North Carolina House of Representatives District 17 candidate surveys, 2022

Elections in North Carolina, 2022

---

On the ballot: U.S. Senate • U.S. House • State Senate • State House • Supreme court • Appellate courts • Local ballot measures • School boards • Municipal

This article shows responses from candidates in the 2022 election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 17 who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

• Click here to see candidates and election results.
• Click here to see Candidate Connection survey responses.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 17

Incumbent Frank Iler defeated Eric Terashima in the general election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 17 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Frank Iler (R)	62.3	28,012
		Eric Terashima (D)	37.7	16,960

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 44,972
= 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.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.

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.

Expand all | Collapse all

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?

Eric Terashima (D)

Education: We need to invest more to handle the growth of Brunswick county’s population, and teachers are under-resourced which exacerbates the teacher shortage in our schools.

Environment: We need to protect the environment for our children’s future. This includes increasing sustainable sources of energy which will both increase jobs, and improve air quality. We need clean drinking water, and the environment cleared of PFAS.

Workforce housing: Affordable housing for young adults is increasingly difficult to find throughout Brunswick county. This has become even more difficult over the past two years of explosive increases in real estate.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Eric Terashima (D)

I served in the Marines for 30 years, and would like to continue to serve the people of Brunswick County. I am most passionate about the things that most impact our daily lives: education, renewable energy, affordable housing, and healthcare.

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

Eric Terashima (D)

I look up to my parents who both worked hard their whole lives, were never late, and rarely called in sick. They instilled in both me and my sister an obligation to be good, hard, and honest workers. My father was a warehouse manager at a small business, and my mother was a supervisor at our local Social Security Administration office.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Eric Terashima (D)

Truman by David McCullough.

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

Eric Terashima (D)

Integrity and empathy are the most important characteristics of an elected official. Integrity is important because an elected official needs to be trusted by the constituents. Empathy for an elected official is important because the constituents need to feel that they are being heard and understood.

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

Eric Terashima (D)

The same hard-working ethic that got me promoted to a Colonel in the Marines is the same drive I would bring to office.

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

Eric Terashima (D)

To the best of their ability, an elected official's core responsibilities are to the constituents, both representation and leading.

What legacy would you like to leave?

Eric Terashima (D)

I would like my legacy to be a better educational environment in Brunswick County.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Eric Terashima (D)

The Iran hostage crisis in 1979 is the first historical event that I remember, and that happened when I was 10.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Eric Terashima (D)

When I was 12, I took over a paper route from a friend, and continued to deliver papers for two years.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Eric Terashima (D)

Colonel Sherman T. Potter, from the TV series MASH.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Eric Terashima (D)

My entire life has been a struggle. For every success I managed, there have been hundreds of failures along the way. It's what you learn from the failures that leads to success.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

Eric Terashima (D)

The ideal relationship between the governor and the state legislature would be congenial where they work hand-in-hand to produce laws that are for the good of the people.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Eric Terashima (D)

Our state's greatest challenges over the next decade revolve around the growth of the population where NC ranks 11th. Responsible growth requires planning for the economy, schools, and housing in particular.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

Eric Terashima (D)

Yes, experience matters in professional affairs. You don't call a dentist to work on the plumbing in your house.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Eric Terashima (D)

Yes, it's beneficial to build relationships with other legislators. Building relationships is the only way to find common ground for common solutions to questions of legislation.

What process do you favor for redistricting?

Eric Terashima (D)

Redistricting should be handled by a non-partisan independent commission.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Eric Terashima (D)

Compromise is an absolute must for policymaking. The gamut of legislative options is so vast and varied that it is incumbent on legislators to find common causes for the greater good of their constituents.

See also

More about these elections:

• North Carolina House of Representatives elections, 2022

Select a district below to read responses from candidates in those races:

District 1District 2District 3District 4District 5District 6District 7District 8District 9District 10District 11District 12District 13District 14District 15District 16District 17District 18District 19District 20District 21District 22District 23District 24District 25District 26District 27District 28District 29District 30District 31District 32District 33District 34District 35District 36District 37District 38District 39District 40District 41District 42District 43District 44District 45District 46District 47District 48District 49District 50District 51District 52District 53District 54District 55District 56District 57District 58District 59District 60District 61District 62District 63District 64District 65District 66District 67District 68District 69District 70District 71District 72District 73District 74District 75District 76District 77District 78District 79District 80District 81District 82District 83District 84District 85District 86District 87District 88District 89District 90District 91District 92District 93District 94District 95District 96District 97District 98District 99District 100District 101District 102District 103District 104District 105District 106District 107District 108District 109District 110District 111District 112District 113District 114District 115District 116District 117District 118District 119District 120Submit