Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey.
Sam Searcy
Sam Searcy (Democratic Party) was a member of the North Carolina State Senate, representing District 17. He assumed office on January 1, 2019. He left office on January 6, 2021.
Searcy (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent North Carolina's 13th Congressional District. He lost in the Democratic primary on May 17, 2022.
On December 30, 2020, Searcy announced he planned to resign from the North Carolina State Senate before the 2021 legislative session. The News & Observer reported that Searcy said, “I have another opportunity to serve the people of North Carolina in a different capacity. I felt that going into the session and then resigning would’ve been far more disruptive than doing it from the beginning.”[1]
Searcy was a 2018 Democratic candidate who sought election to the U.S. House to represent the 2nd Congressional District of North Carolina.[2] Searcy dropped out of the race in December 2017 to run for state Senate District 17.[3][4]
Biography
Sam Searcy earned a bachelor's degree in political science and English from Appalachian State University in 2000. Searcy's career experience includes working as the CEO of CliniStart, the director of investigator contract services with Quintiles, and a senior manager of investigator contracts with PRA Health Sciences. He served as the chairman of the board of WCG Clintrax.[5]
Committee assignments
2019-2020
Searcy was assigned to the following committees:
- Education/Higher Education Committee
- Appropriations on General Government and Information Technology Committee
- Commerce and Insurance Committee
- Senate State and Local Government Committee
Elections
2022
See also: North Carolina's 13th Congressional District election, 2022
North Carolina's 13th Congressional District election, 2022 (May 17 Republican primary)
North Carolina's 13th Congressional District election, 2022 (May 17 Democratic primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House North Carolina District 13
Wiley Nickel defeated Bo Hines in the general election for U.S. House North Carolina District 13 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Wiley Nickel (D) | 51.6 | 143,090 |
 | Bo Hines (R)  | 48.4 | 134,256 | |
| Total votes: 277,346 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Calvin Thomas (Independent)
- Steve Holland (Independent)
- Jacques Youngblood (Independent)
- Scott Blake (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 13
Wiley Nickel defeated Sam Searcy, Jamie Campbell Bowles, Nathan Click, and Denton Lee in the Democratic primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 13 on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Wiley Nickel | 51.6 | 23,155 |
 | Sam Searcy | 22.9 | 10,284 | |
 | Jamie Campbell Bowles | 9.4 | 4,217 | |
 | Nathan Click | 8.6 | 3,866 | |
 | Denton Lee | 7.4 | 3,311 | |
| Total votes: 44,833 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Josh Remillard (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 13
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House North Carolina District 13 on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bo Hines | 32.1 | 17,602 |
 | DeVan Barbour IV | 22.6 | 12,426 | |
 | Kelly Daughtry | 16.9 | 9,300 | |
 | Kent Keirsey | 11.3 | 6,223 | |
 | Renee Ellmers | 9.4 | 5,176 | |
 | Chad Slotta | 5.6 | 3,074 | |
 | Jessica Morel | 1.3 | 738 | |
 | Kevin Alan Wolff | 0.6 | 344 | |
| Total votes: 54,883 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Bill Brewster (R)
- Karen Bentley (R)
- Grayson Haff (R)
- John Aneralla (R)
2020
See also: North Carolina State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for North Carolina State Senate District 17
Incumbent Sam Searcy defeated Mark Cavaliero and Travis Groo in the general election for North Carolina State Senate District 17 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sam Searcy (D) | 51.4 | 83,564 |
 | Mark Cavaliero (R) | 44.8 | 72,774 | |
 | Travis Groo (L) | 3.8 | 6,204 | |
| Total votes: 162,542 | |||
| = 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 Sam Searcy advanced from the Democratic primary for North Carolina State Senate District 17.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Mark Cavaliero advanced from the Republican primary for North Carolina State Senate District 17.
Libertarian primary election
The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Travis Groo advanced from the Libertarian primary for North Carolina State Senate District 17.
Campaign finance
2018
State Senate
General election
General election for North Carolina State Senate District 17
Sam Searcy defeated incumbent Tamara Barringer and Bruce Basson in the general election for North Carolina State Senate District 17 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sam Searcy (D) | 50.6 | 50,040 |
 | Tamara Barringer (R) | 46.4 | 45,841 | |
 | Bruce Basson (L) | 3.0 | 3,016 | |
| Total votes: 98,897 | |||
| = 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 17
Sam Searcy advanced from the Democratic primary for North Carolina State Senate District 17 on May 8, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Sam Searcy |
| ||||
| = 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 17
Incumbent Tamara Barringer advanced from the Republican primary for North Carolina State Senate District 17 on May 8, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Tamara Barringer |
| ||||
| = 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. | ||||
U.S. House
Searcy sought election to the 2nd Congressional District of North Carolina in 2018. Searcy dropped out of the race in December 2017 to run for state Senate District 17.[2]
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Sam Searcy did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Searcy's campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
Sam believes we must pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. Americans can only have confidence in elections if we end partisan gerrymandering, expand voter registration, and make sure that every American can exercise their right to vote without undue burden or barrier. Voter caging, voter suppression, the closure of voting sites that lead to hours spent in line, reductions in Early Voting access, and making it downright difficult to obtain and return an absentee ballot undermine voter confidence and serve the interest of politicians, not voters. Further, the Freedom to Vote Act would require all states to conduct post-election audits for federal elections and expands the prohibition on campaign spending by foreign nationals. Elections must be the expression of the will of the voters, free of foreign influence.
Healthcare remains a major concern to so many, particularly here in North Carolina where the Republicans in the General Assembly have blocked the expansion of Medicaid, which means that our people have not received the full benefits of the Affordable Care Act. Sam will fight to get us those benefits. He supports allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices and supports lowering the eligibility age for Medicare to drive down insurance costs for individuals and businesses. This will dramatically reduce health care costs for many Americans, allowing them to then use that money to do things like save for their retirement. Sam supports adding dental, vision, and hearing coverage to Medicare, and capping the price of insulin at $35.
Sam supports a woman's right to choose and is very concerned by the assault in many states on every woman's right to make their own healthcare decisions. No matter what certain states or the Supreme Court does, it is now clear that the protections provided by Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose must be enshrined into law by Congress so that this right cannot be undermined.
Prices are rising faster than people can keep up with and are squeezing working families. Sam supports a temporary suspension of the gas tax and supports President Biden’s plan to release one million barrels of oil from the Strategic Reserve every day, so that we can lower gas prices. Sam will work to restore and strengthen our supply chains, advocate for American manufacturing and production of goods, and push for stronger federal enforcement of anti-collusion regulations to stop companies from artificially keeping prices high. He will also work with state and local governments to address the housing shortage in our region, which is leading to a massive rise in the price of housing. Sam will fight for our fair share of federal dollars for affordable housing. Sam knows we must also address this issue from the other side, raising the incomes and benefits of working people. He supports raising the minimum wage to $15 and giving tipped employees parity. He supports universal Pre-K and expanded support for childcare, so that working parents do not have to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars each month on childcare. He supports investing in our Community College system so that people can get new skills and enter programs that lead to good-paying jobs with strong benefits. He will fight for paid family and medical leave, paid sick leave, and better support for professional and family caregivers. Sam was raised in a union household, and he supports the union movement. He believes that everyone, including public employees, should have the right to collectively bargain, unionize, and negotiate for wages and benefits and other contract terms.
Sam believes that Congress must address gun violence and pass meaningful police reform. He supports universal background checks, prohibiting untraceable firearms and ghost guns, and support for effective violence intervention programs. Further, it is unacceptable that Congress has failed to pass a single police reform bill. Urgent action is needed to protect lives and to improve police accountability. Meaningful police reform must include a ban on chokeholds and no-knock warrants, and require proper usage of body cameras, with additional investment in police training such as de-escalation training. Improving policing will require additional funding in the right areas, to recruit and retain the best officers, to properly train and retrain police forces, and to employ enough officers to implement community policing best practices that build relationships in our communities and deter and prevent crime.
In the State Senate, Sam sponsored bills to ban offshore drilling off the North Carolina coast, to set ambitious state clean energy goals, and to address PFAS (toxic foam) in our water. Sam will fight for clean air, clean water, and greater investment in clean energy and twenty-first-century infrastructure so that America can lead the world in clean and renewable energy technology and create good-paying jobs. Sam will stand up to polluters, especially those who disproportionately harm communities of color and low-income communities. It is unacceptable that in the richest nation in the history of the world, we have citizens who lack access to clean, safe drinking water.
Sam attended public school and public universities and his children attend public school in this district. Sam knows that access to a quality free public education is a civil right. The federal government must ensure, protect, and invest in equal access to that right for all students. The federal government must do more to close the gap in funding and resources between affluent schools and school districts and low-income schools and school districts. Sam has always been a champion for universal prekindergarten because the data shows that children who begin learning earlier in effective programs carry that advantage forward throughout their educational careers. Sam will work to ensure that all children have access to healthy school meals, that schools have the resources to address students' mental health needs, and that our schools are safe. In the area of higher education, Sam supports tuition-free community college and making all higher education options more affordable. He supports improving and expanding the Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Teacher Loan Forgiveness programs, expanding the maximum award of Pell Grants to keep pace with the annual cost of living increases, and increasing institutional aid programs for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other minority-serving institutions. [6] |
” |
| —Sam Searcy's campaign website (2022)[7] | ||
2020
Sam Searcy did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
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]. |
|---|
|
In 2019, the General Assembly of North Carolina was in session from January 9 through August 27.
|
See also
2022 Elections
External links
|
Candidate U.S. House North Carolina District 13 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ The News & Observer, "Wake Democrat steps down from NC Senate, makes endorsement for his replacement," December 30, 2020
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The News & Observer, "Vodka distillery owner challenges NC Republican congressman," July 10, 2017
- ↑ Twitter, "Searcy for NC Senate," December 4, 2017
- ↑ Sam Searcy, "Release – Sam Searcy Announces Candidacy for North Carolina State Senate District 17," accessed February 7, 2018
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Samuel Searcy," accessed April 15, 2022
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Sam Searcy's campaign website, “Issues,” accessed April 22, 2022
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tamara Barringer (R) |
North Carolina State Senate District 17 2019-2021 |
Succeeded by Sydney Batch (D) |
