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Ray Russell
Ray Russell (Democratic Party) was a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives, representing District 93. He assumed office on January 1, 2019. He left office on December 31, 2020.
Russell (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the North Carolina House of Representatives to represent District 93. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Russell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Ray Russell was born in Manchester, Tennessee. He earned a bachelor's degree from Freed-Hardeman University, an M.S. in mathematics from the University of Memphis, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science from Georgia Tech University. His career experience includes working as a computer science professor, minister, entrepreneur, business owner, and self-taught meteorologist.[1]
Committee assignments
2019-2020
Russell was assigned to the following committees:
- Appropriations on Transportation Committee
- Election Law and Campaign Finance Reform
- Environment Committee
- Pensions and Retirement Committee
- House Transportation Committee
Elections
2020
See also: North Carolina House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 93
Ray Pickett defeated incumbent Ray Russell in the general election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 93 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Ray Pickett (R) | 53.0 | 24,680 |
 | Ray Russell (D)  | 47.0 | 21,875 | |
| Total votes: 46,555 | |||
| = 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 93
Incumbent Ray Russell defeated Turner Doolittle in the Democratic primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 93 on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ray Russell | 88.1 | 9,950 |
 | Turner Doolittle | 11.9 | 1,346 | |
| Total votes: 11,296 | |||
| = 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. Ray Pickett advanced from the Republican primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 93.
Campaign finance
2018
General election
General election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 93
Ray Russell defeated incumbent Jonathan Jordan in the general election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 93 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ray Russell (D) | 52.2 | 18,787 |
 | Jonathan Jordan (R) | 47.8 | 17,196 | |
| Total votes: 35,983 | |||
| = 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 House of Representatives District 93
Ray Russell advanced from the Democratic primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 93 on May 8, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Ray Russell |
| ||||
| = 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 House of Representatives District 93
Incumbent Jonathan Jordan defeated Robert Block in the Republican primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 93 on May 8, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jonathan Jordan | 78.6 | 4,562 |
| Robert Block | 21.4 | 1,245 | ||
| Total votes: 5,807 | |||
| = 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
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Ray Russell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Russell's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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His commitment to his community is shown by his active participation in civic organizations. For three years, Ray was campaign chair for the High Country United Way. His nonprofit service also includes the Middle Fork Greenway Task Force, the Blue Ridge Parkway Association Board, and the ZAP Fitness Board. Ray is a frequent speaker at schools, civic groups, and community events.
Ray has deep roots in Western North Carolina, having lived here for more than a quarter of a century after growing up in Manchester, Tennessee. Ray's academic background includes a bachelor's degree in Bible, master's degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science, and a Ph.D in Computer Science from Georgia Tech.
Ray and Rhonda Russell have been married for 42 years and live near Boone, North Carolina. They have two children, Leah (a clinical psychologist) and Laura (a pharmacist working as a drug information specialist). Today, Ray loves his role as "Ray Ray", grandfather to his three grandchildren. Rhonda is a powerful advocate for children, having spent 20 years as a preK and kindergarten teacher.- North Carolina is shortchanging its children and teachers. We must invest in education from early childhood experiences through universities.
- More than one million North Carolinians do not have health insurance. Medicaid Expansion can provide working family heath care while adding 43,000 jobs to our economy.
- Climate Change threatens our way of life. We must pursue public policy initiatives that reduce carbon emissions.
Affordable Healthcare
Environmental Issues including climate change
Rural economic development
Transparency and responsibility in government
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.
Scorecards
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.
2020
In 2020, the North Carolina State Legislature was in session from April 28 to September 3. The legislature was in recess from July 8 to September 1 and then reconvened September 2 to September 3.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills relating to family issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on environment and conservation issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the General Assembly of North Carolina was in session from January 9 through August 27.
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See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 19, 2020
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jonathan Jordan (R) |
North Carolina House of Representatives District 93 2019–2020 |
Succeeded by Ray Pickett (R) |
