Shootout in New Hanover's Senate Dist. 7

 

NC Senate Dist. 7 (New Hanover County, including Wilmington, minus the mainly Black neighborhoods of Wilmington that were gerrymandered away and shoved over into Senate Dist. 8*) is rated by Civitas as R+2, by Bryan Anderson as R+5. and by Dave's Redistricting as 51.3% R to 46.1% D. The latest Republican gerrymander that took away those Black and working class precincts was an obvious bid to blunt any Democratic uprising against the Berger/Moore dictatorship in Raleigh, but this is going to be a Democratic year, and partisan leans plus wicked gerrymandering can't always overcome the fury of the people. UNC-Wilmington, for just one factor in turnout, should be on fire to vote.

David Hill, Democrat

In the old South, physicians were often regarded as the local aristocracy. David Hill is a pediatric specialist who's now building a career as a speaker and podcaster on children's health ("Pediatrics On Call"). He currently works as a hospitalist pediatrician for Goldsboro Pediatrics in Wayne County. He's also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the UNC School of Medicine.

This is from his consulting service webpage, not his campaign's:

Dr. Hill traces his comfort with public speaking back to middle school, when he was the voice of Snowden Junior High’s morning announcements. Since then he has honed his speaking style in his four years as president of his medical school class, ten years as a commentator on National Public Radio affiliates WUNC and WHQR, and three years as Program Director in charge of the AAP Council on Communications and Media’s academic offerings. Dr. Hill loves to entertain when he informs, and he has trained with Wilmington comedian Brooklyn Green and workshopped with Chicago’s Second City Theater to ensure that his talks are as entertaining as they are informative. [Comedian Brooklyn Green held a virtual fundraiser for him in July.]

You go, Dr. Hill!

He developed an expertise in the health effects of media on children and adolescents and speaks on that topic often. (On his professional webpage you can find one 30-second spot on children and cell phones that seems sensible.)  Plus he's an author of books on parenting, because he himself "has been a working dad, a stay-at-home-dad, a married dad, a single dad, and a blended family dad. His first book, Dad to Dad: Parenting Like a Pro, draws on all of these experiences. His most recent book, Co-parenting Through Separation and Divorce: Putting Your Children First, helps parents work through the challenges of dividing a family. As a speaker he brings expertise, empathy and humor to the mission of helping families unlock the potential of parenting in all its forms."

In other words, this guy's got energy and talent and maybe some communication know-how to engage a large audience of voters in New Hanover.

Curiously, David Hill's campaign has no Twitter but it does have an active Facebook page where you can see his first TV ad and get info that no campaign website can ever adequately illustrate -- how much activity, how much voter enthusiasm, where's the candidate going, who's he seeing? Social media can be a gauge of a campaign's health. Also a kind of shield. But Hill appears to have a ground game going, and that's what it will take. Because....

Michael Lee, Republican incumbent

...Michael Lee is rolling in the dough. According to Peter Castagno in the Port City Daily, the NC Senate Caucus and the NCGOP generally have promised to pump in over $2 million to keep Lee in his seat. And according to Castagno, Lee is also a darling of the casino gambling industry. He received at least $38,000 from them.

That campaign largess is clearly visible on Lee's campaign website, with lots of professional video and splashy graphics emphasizing how moderate and concerned Lee is, how interested in "compassion and inclusivity" he is, how not a trumpist nor playing to the MAGA hoard. But Governor Roy Cooper called out Lee for his hypocrisy in campaigning in 2022 on keeping the 20-week abortion ban, then promptly voting for the new 12-week ban. His campaign themes now all have to do with taxes -- Republican pabulum, and as far away from hot-button MAGA obsessions as he can get.

His Twitter feed puts you in mind of an affable Democrat who doesn't want to offend anyone, "committed to prioritizing civility, finding common ground, and fostering cooperation to address the needs of our community." He's very concerned about water safety and holding polluters liable, especially because the pollution of the Cape Fear by the Chemours Corp. with "forever chemicals" is a big local issue. But who does he vote with, always? Why, the Republican super-majority in the Senate. That's the proof in this pudding.

Lee makes his living as a development attorney in his own Wilmington-based law firm, Lee Kaess.

*About which I wrote on this blog, "This Right Here Needs To Be a Federal Lawsuit."