Two Women Face Off for the Open Seat in NC House 98

 

NC House District 98 is in far north Mecklenburg County, encompassing the towns of Davidson, Cornelius, and Huntersville and a lot of Charlotte suburbs. In the blue wave of 2018, Democrat Christy Clark took the seat, but Republican John Bradford took it back in 2020 by a slim margin and won it again in 2022 by an even slimmer 660 votes. Bradford opted last December to sign up for the Republican primary for the 8th Congressional District, losing to preacherman-with-a-shady-past Mark Harris. So the seat is now open for the taking. Civitas rates the district R+1.

Bales

The Democrats have a viable candidate in Beth Helfrich, who has a good shot if she's supported at the head of the ticket by an energizing presidential candidate. But Helfrich is facing an accomplished Republican woman who's an experienced campaigner. Helfrich is a first-time candidate.

Melinda Bales, Republican

Bales has been a Huntersville Town Commissioner and then Mayor for a total of 11 years. She touts her work on economic development/workforce development issues, transportation needs, and affordable housing. It's fair to say she's a "business Republican," which is at least "country club" adjacent. She serves on the Centralina Economic Development District Board of Directors, Centralina Connect Beyond Committee, MTC, and the Lake Norman Economic Development Board of Directors. She also serves as co-chair of the Lake Norman Education Collaborative which is the educational arm of the Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce. She doesn't look MAGA at all.  Her social media stays far away from Donald J. Trump, and she even celebrated Juneteenth on her FB page.

She's running as a "soft" Republican woman in a largely suburban district, which makes perfect sense. But in the NC House, will her moderation mean a damn thing? No. She owes her allegiance to the Republican caucus, which just announced incidentally that they're shoveling $475,000 into media for her campaign. Republicans intend to keep this seat.

Beth Helfrich, Democrat

Helfrich lives in Davidson, is a graduate of Davidson College, the mother of five children, very active in the community in support of the schools, and started her own editing business, Honed--A Writing Company, which helps business startups with their written communications. (Editors are among the unsung heroes of this or any world. She was an English teacher in public schools for over a decade.)

Helfrich has some boots on the ground with at least one big canvass announced for July. She'll need more.

Helfrich has been endorsed by Lillian's List and a bunch more progressive groups, and NC Dems Chair Anderson Clayton has stumped for her.