Matt Hughes
From Ballotpedia
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Matt Hughes is a member of the Hillsborough Town Council in North Carolina.
Hughes (Democratic Party) ran for election to the North Carolina House of Representatives to represent District 50. He lost in the Democratic primary on May 17, 2022.
Hughes completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Matt Hughes was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Hughes' professional experience includes working as a nonprofit finance manager. He earned a bachelor's degree and a graduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2012 and 2018, respectively.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: North Carolina House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 50
Renée Price defeated Charles Lopez in the general election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 50 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Renée Price (D)  | 59.5 | 22,732 |
 | Charles Lopez (R) | 40.5 | 15,503 | |
| Total votes: 38,235 | |||
| = 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 North Carolina House of Representatives District 50
Renée Price defeated Matt Hughes in the Democratic primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 50 on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Renée Price | 72.0 | 8,458 |
 | Matt Hughes | 28.0 | 3,286 | |
| Total votes: 11,744 | |||
| = 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. Charles Lopez advanced from the Republican primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 50.
Campaign finance
Endorsements
To view Hughes' endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.
2019
See also: City elections in Hillsborough, North Carolina (2019)
General election
General election for Hillsborough Town Council (3 seats)
Incumbent Matt Hughes, incumbent Mark Bell, and incumbent Evelyn Lloyd defeated Kevin Mason in the general election for Hillsborough Town Council on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Matt Hughes (Nonpartisan) | 30.4 | 789 |
| ✔ | Mark Bell (Nonpartisan) | 28.5 | 740 | |
| ✔ | Evelyn Lloyd (Nonpartisan) | 28.1 | 730 | |
| Kevin Mason (Nonpartisan) | 12.4 | 321 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.6 | 16 | ||
| Total votes: 2,596 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Matt Hughes completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Hughes' responses.
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I am a lifelong resident of the House District 50 having grown up in Hillsborough and attended local public schools. I hold two degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and work a voting rights non-profit as their finance manager. In public life, I currently serve as Mayor Pro-Tempore for the Town of Hillsborough.
Growing up, I struggled with a severe speech impediment. Fortunately, the schools in Orange County provided me with the resources to help me overcome my barriers, and to attend a top ranked public university. I am running for office because I believe that all North Carolinians deserve the same opportunities to succeed, and I want to invest in my district to help support people like myself, who come from diverse and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. I believe that my unique experiences and leadership will go a long way to make me the best legislator I can be for Orange and Caswell Counties.
- Education- Our district has two school districts with pressing capital needs as well as an inability to recruit and retain teachers due to burnout, the pandemic, salaries, and more. I will work within the NCGA to pass a statewide bond referendum for school capital projects, raise teacher pay to the national average, and provide additional salary support for rural counties and those with low property values to invest in teachers.
- Broadband- This issue has been an issue in my district since Bill Faison represented this district in the mid 2000’s. ARPA and additional support from the General Assembly goes a long way to implement broadband, especially rural broadband. I want to take it a step further and ensure that the internet is treated as a utility and that equitable access to broadband is an economic justice issue and an economic driver.
- Medicaid Expansion- So much of my district does not have access to health insurance nor do they have access to healthcare providers, especially in the more rural areas. As a legislator, I will fight for and support Medicaid expansion in the House and work to send the legislation to Governor Cooper for his signature.
Education, voting rights, economic development, tourism promotion, and broadband.
Both of my grandmothers. My maternal grandmother spent a career working for the State of North Carolina and retired from the Department of Public Safety's Division of Prisons and had served as a correctional case manager (the equivalent of a social worker within the prison system). My paternal grandmother worked in textiles in the foothills of North Carolina. Both of them taught me the value of hard work, determination, and never settling for less than what you're worth. I believe the lessons they taught me have translated well to my career in public service. There's always a way to accomplish your goals - sometimes it just takes a little longer - and you should strive to care for those around you. Their influence is always felt as I think through issues that come before me and how to be fair to those I serve or work with.
As an effective officeholder I believe I have good decision-making skills, a capacity to process complicated matters, and an ability to navigate difficult decisions through collaborative decision making. I also believe that something that makes me an effective officeholder is my combination of municipal, county, and state government and being able to work with staff and constituents in an approachable manner. Additionally, I am a recognized leader who is comfortable raising concerns and willing to cast votes opposite of what fellow officeholders, staff, and members of the community for what I think is in the best interests of my community. However, I always do it in a professional, caring, and tactful manner and in the process create a positive environment with those I work with - both those who I agree with and those we disagree with.
To represent the needs of constituents of the district and enact legislation in keeping with the values of the district; help local governments with agency requests and special legislation authorizing local governments additional tools or powers; fielding funding requests from local governments and non-profit organizations; and help constituents with issues with state agencies.
The Last Great American Dynasty - Taylor Swift
To be partners in governing and in North Carolina we've had a front row seat for nearly eight years for how that is not working. Instead of working together, the governor and the General Assembly have mostly been at an impasse on issues like Medicaid expansion and passing state budgets. Part of that problem is that the governor and General Assembly's majority are from different political parties. Another part is the extreme partisan gerrymandering of state legislative districts and an unwillingness to respect the governor's authority. If we are to advance here in the state, then these two branches of government will need to come together and govern. The current system is not sustainable as it overly relies on state courts, which then politicizes the courts to weigh in on political issues.
One very personal story I heard is from an existing constituent and someone who would my constituent if I'm elected to the NC House. They told me that they are a medical provider and a small business owner. Yet, they struggle to afford health insurance for their family and for the employees their business employs. Instead of affordable coverage they have catastrophic coverage because its the best available price wise. Medicaid expansion would likely not cover these employees, but it is emblematic of the issues we have in our healthcare system, especially for small business owners. We must make it easier and cheaper for small business owners to be able to afford health insurance with adequate coverage for their employees.
Our political system is based on the premise that people of different backgrounds, ideologies, and belief systems come together and govern on the behalf of everyone. That system only works well when compromise occurs. Sometimes it's compromise within your party and sometimes it's with the other party. I believe that compromise is necessary to advice policy. When you feel like you've gotten everything you asked for, or when the opposite is true, then it's probably not good policymaking. We must get back to compromise not being a dirty word if we are to achieve big things because compromise is not giving up on your values, but seeing the big picture in the long term.
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.
2019
Matt Hughes did not complete Ballotpedia's 2019 Candidate Connection survey.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on April 18, 2022
Current members of the North Carolina House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Destin Hall
Majority Leader:Brenden Jones
Minority Leader:Robert Reives
Representatives
District 1
Ed Goodwin (R)
District 2
Ray Jeffers (D)
District 3
Steve Tyson (R)
District 4
James Dixon (R)
District 5
Bill Ward (R)
District 6
Joe Pike (R)
District 7
Matthew Winslow (R)
District 8
Gloristine Brown (D)
District 9
Timothy Reeder (R)
District 10
John Bell (R)
District 11
Allison Dahle (D)
District 12
Chris Humphrey (R)
District 13
Celeste Cairns (R)
District 14
Wyatt Gable (R)
District 15
Phillip Shepard (R)
District 16
Carson Smith (R)
District 17
Frank Iler (R)
District 18
Deb Butler (D)
District 19
Charles Miller (R)
District 20
Ted Davis (R)
District 21
Ya Liu (D)
District 22
William Brisson (R)
District 23
District 24
Dante Pittman (D)
District 25
Allen Chesser (R)
District 26
Donna White (R)
District 27
Rodney Pierce (D)
District 28
Larry Strickland (R)
District 29
Vernetta Alston (D)
District 30
Marcia Morey (D)
District 31
Zack Hawkins (D)
District 32
Bryan Cohn (D)
District 33
District 34
Tim Longest (D)
District 35
Mike Schietzelt (R)
District 36
Julie von Haefen (D)
District 37
Erin Paré (R)
District 38
Abraham Jones (D)
District 39
James Roberson (D)
District 40
Phil Rubin (D)
District 41
Maria Cervania (D)
District 42
Mike Colvin (D)
District 43
Diane Wheatley (R)
District 44
Charles Smith (D)
District 45
Frances Jackson (D)
District 46
Brenden Jones (R)
District 47
John Lowery (R)
District 48
Garland Pierce (D)
District 49
Cynthia Ball (D)
District 50
Renée Price (D)
District 51
John Sauls (R)
District 52
Ben Moss (R)
District 53
Howard Penny (R)
District 54
Robert Reives (D)
District 55
Mark Brody (R)
District 56
Allen Buansi (D)
District 57
Tracy Clark (D)
District 58
Amos Quick (D)
District 59
Alan Branson (R)
District 60
Amanda Cook (D)
District 61
Mary Harrison (D)
District 62
John Blust (R)
District 63
Stephen Ross (R)
District 64
Dennis Riddell (R)
District 65
A. Reece Pyrtle (R)
District 66
Sarah Crawford (D)
District 67
Cody Huneycutt (R)
District 68
David Willis (R)
District 69
Dean Arp (R)
District 70
Brian Biggs (R)
District 71
Kanika Brown (D)
District 72
Amber Baker (D)
District 73
Jonathan Almond (R)
District 74
Jeff Zenger (R)
District 75
Donny Lambeth (R)
District 76
Harry Warren (R)
District 77
Julia Howard (R)
District 78
Neal Jackson (R)
District 79
Keith Kidwell (R)
District 80
Sam Watford (R)
District 81
Larry Potts (R)
District 82
Brian Echevarria (R)
District 83
Grant Campbell (R)
District 84
Jeffrey McNeely (R)
District 85
Dudley Greene (R)
District 86
Hugh Blackwell (R)
District 87
Destin Hall (R)
District 88
Mary Belk (D)
District 89
Mitchell Setzer (R)
District 90
Sarah Stevens (R)
District 91
Kyle Hall (R)
District 92
Terry Brown (D)
District 93
Ray Pickett (R)
District 94
Blair Eddins (R)
District 95
Todd Carver (R)
District 96
Jay Adams (R)
District 97
Heather Rhyne (R)
District 98
District 99
Nasif Majeed (D)
District 100
Julia Greenfield (D)
District 101
Carolyn Logan (D)
District 102
Becky Carney (D)
District 103
Laura Budd (D)
District 104
Brandon Lofton (D)
District 105
Tricia Cotham (R)
District 106
Carla Cunningham (D)
District 107
Aisha Dew (D)
District 108
John Torbett (R)
District 109
Donnie Loftis (R)
District 110
Kelly Hastings (R)
District 111
Paul Scott (R)
District 112
Jordan Lopez (D)
District 113
Jake Johnson (R)
District 114
Eric Ager (D)
District 115
Lindsey Prather (D)
District 116
Brian Turner (D)
District 117
Jennifer Balkcom (R)
District 118
Mark Pless (R)
District 119
Mike Clampitt (R)
District 120
Karl Gillespie (R)
Republican Party (71)
Democratic Party (49)
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