Lisa Baker
Lisa Baker, the Democratic candidate for the N.C. House of Representatives District 36 seat, said she has a deep passion to serve her community. She said it was that passion that caused her to throw her hat into the ring and run for office.
Baker believes that she is the best person to serve in this position and hopes voters agree when they head to the polls on Tuesday.
“The opportunity to run for the N.C. House was presented to me about 11 weeks ago after the previous candidate chose not to stay in the race,” she said. “I am pleased with the opportunity to run and be a voice for many who, like myself, have felt poorly represented in our district.”
Baker, 51, has lived in North Carolina all her life. She grew up in Franklin County on her family’s farm and moved to Wake County more than 28 years ago to pursue a job with the state in water quality.
While Baker has never held a public office, she has served as the president of her Home Owners’ Association for 12 years and Lufkin Road Middle School Band Booster president. She also has led multiple committees at Woodhaven Baptist Church and served on various volunteer committees at area schools.
Still, Baker believes she can be of service to the greater area by running for the House seat.
“I wanted to reach beyond my HOA in a way that would assist more people with improvements in our community,” she said.
Baker feels that North Carolina needs more secure jobs, improvements to road infrastructure and solid public education.
Her idea of solid education includes expansions in vocational education opportunities.
“I will work to return full funding to our public schools, expand vocational training in our high schools and beyond and make legislative and organizational decisions that will support our small businesses so they can grow.”
If elected, Baker said she’ll vote based on the information she gathers from experts, other elected officials and her constituents.
“People should vote for me because I am a regular person with common values and common sense practices,” she said. “I am a citizen running to help create a citizen’s legislature.”
Nelson Dollar
Nelson Dollar, 51, has served as a member of the N.C. House for District 36 for four terms. Although he has served the state for eight years, he does not believe his work is done and seeks re-election on Tuesday.
“It’s been my honor to represent the citizens of the 36th District,” he said. “As a member of the new majority in the General Assembly, I am pleased to be part of the leadership team that successfully passed jobs legislation, education reform and balanced State Budgets which reduced your tax burden.”
In office, Dollar serves as the chair of the House Appropriations and Health and Human Services Committees. In a fifth term, he said he would continue to better the lives of North Carolinians by working to reform government and helping pass landmark legislation.
Dollar’s top priority is to reform the state’s education system.
“For K-12 we must focus our resources in the classroom, improve technology, reward the best teachers and measure the progress of each student to insure their success,” Dollar said. “We must also continue to strengthen our community college and university systems and insure programs fully prepare students to succeed in the global economy of the 21st Century.”
Among his other priorities are making North Carolina the most business-friendly state in America and keeping taxes low for families.
“In this past session, we began the process by passing landmark regulatory reform, workers compensation reform and tort reform. We eliminated state taxes for the first $50,000 of net income for small businesses. Moving forward we need to further streamline the process of starting a business and better support existing businesses wishing to expand. We need to modernize our arcane tax code, closing loopholes and lowering marginal tax rates.
“I remain opposed to increasing taxes at a time when the recovery in the economy remains weak and unemployment remains high. Our tax policy should encourage investment and reward growth. Marginal tax rates need to be reduced to make our State more competitive; and the tax system needs to be modernized and simplified for all taxpayers.”
Dollar is a lifelong resident of North Carolina. Born in Burlington, he moved to Wake County with Gov. Jim Martin’s administration in 1984. Dollar and his wife, Lorrie, live in Cary and have one son. The Dollar family attends Colonial Baptist Church.
He has a long history in public service. Dollar has more than 40 years of involvement with the Boy Scouts of America and currently serves at the vice-chairman for the Hemlock District.
During his time in office, Dollar has received several awards. His awards include the Presidential Award given by the North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians, and the Visionary Award from Prevent Blindness North Carolina.
“The nonpartisan Center for Public Policy Research ranked me as one of the most effective members of the North Carolina House. I have been endorsed by a range of groups from the N.C. Chamber of Commerce and National Federation of Independent Business to the N.C. State Employees Association and the Police Benevolent Association.”
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