John,

This is going to be another long one—I’ve been trying to be better about keeping these short for you, but sometimes we just need to talk about ideas that are too big for that. I hope you’ll stick around to the end, because this is a topic that matters, but if you’re in a hurry this morning, no worries, and I appreciate any support you can give our campaign: [link removed]

At the beginning of November 1789, our young country was still very much finding its feet. Peace and independence had been secured from the British only a few short years earlier, and the American experiment in democracy was just getting underway. I think it must have been an exciting time for our state—we were laying the cornerstones of our future, our course had not yet been set, and anything must have seemed possible.

It’s always struck me as incredible that one of the first things our leaders did, one of their top priorities for our state, was public education. In fact, at the beginning of November 1789, on the second day of the month, the nascent General Assembly passed an act establishing the University of North Carolina—nearly three weeks before we got around to ratifying the United State Constitution.

That says a lot about their priorities, and over the next few centuries, the UNC system and its seventeen campuses rose to become the crown jewel of a public education system that for much of our history has been the envy of the entire nation. If you wanted to make something of yourself in America, you could pay a whole lot of money and go to a prestigious ivy league school like Harvard or Yale or Princeton, sure. But our leaders wanted our people to have a better option.

Our leaders said that if you were smart and you worked hard, you could get an equally good and equally prestigious education right here, at a North Carolina Public University, without needing to be part of the wealthy élite or taking on a lifetime of debt.

And that’s down to those early founders deciding from day one that in our state, in North Carolina, education should be a public good. That’s pretty remarkable, don’t you think?

But the recent past hasn’t been so rosy.

Over the last decade of Republican governance in our state, legislative leaders have been partaking in a heist—the theft of our education system’s crown jewel. Through mismanagement and power grabs, they’ve slowly chipped away at the UNC system’s autonomy and its ability to do good for our people.

- They’ve taken over boards and filled them with their cronies.

- They’ve subverted and undermined the universities’ autonomy to score political points.

- They’ve slashed funding for education year-over-year, making it harder and harder to meet student needs and retain talent.

And you’ve probably heard about the news this week that UNC Chancellor Guskiewicz is planning to leave Carolina for Michigan State, after only four years on the job. I wish I could say I was surprised, but Chancellor Guskiewicz’s departure is little more than a microcosm of what we’re seeing all across the state.

The UNC Chancellor’s job will be just another vacant state position, joining the nearly 25% of all the jobs the state has to offer that are currently unfilled. Because that’s what happens when the state doesn’t invest in the success of its people. That’s what happens when we won’t fund our education system properly. That’s what happens when we create a hostile environment from Cullowhee to Elizabeth City in order to get a win in some cheap political game.

It’s madness and it has to stop.

So what do we do about it?

The only way we’ll change how our legislature operates is to change who’s in our legislature. To elect more lawmakers who actually respect the crown jewel of our public education system for what it is. And that's going to mean that we need to turn out lots of voters next year for Democrats—and not just in our big urban areas and suburbs. If we want to have a hope of taking back our state government, we have to compete in places where we haven't in a long time, and win votes we haven’t in a long time.

The primary elections are just a few short months away, in March, and when the dust settles on them, there’s a very real chance that I’ll be the only candidate on our ticket who grew up in rural North Carolina. We need Democrats out on the stump who can get out into rural communities, talk to the people there like people, and make the economic case for why Democrats will improve their lives.

So if you believe it’s time to catch the GOP red-handed and stop them before they’ve completely stolen North Carolina’s crown jewel, if you believe we need statewide candidates who can get out into every community and talk to voters who haven’t heard from us in far too long, if you believe that together, we can take our state back, then I’m asking you to chip in today with anything you can.

Every bit will help us do more and reach more voters so we can flip North Carolina blue next year.

DONATE NOW: [link removed]

Thanks for sticking with me to the end on this one—and thanks for sticking with me in this race. Your support means the world to me.

Have a great weekend,
Wesley Harris

Wesley Harris is a North Carolina native and the only PhD economist in the General Assembly. First elected in 2018, he has been fighting hard for the residents of southern Mecklenburg County and working to make our state the best place in the country to live, work, and start a family. Now, Wesley is running for Treasurer to make an investment in our state's greatest asset, it's people. Together, Wesley believes that we can unlock our potential and build opportunity for every North Carolinian.

www.harrisfornc.com

Paid for by Wesley Harris for NC
Wesley Harris for NC
P.O. Box 77764
Charlotte, NC 28271
United States

If you believe you received this message in error or wish to no longer receive email from us, please unsubscribe: [link removed] .