Marcia Morey, candidate for NC House District 30

Name: Marcia Morey

Political party: Democrat

Age as of Nov. 8, 2022: 67

Campaign website: https://www.marciamorey.com/

Occupation: Lawyer/retired judge

Education: Law degree, Northwestern School of Law; Master’s in teaching, Reed College; BA, Millikin University

Have you run for elected office before? 1984, Richland Community College Trustee; 1999- 2017, District Court Judge; 2017 to present, NC state House

Please list highlights of your civic involvement: In 1994, I started Durham’s Teen Court; volunteer with Habitat for Humanity; served on Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham, Violence Prevention Task Force, Child Fatality Task Force; UNC adjunct law professor, Governor’s Executive Director of Juvenile Justice Commission; member of Governor’s Racial Equity Task Force and Juvenile Sentencing Review Board.

What are the three issues that you see as most important to your district and what will you do to address them?

Funding public education/health care/community safety. I support the mandates of the Leandro decision to ensure public school children receive a sound, basic education. We must improve educator pay and maintain our facilities. Medicaid expansion is critically important and should be the top priority in the next legislative session. Community safety means sensible gun safety and I will continue to work for safe storage laws, extreme risk protective orders (red flag laws) and background checks.

At a time when costs are rising, state government has a surplus. How should it be used?

To fund public education and give state retirees a cost-of-living-adjustment.

Will you vote for Medicaid expansion in North Carolina?

Yes.

What has the legislature gotten right, and what has it gotten wrong, about public education in North Carolina?

Under Gov. Hunt, NC was a leader in public education. Over the last 12 years, we have fallen woefully behind in teacher pay. Too much money has been transferred to charter schools and opportunity scholarships. We have politicized the UNC Board of Governors. We must focus on universal Pre-K and not try to micromanage classroom teaching. We need to work in partnership with parents and get them involved more.

Should North Carolina change its abortion laws? How?

There should be fewer restrictions on abortion after 20 weeks.

Please add anything else voters should know about your position on the legality or availability of abortion in North Carolina.

As soon as the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling, I introduced HB 1119, “Reproductive Freedom Act,” which would put the guarantees of Roe v. Wade into NC’s state statute.

Should medical marijuana be legalized in North Carolina?

Yes.

What, if anything, should the legislature do to shape curriculum dealing with topics of race, sexuality and gender?

The legislature needs to work with administrators, teachers, parents to obtain the best educational opportunities for all. If there is one thing we have learned over the last several years, it is we must learn from history, about our history, so we don’t repeat harms and mistakes.

Do you accept the results of the 2020 presidential election?

Yes.