Michele Morrow

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Michele Morrow

Republican Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

High school

South Mecklenburg High School

Bachelor's

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1993

Personal

Birthplace

Nashua, N.H.

Religion

Christian

Profession

Nurse

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

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Campaign YouTube

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Michele Morrow (Republican Party) ran for election for North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction. She lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Morrow completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Michele Morrow was born in Nashua, New Hampshire. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1993. Her career experience includes working as a nurse, grassroots activist, homeschool educator, and high school biology, chemistry, civics, Spanish, and health teacher. Morrow and her husband were missionaries in Mexico for four years. She has also been the head nurse of a wilderness camp, where she was responsible for training the staff in first aid and CPR.

Morrow has been affiliated with the following organizations:

• Liberty First Grassroots
• Conservative Coalition of NC
• FreedomWorks
• Education First Alliance
• Carolina Teachers Alliance
• Wake GOP
• North Carolina Asia American Coalition
• Color Us United
• Hispanos del Sur
• Frederick Douglas Foundation
• HSLDA
• Pavement Education Project
• Western Wake Republican Club
• Christian Perspective Representatives
• Protect Children's Health Coalition

Elections

2024

See also: North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction election, 2024

General election

General election for North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction

Mo Green defeated Michele Morrow in the general election for North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mo Green (D)	51.2	2,837,606
		Michele Morrow (R)	48.8	2,706,953

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,544,559
= 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• James Carter (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction

Mo Green defeated C.R. Katie Eddings and Kenon Crumble in the Democratic primary for North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mo Green	65.8	431,922
		C.R. Katie Eddings	24.9	163,234
		Kenon Crumble	9.3	60,844

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 656,000
= 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 Superintendent of Public Instruction

Michele Morrow defeated incumbent Catherine Truitt in the Republican primary for North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Michele Morrow	52.1	457,151
		Catherine Truitt	47.9	420,270

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 877,421
= 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.

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

We provide results for polls that are included in polling aggregation from FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics, when available. No polls were available for this election. To notify us of polls published in this election, please email us.

Election campaign finance

The section and tables below contain data from financial reports submitted to state agencies. The data is gathered and made available by Transparency USA.

Satellite spending

See also: Satellite spending

Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.

If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Morrow in this election.

2022

See also: Wake County Public School System, North Carolina, elections (2022)

General election

General election for Wake County Public School System, District 9

Tyler Swanson defeated Michele Morrow and Tara Ann Cartwright in the general election for Wake County Public School System, District 9 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tyler Swanson (Nonpartisan)	55.8	28,570
		Michele Morrow (Nonpartisan)	35.6	18,251
	Submit photo	Tara Ann Cartwright (Nonpartisan)	8.1	4,127
		Other/Write-in votes	0.5	262

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 51,210
= 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.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Michele Morrow completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Morrow's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a bold, principled, Christian Conservative, devoted wife of 26 years and a mother of five. I have spent my life as a servant, advocate and educator in my roles as nurse, missionary, foster parent, high school teacher, and community advocate. For five years I have been collaborating with citizens around the state to protect our medical freedoms and reform our public educational system.

I have spoken to thousands of NC citizens, numerous school boards, legislators and committees.

I was instrumental in getting 1,000 signatures from concerned NC citizens to encourage our legislators to pass the Parental Rights Bill and to end the dangerous medical practice of puberty blockers, gender hormone therapy and transgender surgeries before a patient is 18 years old.

I have presented to legislators on multiple occasions in an effort to protect women's sports and to focus our curriculum on sound academics rather than political and social agendas.

I am a proponent of securing our schools and creating disciplined, ordered classrooms.

I am a fiscal conservative and believe that every dollar we spend as taxpayers should be accounted for and our educational budget should prioritize safety and scholastics. Our spending should begin with classroom needs and travel upward, not the other way around.

I have a plan to make our schools the safest buildings in the state, our students prepared for adult life, to strengthen the family/teacher connection and return to NC values.

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?

• Safety in our schools must be a top priority.

  We must ensure that our most vulnerable citizens are protected from outside threats as well as ensure our classrooms are places of peace, civility and respect.

  Recent data reports that physical attacks on school personnel is on the rise. Students are not facing consequences for disruptive and harmful behavior and our classrooms have descended into chaos.

  I will ensure that our schools enact common sense discipline policies so that our teachers can teach and students can learn.

  I would partner with parents, teachers, bus drivers, principals, religious leaders, law enforcement, security companies and juvenile justice experts to uncover the most effective policies for our staff and students.
• The bar for scholastics must be raised and our curriculum focused on the sound, basic instruction set forth in the NC Constitution. I will end CRT and DEI programs and ideology that are dividing our students and judging them based on their skin color. I will evaluate every program in the DPI for it's efficacy in enhancing student academic performance, character development and career preparedness and work with the state legislature and State Board of Education to reallocate funds to programs with proven track records of success. No student should leave elementary school without mastering reading, writing and math and we will broaden internship opportunities in every high school throughout NC.
• North Carolina's educational system must be fueled by a fiscally conservative, free-market, and competitive environment, We need sound policies and practices to deliver academic results and support our staff and student needs. I will work with financial experts and legislators to streamline our spending to focus on teacher recruitment and training, student resources, and infrastructure. I will bring in an external accounting firm to track down every dime of our spending. We will identify, decrease, or terminate wasteful programs that cannot demonstrate a direct, consistent, positive impact on student success and staff retention. We will partner with local farmers, businesses and non-profits to more efficiently serve our schools in NC

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

The areas of educational public policy I am most passionate about are safety in the classroom, emergency preparedness plans for every school, scholastics based on foundational courses (reading, writing, math, science, and history),expanding teaching opportunities across the state, strong partnerships with local businesses to provide internships and skilled trade trainings in every high school

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty, integrity, maturity, intelligence, ability to solve problems, collaborate with others and manage stress and conflict.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am a bold, principled leader who inspires trust and motivates others to action. I have spent the past 8 years advocating for medical freedom and education reform here in NC. I have worked as a nurse, a teacher, and a community advocate and I have extensive experience in speaking to the public and before legislators, committees and school boards. I have ideas to improve school safety, academic standards, and fiscal responsibility to make NC schools the best in the country and an example to follow.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to leave the next generation with an educational system that prepares students to be mature, productive and critically thinking adults who are ready to use their skills and talents to pursue careers that will be financially sound, personally rewarding, and beneficial to the community at large.

I would like to return our schools to places of safety, discipline, unity and potential and teach our young people the blessing and responsibility that comes with being citizens of this great Nation.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Moms for America

Liberty First Grassroots
Clarence Henderson-Civil Rights Leader
Dr. James Lindsay-News
Larry Pittman-Former NC State Legislator
Col. Gary Pendleton-Former Chair of Wake County Commissioners and NC State Legislator
New Hanover School Board Members
Cabarrus County School Board Member
Onslow County School Board Member
Bladen County School Board Member
Catawba County School Board Member
Johnston County School Board Member

Moore County School Board Members

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Our government exists to serve the people. All money that they have to spend comes from the hard working American tax-payer. Every agency should have their finances available for the public to access and should be as conservative with their spending as possible. The government is completely accountable to the citizens, as they work for us.

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 ads

February 19, 2024

View more ads here:

• YouTube
• Facebook

Campaign website

Morrow's campaign website stated the following:

“	Critical Race Theory CRT • Leader of state-wide groups that exposed and defeated CRT in schools. • Speaker at school board meetings opposing CRT & porn in schools • Worked w/ lawmakers to write bills Parental Rights • Led statewide petition needed to get lawmakers to draft bill • Lobbied the public for 2 years to convince lawmakers to pass NC Parental Rights Act School Safety • Supports school officers over social workers to fight crime • Will enact fair, commonsense discipline policies • Background checks for all school staff Fiscal Responsibility • Limited government /fiscal conservative • Calling for outside audit to track down misappropriated millions	”
—Michele Morrows campaign website (2024)

2022

Michele Morrow completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Morrow'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 am a Christian wife, mother to five, registered nurse, former missionary and foster parent, and current educator in the private sector. I have spent seven years involved in grassroots organizations, engaging with state legislators, county commissioners, and our local school board to reform our educational system and refocus our finances and classroom time on scholastics and career readiness.

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?

• Schols are for academics. We must focus our finances and classroom time, on promoting academic excellence and character development. We must rid our curriculum of the politically charged, racially divisive and sexually mature content and respect parent's rights to determine when and how they will broach these subjects. With nearly half of our graduating seniors failing their proficiency tests in math and reading, we must make scholastics the priority in every school.
• Our schools should be the safest buildings in the county. We must have Student Resource Officers, Nurses, and security systems in every school. Our teachers should be supported in their efforts to have structured classrooms where respect, hard work, and personal responsibility are the norm and administrators help to maintain the decorum and set just standards of discipline. Medically speaking, it is dangerous and irresponsible to have teachers, IA's and office staff administering medications to students. Every staff member should be trained in First Aid and CPR and we should leave medical practices to medical professionals.
• We need a comprehensive audit to prioritize funds to teacher/staff salaries and classroom resources. We must streamline administrative overhead and end funding to special interest groups that fail to prove a direct link to improving academic competency. There is no reason, after spending nearly $10K per student/year in Wake County, that our teachers have to beg for supplies every year. Our money should be spent first and foremost in the classrooms to enhance our children's academic prowess and to prepare them to launch into adulthood.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

The areas of public policy that I am most passionate about regarding the school system are those protecting parental authority, removing politically charged, racially divisive and sexually mature content from our curriculum, and streamlining our school assignments to allow children to attend schools closer to their homes, to enhance parental involvement and community connections> I am also interested in working with legislators to pass laws requiring developers to invest in building new schools when they add hundreds of homes to a district, as well as creating security policies such as forming a school safety division to train and manage school security employees to provide STEM and trade options at every school, as well as creating partnerships with local companies to provide work study and internship programs to our high schoolers.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I admire my parents for being married for 55 years and spending their lives in service to God and others. My brother and I learned respect for authority, dignity, honesty, and a strong work ethic from our parents and both chose careers in civil service. My brother has worked as a police officer, secret service agent, and federal court officer, and I have served as a nurse, missionary, foster parent, educator, and citizen activist.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am honest, disciplined, hardworking and an excellent problem solver. I have spent my adult life advocating for others as a nurse, missionary, foster parent, teen mentor, educator and citizen activist. I am very skilled at budgeting since half of our married life we have lived on support and had to provide for a family of 7. I understand the importance of prioritizing and will be very cautious in spending other people's money. I have been active for the past four years in school board meetings, legislative sessions, and community forums. My children have attended public, private and been homeschooled, so I bring a unique perspective to the benefits and struggles of each system. I am a skilled communicator and mediator and am able to find common ground to find solutions. I have many ideas to enhance scholastics and prepare our young people to be critically thinking, mature, problem solvers, who are equipped to pursue their dreams and engage in the community upon graduation.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

The core responsibilities of a school board member are to make policy and financial decisions that respect the laws of the state and prioritize the academic success and career readiness of every student. The school board acts as a connection between the legislature, the school district, and the community and should foster an atmosphere of collaboration, transparency and accountability. We should work to keep citizens informed about upcoming decisions and provide sessions for dialogue. The board should also be a place for mediation between school staff, administrators, parents, and students to promote a sense of partnership and encourage healthy communication and problem solving.

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

The primary role is to ensure that every student in Wake County receives the highest quality of education possible and is prepared to pursue their goals after graduation.

With that in mind, the three roles of the Board of Education are to write policies that align with NC state education laws, to manage the budget, and to act as a liaison between the legislature, the school district, and our constituents.

Who are your constituents?

As a member of the board, I will be the direct representative and liaison for every citizen in District 9, but, as a board member, most of the decisions that we vote upon will impact the entire school system, so I will be an indirect representative for every citizen in Wake County

How would you support the diverse needs of your district’s students, faculty, staff, and community?

I will support the diverse needs of all students, faculty, staff, and the community by maintaining clear and open lines of communication and being accessible during the week for people to express concerns and struggles. I will seek to be a mediator between parties and find common ground and solutions that enhance the scholastic and personal success of our students and staff and will strive to return safety and order to our classrooms and provide aid to those teachers and students that are in need.

Wake County is a beautifully diverse area that affords us the ability to celebrate cultural differences while enhancing our unity as Americans. I would like to focus our money and classroom time on training our youngest students to master reading, writing, and math by the third grade, and have a variety of specials in elementary schools for students to discover their passions and talents. In the middle grades, I would like to expand our students' vision for the future by offering different pathways toward career readiness, accentuating their abilities and interests. This could be further enhanced at the high school level through partnerships with local companies to provide work-study and internship programs.

I believe that Wake County has the money, knowledge, and professional staff to provide for the needs of every student and to prepare each individual to launch into adulthood with the work ethic, problem-solving skills, and education that will make them successful in whatever path they choose to pursue.

How will you build relationships with members of the broader community? Which groups, organizations, stakeholders will you specifically target?

I would seek to build relationships with groups that provide mentorships and tutoring for students, as well as community service organizations that could offer opportunities for our students to participate in outreach events to engage

Do you believe it is important to intentionally recruit with the aim of diversifying the district’s faculty, staff, and administration? If so, what would be your policy to achieve this?

I believe that meritocracy should be returned to every level of our educational system, from the classrooms to the boardrooms. We should seek to recruit the most qualified candidates for positions, with no thought of race, gender or creed.

What issues get in the way of quality education? How would you address these obstacles?

Misplaced priorities are the largest obstacle to quality education. Our classrooms lack order and discipline and are not healthy work or learning environments for our teachers or students. Many teachers express frustration at the amount of paperwork and regulations that interfere with their ability to teach. Much of our budget is spent on sensitivity training and political agendas instead of on classroom resources and practical academic training to help our teachers manage the vast chasm of learning styles and abilities in the classroom. Many of our schools have lowered expectations and standards in order to reach data points to maintain funding and their rating in the community. We have filled our classroom time with discussions about social and personal issues, rather than the basics of scholastics. We have encouraged homogenous thought and discouraged civil debate and independent ideas.

If elected, I will advocate for a return to the basics of education, focus on mastery of reading, writing and math by third grade and offer a large array of special studies to help every young person discover their strengths and talents. I would suggest separating math and reading students by ability level to allow teachers to hone in on the needs of a particular learning set, rather than trying to teach to every stage of understanding. To return order and decorum to our classrooms, we should instill common rules and logical consequences to encourage self-control and a peaceful environment for learning. We must protect our staff and students by adding a student resource officer and nurse in every school, and our administrators must invest in staff and student morale by supporting teachers and freeing them up to focus on scholastics. I would also like to address the long bus commutes and pick-up lines that consume hours every day and focus on making every community school a place of hope and empowerment.

What constitutes good teaching? How will you measure this? How will you support advanced teaching approaches?

Good teaching requires instructors with mastery of their subject matter, an ordered classroom where respect, hard work, and kindness are the rule, students who are eager to do their best work and believe that their teacher and fellow students want them to succeed, and engaging lessons that appeal to every learning style.

I think that every student's level of understanding should be analyzed at the start of the year and again at the end of the year. Each grade level should have measureable objectives that must be met to advance to the next grade and the students and families should collaborate with teachers at the beginning of the year to set goals, at the middle of the year to see how they are progressing and at the end of the year to celebrate successes and discuss weaknesses.

I would like to see less focus on national testing from elementary through middle school and more emphasis on individual subjects and students. I think that high school is an appropriate time for more statewide and national testing.

What will you do to build a relationship with parents in the district? What plans do you have to be inclusive of parental involvement?

If elected, I will do all I can to answer emails and phone calls promptly and offer weekly office hours where parents, staff, and concerned citizens can come and talk about their concerns or struggles. I will acknowledge and engage with all constituents that come to public school board meetings and try to create an atmosphere of welcome and collaboration. I will also seek to have a monthly meeting in the community where citizens can come and discuss issues with others and learn about the topics that are on the docket for the month to come so that they can share their opinions and ask questions.

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

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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.

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Michele Morrow campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction	Lost general	$361,493	$381,134
Grand total			$361,493	$381,134
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

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