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Michael Garrett (North Carolina)

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Michael Garrett
Image of Michael Garrett

Democratic Party

North Carolina State Senate District 27
Tenure

2019 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

6

Predecessor

Compensation

Base salary

$13,951/year

Per diem

$104/day

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

University of North Carolina, Greensboro, 2007

Personal
Birthplace
Raleigh, N.C.
Profession
Managing partner of marketing firm
Contact

Official website

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Michael Garrett (Democratic Party) is a member of the North Carolina State Senate, representing District 27. He assumed office on January 1, 2019. His current term ends on January 1, 2027.

Garrett (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the North Carolina State Senate to represent District 27. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Michael Garrett was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, in 2007. His career experience includes working as the managing partner of a family-owned marketing firm.[1]

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Garrett was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Garrett was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Garrett was assigned to the following committees:


The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2024

See also: North Carolina State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for North Carolina State Senate District 27

Incumbent Michael Garrett defeated Paul Schumacher in the general election for North Carolina State Senate District 27 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Michael Garrett
Michael Garrett (D)
 
60.8
 
65,146
Image of Paul Schumacher
Paul Schumacher (R)
 
39.2
 
42,011

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 107,157
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Michael Garrett advanced from the Democratic primary for North Carolina State Senate District 27.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Paul Schumacher advanced from the Republican primary for North Carolina State Senate District 27.

Campaign finance

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Garrett in this election.

2022

See also: North Carolina State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for North Carolina State Senate District 27

Incumbent Michael Garrett defeated Richard Sessoms in the general election for North Carolina State Senate District 27 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Michael Garrett
Michael Garrett (D)
 
54.5
 
37,055
Image of Richard Sessoms
Richard Sessoms (R) Candidate Connection
 
45.5
 
30,932

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 67,987
Candidate Connection = 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. Incumbent Michael Garrett advanced from the Democratic primary for North Carolina State Senate District 27.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Richard Sessoms advanced from the Republican primary for North Carolina State Senate District 27.

Campaign finance

2020

See also: North Carolina State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for North Carolina State Senate District 27

Incumbent Michael Garrett defeated Sebastian King in the general election for North Carolina State Senate District 27 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Michael Garrett
Michael Garrett (D) Candidate Connection
 
54.3
 
67,287
Image of Sebastian King
Sebastian King (R) Candidate Connection
 
45.7
 
56,575

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 123,862
Candidate Connection = 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. Incumbent Michael Garrett advanced from the Democratic primary for North Carolina State Senate District 27.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Sebastian King advanced from the Republican primary for North Carolina State Senate District 27.

Campaign finance

2018

See also: North Carolina State Senate elections, 2018

General election

General election for North Carolina State Senate District 27

Michael Garrett defeated incumbent Trudy Wade in the general election for North Carolina State Senate District 27 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Michael Garrett
Michael Garrett (D)
 
50.5
 
45,205
Image of Trudy Wade
Trudy Wade (R)
 
49.5
 
44,268

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 89,473
Candidate Connection = 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 State Senate District 27

Michael Garrett advanced from the Democratic primary for North Carolina State Senate District 27 on May 8, 2018.

Candidate
✔
Image of Michael Garrett
Michael Garrett

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.

Candidate Connection = 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 State Senate District 27

Incumbent Trudy Wade advanced from the Republican primary for North Carolina State Senate District 27 on May 8, 2018.

Candidate
✔
Image of Trudy Wade
Trudy Wade

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.

Candidate Connection = 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: North Carolina State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the North Carolina State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election was held on March 15, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016.[2] The candidate filing deadline was December 21, 2015.[3]

Incumbent Trudy Wade defeated Michael Garrett in the North Carolina State Senate District 27 general election.[4][5]

North Carolina State Senate, District 27 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Trudy Wade Incumbent 53.32% 54,512
     Democratic Michael Garrett 46.68% 47,731
Total Votes 102,243
Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections


Michael Garrett ran unopposed in the North Carolina State Senate District 27 Democratic primary.[6][7]

North Carolina State Senate, District 27 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Michael Garrett  (unopposed)


Incumbent Trudy Wade ran unopposed in the North Carolina State Senate District 27 Republican primary.[8][9]

North Carolina State Senate, District 27 Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Trudy Wade Incumbent (unopposed)


Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in North Carolina

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of North Carolina scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.


2024


2023


2022


2021


2020


2019







Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Michael Garrett did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Michael Garrett did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Candidate Connection

Michael Garrett completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Garrett's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I'm a born and bred North Carolinian and a small business owner representing Guilford County in the North Carolina Senate. I live in Greensboro, NC with my wife, Allison, and my son, Jack, and we've got a baby girl on the way.

As a product of Guilford County Schools and the University of North Carolina - Greensboro I am a passionate advocate for investment in our education system. North Carolina was a beacon of education in the region and I know that it can be again. We've got to begin to tackle our massive need for school repair and construction and to pay teachers what they are worth.

I stepped forward to serve for the sake of my family and those of my neighbors in Guilford County. For the last decade our state has seen economic growth, but Republican legislative leaders have consistently failed to make critically needed investments into health care and education that match that growth. I'm asking for your support in 2020 so that I can join a new legislative majority that will no longer ignore our state's needs.

  • We must invest in our education system now. There are billions of dollars worth of school construction and repairs needed across the state and educators are still far underpaid for their work.
  • Closure of the Medicaid coverage gap is years overdue and there is no excuse for any further delay. More than half a million people would get health insurance coverage and everyone else would enjoy the massive economic benefit of closing the gap
  • North Carolina needs an economy that works for everyone, not just the big corporations. I support policies that help working families stay out of poverty and that make North Carolina a state where small businesses can successfully grow.
Education - We have billions of dollars worth of new school construction and existing school maintenance costs that have built up over many years of ignoring the problem. Students, teachers, parents, and eventually, everyone else, end up paying the price for this crisis. We can't go another year without a school bond to help get us back on track.

The average public school teacher in NC is making less money now than before the 2008-09 recession, when taking inflation into account. This is unacceptable. We need to restore dignity to the teaching profession by paying teachers what they are worth. This will help us attract and retain the very best talent in the country and make our school classrooms the foundations of world-class education.

Health Care - We must expand Medicaid now. More than half a million North Carolinians are going without critical coverage purely due to political ideology in the General Assembly. Beyond those who would gain health coverage, the rest of us would reap the benefits of the projected billions of dollars of stimulus to our state and local economies and the thousands of jobs that would be created.

Fair Maps - Gerrymandering is an affront to democracy. When politicians pick their voters by drawing unfair district maps they begin to care less about individual voters and more about party loyalty and ideology. We need an independent redistricting commission to draw all legislative maps after the next census.
A personal hero of mine is President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He came to office during the most economically tumultuous times in the history of our country and guided it toward growth and stability. Roosevelt faced opposition to many of his policies by special interest groups but persevered and left a rich legacy of programs that helped millions of Americans out of poverty, including Social Security. Although he was far from a perfect leader, as all who serve are, the impact and importance of his economic accomplishments and our victory in WWII cannot be overstated.
I believe that the most important principle for any elected official is to always remember who sent you to serve. I often tell people that the seat that I occupy in the General Assembly does not belong to me; I'm its temporary occupant. Elected officials serve at the pleasure of those they serve and should act accordingly at all times.
When I am done serving as a North Carolina legislator I want to be able to look back and have left our state government better than I found it. The challenges our state faces are great, but I hope to move the ball forward on improving our education system, expanding access to health care for those who need it, end partisan gerrymandering, and many other issues.
One of my favorite books is Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy. I consider the stories of elected officials who stood up and did the right thing even when it was immensely unpopular to be an excellent guide to anyone entrusted with the representation of others in government.
I believe that the ideal relationship between the legislature and the governor is one of mutual respect between co-equal branches of the government as they execute their State Constitution-mandated duties. Insofar as the governor has the final signature or veto on many pieces pieces of legislation, I believe it is in the best interest of both parties to communicate often on those bills.
In the 2019 legislative session I served as a member of the Transportation, Appropriations on Department of Transportation, and Redistricting & Elections Committees in the NC Senate.

North Carolina is the state with the second largest highway system and, as such, our Transportation Committees see quite a lot of activity. Our transportation infrastructure is one of the most visible examples of state government and everyone wants to see it maintained and grown. The Committee deliberations were almost always bipartisan affairs, which is what we need to see more of in state government.

Unfortunately, the work done in the Redistricting & Elections Committee tends to be somewhat more partisan, more often than not. In 2019, the Senate Committee was charged with approving new legislative and Congressional maps by a State court. After a year serving on that Committee I believe now more strongly than ever that redistricting should be taken out of the hands of politicians and put in the hands of an independent commission.
Early on in the legislative term I had a meeting with several doctors. They were visiting legislators to make an impassioned appeal to close the Medicaid coverage gap. One of the doctors was a practicing physician. She told me the story of a woman who waited months to get an exam after experiencing abdominal pains because she was stuck in the Medicaid coverage gap and did not have insurance. By the time that woman visited the doctor who told me this story she was given the news that she had stage IV ovarian cancer. She died not long after the diagnosis.

I think that too often legislators are far removed from the real world impact of their decisions. While is may appear somewhat defensible to refuse federal Medicaid expansion dollars while sitting in a committee room (though I strongly disagree with that), lives hang in the balance. This woman and an untold number of others are paying the ultimate price for this lack of legislative action. That story comes to my mind often.

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.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Michael Garrett campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* North Carolina State Senate District 27Won general$211,370 $213,903
2022North Carolina State Senate District 27Won general$191,078 $162,250
2020North Carolina State Senate District 27Won general$241,256 N/A**
2018North Carolina State Senate District 27Won general$834,860 N/A**
Grand total$1,478,563 $376,153
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

See also

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External links

Candidate

North Carolina State Senate District 27
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    Officeholder

    North Carolina State Senate District 27
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    Personal

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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 18, 2020
    2. ↑ The primary for U.S. congressional elections was rescheduled to June 7, 2016, following legal challenges to North Carolina's district maps. State races were unaffected.
    3. ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "2016 Candidate Filing," archived January 19, 2016
    4. ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Candidate Listing," accessed August 23, 2016
    5. ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "2016 General Election results lookup," accessd December 21, 2016
    6. ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Candidate Listing," accessed January 4, 2016
    7. ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "03/15/2016 Official primary results - Statewide," March 15, 2016
    8. ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Candidate Listing," accessed January 4, 2016
    9. ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "03/15/2016 Official primary results - Statewide," March 15, 2016

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    Trudy Wade (R)     		North Carolina State Senate District 27
    2019-Present    		 Succeeded by
    -


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