm election by visiting ncdeepdive.com, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, or wherever you currently listen to your podcast. Until next time, my friends, Namaste. The Love and Light in Me sees and honors the love and light in you.