Dan Besse

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Dan Besse

Democratic Party

Forsyth County Board of Commissioners At-Large

Tenure

2022 - Present

Term ends

2026

Years in position

2

Predecessor

Ted Kaplan

Prior offices

Winston-Salem City Council Southwest Ward

Successor: Kevin Mundy

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Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 8, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1977

Law

North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Law, 1980

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Dan Besse (Democratic Party) is an at-large member of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners in North Carolina. He assumed office on December 5, 2022. His current term ends on December 7, 2026.

Besse (Democratic Party) ran for election for an at-large seat of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners in North Carolina. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Besse completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Dan Besse earned a bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1977. He earned a law degree from the North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Law in 1980.

Elections

2022

See also: Municipal elections in Forsyth County, North Carolina (2022)

General election

General election for Forsyth County Board of Commissioners At-Large

Dan Besse defeated Terri Mrazek in the general election for Forsyth County Board of Commissioners At-Large on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dan Besse (D)	55.1	73,278
	Submit photo	Terri Mrazek (R)	44.9	59,609

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 132,887
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Forsyth County Board of Commissioners At-Large

Dan Besse defeated incumbent Ted Kaplan in the Democratic primary for Forsyth County Board of Commissioners At-Large on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dan Besse	60.7	12,857
	Submit photo	Ted Kaplan	39.3	8,334

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 21,191
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Terri Mrazek advanced from the Republican primary for Forsyth County Board of Commissioners At-Large.

2020

See also: North Carolina House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 74

Jeff Zenger defeated Dan Besse in the general election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 74 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jeff Zenger (R)	51.2	27,843
		Dan Besse (D)	48.8	26,550

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 54,393
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Dan Besse advanced from the Democratic primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 74.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Jeff Zenger advanced from the Republican primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 74.

2018

See also: North Carolina House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 75

Incumbent Donny C. Lambeth defeated Dan Besse in the general election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 75 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Donny C. Lambeth (R)	53.1	17,652
		Dan Besse (D)	46.9	15,599

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 33,251
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 75

Dan Besse advanced from the Democratic primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 75 on May 8, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Dan Besse

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 75

Incumbent Donny C. Lambeth advanced from the Republican primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 75 on May 8, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Donny C. Lambeth

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Municipal elections in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (2016)

A general election for the mayor's office and all eight city council seats in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, took place on November 8, 2016. A primary election took place on March 15, 2016, in the city council's Northeast, Northwest and South wards. A special primary election was held in the South Ward on June 7, 2016, after a recount revealed ballot errors discussed here. The 2016 election was the first even-year election for the city's mayor and city council following a 2011 state law moving municipal elections from odd years. Incumbent Dan Besse ran unopposed in the Winston-Salem City Council Southwest Ward general election.

Winston-Salem City Council Southwest Ward, General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Dan Besse Incumbent (unopposed)	100.00%	10,903
Total Votes				10,903
Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections, "2016 General Election Unofficial Results," November 8, 2016

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Dan Besse completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Besse's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm committed to public service for our community. I served for 19 years representing the people of Winston-Salem as a City Council Member. I'm also an attorney who has spent my professional career working to improve public health, a clean environment, and equitable access to affordable health care, good housing, good public education, and good job opportunities for all. I grew up in Hickory, NC, in a modest neighborhood of working families, and graduated from the public schools and UNC-Chapel Hill. I spent a decade as a legal aid attorney in poor counties of coastal NC before making my home in Forsyth County since 1993. I have also served, by appointment of both a Democratic and a Republican governor, as a member of state boards charged with protecting clean water and air and public health, including the Environmental Management Commission and Coastal Resources Commission. As a representative of the City of Winston-Salem, I have worked with leaders from other cities, towns, and counties in our region for good transportation, clean air, and economic development. I am married to Daisy Rodriguez, and was delighted to be welcomed into the family by her three adult children and multiple grandchildren. I have a special interest in promoting the broadest possible access to parks, sidewalks, bike trails, and greenways.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Forsyth County needs an At-Large County Commissioner who understands that they represent all the people of Forsyth, including residents of the city, towns, and rural areas. County citizenship does not stop at the city lines.
• Forsyth County needs to focus on bridging the gaps in access to good public schools, health care, affordable housing, and economic opportunity for all. Your family's education and quality of life should not depend on your zip code.
• The At-Large Commissioner must be active and accessible in the community at large--showing up, listening, and responding to county residents all across Forsyth.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

--Public education.

--Health care and public health.
--Public safety.
--Clean environment.
--Good affordable housing.
--Good jobs and economic opportunity.
--Human rights and dignity for all.
--Parks and greenways.
--Balanced transportation system.

• • All of these areas should be "for all."

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2020

Dan Besse did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Noteworthy events

Decision to self-quarantine for coronavirus on March 18, 2020

See also: Government official, politician, and candidate deaths, diagnoses, and quarantines due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020-2021

On March 18, 2020, Besse announced a two-week self-quarantine after attending a conference with two individuals that later tested positive for coronavirus.

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Candidate

Forsyth County Board of Commissioners At-Large

Website

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Ted Kaplan (D)	Forsyth County Board of Commissioners At-Large 2022-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	Winston-Salem City Council Southwest Ward 2001-2020	Succeeded by Kevin Mundy (D)