Southey Blanton (D)

Southey Blanton

• Biography

  I grew up in North Carolina the son of a public school teacher, attended public school and currently have four children in NC public schools in ABSS. For my day job I work at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Social work training child welfare workers and foster/resource parents. Being involved in public education and social work has shown me just how much more support both those systems need. You can learn more about me at Southey4Senate.com or follow me at instagram.com/southey4senate or tiktok.com/@southey4senate

• What motivated you to run for the General Assembly? What would you want Alamance County residents to be able to point to at the end of your next term?

  I'm running because public education is being slowly dismantled and we have to put a stop to it. I'm running because greed and corporate interests are more important to the current General Assembly than paying teachers. By the end of my term I would want residents to see tangible results for public schools, students, and teachers as well as guardrails and limits on everything from data centers and Flock cameras to Duke Energy rates.

• What are the three issues facing Alamance County that most require action from the General Assembly?

  1. Public Education Funding/Teacher Pay 2. Energy Rate Increases 3. Continued reductions in corporate tax rates

• The Alamance-Burlington School System ranks near the bottom of North Carolina districts in total per-pupil funding, and county commissioners raised property taxes this year while still funding the school system below its request. What is the state’s responsibility here, and what specifically would you support in Raleigh?

  I believe for fiscal year 26-27 they actually kept property taxes flat, but issues at the county level are downstream of inaction and deliberate underfunding from Raleigh. North Carolina is heading towards an entire phase out of corporate income taxes. That choice coupled with an education lottery that is no longer required to actually meet revenue requirements means that we are eliminating revenue that could go to schools year after year. That leads to broken HVAC systems, leaking roofs, overcrowded classrooms, and further struggles for districts all across the state.

• Alamance County officials have described a structural budget gap and limited local revenue options, including a local-option sales tax that voters have repeatedly rejected and a state property tax exemption that has reduced revenue from new apartment construction. What changes to state revenue and funding rules for counties would you support?

  We could reverse the phase out of corporate income taxes, re-establish a required percentage of lottery funds, and combine that with raising income tax rates on the wealthiest .01% and 1% and see immediate results when it comes to revenue. We could also direct funds being used on AI tutors and other programs and Ed Tech that reduce cognitive function in kids and instead spend those funds on actual staff like teacher aides, therapists, or school nurses.

• Alamance County is growing quickly. Which type of infrastructure — roads, water and sewer capacity, or school construction — needs state money the most in the next session. Where should that money come from?

  Alamance is one of the fastest growing counties in the entire state. More families moving here means overcrowding in our schools. Our local school system has done a ton of really hard work laying out a plan to address school overcrowding but we are already in need of new schools in certain areas of the county. You fund these projects by generating revenue from the wealthiest individuals, making corporations pay more income tax that retirees and individual tax payers, and you also work on legislation to require additional revenue from any project that doesn't actually produce jobs, such as a data center. If a data center is built and takes up hundreds of acres of land and resources but only produces a handful of jobs, we make the company or operator offset that with additional taxes or fees so they don't get to exploit Alamance County or any county in North Carolina.

• Alamance County spent much of the past year under drought conditions, and state regulators have documented water quality problems in the Haw River. What state action would you support on water supply and water quality?

  Until we find a way to control the weather, we have to work on building out more resilient systems. That means strategic reserves based on data that shows what areas are more likely to feel drought effects first. Alamance has been near the epic center of the current drought and actually still sits in an area of moderate drought. As far as water quality, allocating funds to organizations such as the Haw River Assembly who already have a robust testing operation but operate on a shoestring budget allows people who have intimate knowledge of that ecosystem to help monitor and report issues. Then there need to be stiff penalties and consequences for people who are found to be affecting water quality.

• What would you do at the state level to address the cost of living for Alamance County residents — including housing, child care, education and health care?

  Helping the cost of living means building more housing, raising the minimum wage, subsidizing more child care and helping to open more in-home child cares to let more residents enter the workforce while keeping child care costs low. Providing free breakfast and lunch in all public schools helps families with food costs. Funding Medicaid also helps to ensure North Carolinians can see a doctor when they need one.

• How would you work with legislators from the other party, and how would you decide when to break with your own caucus? Please give an example of a position where you would be willing to break with your own caucus.

  You work with legislators from the other party because when you get to the General Assembly you are on the same team. The only goal is to improve the quality of life for everyone from Murphy to Manteo. Building a state that people not only want to live in, but stay in, raise a family in, and fight for means you have to know what other parts of the state needs are, and that will require talking to other senators.

• If elected (or re-elected) to the General Assembly how would you ensure that Alamance County residents and local government officials have input into legislation?

  I would talk to them. The same way I've been talking to them at the hundreds of doors I have knocked so far on this campaign. Open and simple lines of communication whether in social media, phone and email, or establishing a regular schedule of town halls so that voters know where I will be and when so they can come and talk to me. I'd also love to create a dashboard that keeps constituents aware of what lobbyists I'm speaking with, what committees I am on and who I am meeting with, and how many emails, calls, or requests for assistance we have handled. I'm running this race because for too long voters haven't had any input on what happens in Raleigh. We can change that.