Ed Higgins
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Ed Higgins is a Republican at-large member of the New Hanover County Board of Education in North Carolina. He first won election to the board in 1994. Higgins advanced from a May 6, 2014, primary election against four other Republican candidates. He faced six candidates for four available seats in the general election on November 4, 2014, where he won his sixth-consecutive term.
Biography
Higgins earned his B.A. in accounting from Catawba College. He later earned an MBA from UNC-Wilmington and a J.D. from Wake Forest University. Higgins previously served as the department chair for the county's Public Service Department. He currently works as a law instructor at Cape Fear Community College. Higgins and his wife, Pamela, have three adult children.[1]
Elections
2014
Ed Higgins advanced from the May 6, 2014, Republican primary against Jim Brumit, Janice Cavenaugh, Don Hayes and Bruce Shell. He faced Cavenaugh, Hayes and Shell as well as Democratic candidates Tom Gale, Chris Meek and Emma Saunders in the November 4, 2014, general election.
Results
General
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Janice Cavenaugh Incumbent |
16.1% | 34,666 | |
| Republican | Bruce Shell |
15.4% | 33,275 | |
| Republican | Don Hayes Incumbent |
14.6% | 31,540 | |
| Republican | Ed Higgins Incumbent |
14.2% | 30,700 | |
| Democratic | Emma Saunders | 13.9% | 30,101 | |
| Democratic | Tom Gale | 13% | 28,159 | |
| Democratic | Chris Meek | 12.7% | 27,524 | |
| Total Votes | 215,965 | |||
| Source: North Carolina Board of Elections, "2014 General Election Results," accessed December 30, 2014 | ||||
Primary
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Don Hayes Incumbent |
22.4% | 8,177 | |
| Republican | Bruce Shell |
21.6% | 7,874 | |
| Republican | Ed Higgins Incumbent |
20% | 7,314 | |
| Republican | Janice Cavenaugh Incumbent |
19.6% | 7,147 | |
| Republican | Jim Brumit | 16.4% | 5,970 | |
| Total Votes | 36,482 | |||
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections, " 05/06/2014 OFFICIAL PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS - NEW HANOVER," May 13, 2014 | ||||
Funding
Higgins had not reported any contributions or expenditures to the North Carolina State Board of Elections as of October 23, 2014.[2]
Endorsements
Higgins had not received any official endorsements as of April 29, 2014.
2010
| New Hanover County Schools, At-large General Election, 4-year term, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Janice Cavenaugh Incumbent |
15.5% | 35,627 | |
| Republican | Don Hayes Incumbent |
14.8% | 34,024 | |
| Republican | Derrick Hickey |
14.6% | 33,700 | |
| Republican | Ed Higgins Incumbent |
14.6% | 33,698 | |
| Democratic | Nick Rhodes, Jr. | 11.4% | 26,350 | |
| Democratic | Joyce Huguelet | 10.4% | 23,971 | |
| Democratic | Philip Stine | 9.5% | 21,843 | |
| Democratic | William Clancy Thompson | 9.2% | 21,144 | |
| Total Votes | 230,357 | |||
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Contest: NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION," accessed April 29, 2014 | ||||
Campaign themes
2014
Higgins explained his views on issues impacting the district in an interview with the Port City Daily:
State of district schools
| “ | What I am seeing is very dedicated teachers who are becoming very disillusioned...I talked to a teacher recently who said she and husband both had careers in education but didn’t think they made enough money to be able to start of family…You know, if the State of N.C. really wants to have education professionals then they need to step up and pay for those education professionals. We are asking county commissioners to help pay for additional supplements, so if the state doesn’t increase pay, we can at least provide some additional money for them.[3] | ” |
| —Hilary Snow, Port City Daily, (2014) | ||
Community college partnerships
| “ | I am a strong supporter of that. I was actually disappointed that the first early college [high school] here went to UNCW instead of Cape Fear. I felt like Cape Fear offered the best opportunities for students to stay in school. At a community college, the nature of programs offered are such that students who graduate could generally go directly into the workforce. I am a big believer in vocational education but not a big believer that it should be in public schools[3] | ” |
| —Port City Daily, (2014) | ||
Achievement gap
| “ | I have had the opportunity to read some books on the subject that have kind of changed my mindset on how to do that...I hope I can serve to propose some professional development to help teachers understand that some of these students who are not performing the way we would like, that there are outside stresses that come from being in a lower socioeconomic household. I hope we could bring about some better training.[3] | ” |
| —Port City Daily, (2014) | ||
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Ed + Higgins + New + Hanover + County + Schools"
- All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ New Hanover County Schools, "Edward B. Higgins, Jr., Esq.," accessed April 29, 2014
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "NC Campaign Report Search By Entity," accessed October 23, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Port City Daily, " Candidate profiles: New Hanover County school board challengers," April 17, 2014
| 2014 New Hanover County Schools Elections | |
| Wilmington, North Carolina | |
| Election date: | November 4, 2014 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Janice Cavenaugh • Tom Gale • Don Hayes • Ed Higgins • Chris Meek • Emma Saunders • Bruce Shell Candidates defeated in primary: • Jim Brumit |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
