Steven DiFiore II

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

Steven DiFiore II

Libertarian Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 7, 2023

Education

Bachelor's

University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Personal

Profession

Lighting controls specialist

Contact

Personal Facebook

Personal Twitter

Steven DiFiore II (Libertarian Party) ran for election for an at-large seat of the Charlotte City Council in North Carolina. He lost in the general election on November 7, 2023.

DiFiore was a Libertarian candidate for at-large representative on the Charlotte City Council in North Carolina. DiFiore was defeated in the general election on November 7, 2017. Click here to read DiFiore's response to Ballotpedia's 2017 municipal candidate survey.

Biography

Steven DiFiore II became a resident of North Carolina in 2004, having moved from AuSable Forks, New York, when he was a teenager. DiFiore earned his bachelor's degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2009. His professional experience includes working as a lighting controls specialist, as well as in retail, security, customer service, and information technology. He has served as the recording secretary for the Libertarian Party of Mecklenburg County's Executive Committee and has been affiliated with the Libertarian Party of North Carolina.

Elections

2023

See also: City elections in Charlotte, North Carolina (2023)

General election

General election for Charlotte City Council At-large (4 seats)

Incumbent Victoria Watlington, incumbent Dimple Ajmera, incumbent James Mitchell, and incumbent LaWana Slack-Mayfield defeated Steven DiFiore II in the general election for Charlotte City Council At-large on November 7, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Victoria Watlington (D)	23.2	65,869
✔		Dimple Ajmera (D)	23.1	65,625
✔		James Mitchell (D)	22.2	63,053
✔	Submit photo	LaWana Slack-Mayfield (D)	21.6	61,270
		Steven DiFiore II (L)	8.2	23,312
		Other/Write-in votes	1.6	4,489

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 283,618
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Charlotte City Council At-large (4 seats)

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Charlotte City Council At-large on September 12, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dimple Ajmera	21.7	19,164
✔	Submit photo	LaWana Slack-Mayfield	19.9	17,579
✔		James Mitchell	18.8	16,669
✔		Victoria Watlington	17.9	15,818
		Charlene Henderson El	12.9	11,447
		Ben Copeland	8.8	7,820

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 88,497
= 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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Libertarian primary election

The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Steven DiFiore II advanced from the Libertarian primary for Charlotte City Council At-large.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for DiFiore in this election.

2020

See also: North Carolina gubernatorial election, 2020

North Carolina gubernatorial election, 2020 (March 3 Republican primary)

North Carolina gubernatorial election, 2020 (March 3 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for Governor of North Carolina

Incumbent Roy Cooper defeated Dan Forest, Steven DiFiore II, and Al Pisano in the general election for Governor of North Carolina on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Roy Cooper (D)	51.5	2,834,790
		Dan Forest (R)	47.0	2,586,605
		Steven DiFiore II (L)	1.1	60,449
		Al Pisano (Constitution Party)	0.4	20,934

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,502,778
= 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 Governor of North Carolina

Incumbent Roy Cooper defeated Ernest Reeves in the Democratic primary for Governor of North Carolina on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Roy Cooper	87.2	1,128,829
		Ernest Reeves	12.8	165,804

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,294,633
= 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 Governor of North Carolina

Dan Forest defeated Holly Grange in the Republican primary for Governor of North Carolina on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dan Forest	89.0	698,077
		Holly Grange	11.0	86,714

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 784,791
= 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.

2017

See also: Mayoral election in Charlotte, North Carolina (2017) and Municipal elections in Charlotte, North Carolina (2017)

The city of Charlotte, North Carolina, held elections for mayor and city council on November 7, 2017. A primary was held on September 12, 2017. A primary runoff was held on October 10, 2017, for the district 5 race. A candidate needed to receive over 40% of the vote in order to avoid a runoff election. All 11 seats on the city council were up for election. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was July 21, 2017.

The following candidates ran in the Charlotte City Council at-large general election.

Charlotte City Council, At-large General Election, 2017
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Julie Eiselt Incumbent	17.29%	73,348
	Democratic	Braxton Winston II	16.51%	70,030
	Democratic	James "Smuggie" Mitchell Incumbent	16.45%	69,777
	Democratic	Dimple Ajmera	14.59%	61,882
	Republican	John K. Powell Jr.	11.38%	48,277
	Republican	Parker Cains	10.39%	44,068
	Republican	David Michael Rice	8.19%	34,733
	Libertarian	Steven DiFiore II	5.07%	21,514
		Write-in votes	0.15%	645
Total Votes				424,274
Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Official General Election Results," November 16, 2017

Campaign themes

2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Steven DiFiore II did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Steven DiFiore II completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by DiFiore'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've lived in North Carolina since 2004 when I moved here at the age of 18. My first home was in Emerald Isle on the Crystal Coast but I later moved to Charlotte to attend UNCC. I live in Charlotte to this day. I am proud to call N.C. my home and believe there is no better place to live, work, and raise a family. I am confident with good leadership we can ensure our state continues to grow and improve. I joined the Libertarian Party in 2008 because I felt the establishment politics of Team Red and Team Blue were not in the best interests of the people. As a local Libertarian Party member and advocate I am motivated to change the status quo and help foster a more community based set of solutions to address the issues facing our state and local communities.

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?

• The students and parents of our state deserve an education system that will work for them. We have an obligation to provide greater equality of opportunity for working families of limited means. Everyone in our state deserves the chance to enjoy a high quality education.

• Healthcare costs have been skyrocketing for years. We need to knock down the barriers our lawmakers have put in place that keep our medical costs high. Certificate of Need (CON) laws need to be repealed immediately. This will allow small and individual healthcare providers the opportunity to provide low cost quality care to the people of North Carolina.

• The lives and livelihoods of countless people have been turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic and our government's response to it. Small businesses, in particular, are in dire need of relief. We owe it to those businesses and their employees to remove as many burdens as possible while this health crisis persists. This includes a moratorium on paying property taxes or licensing fees to the state while a government mandated shutdown is in effect.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am passionate about the influence government has on access to goods, services, and business opportunities. In our nation's Declaration of Independence the phrase, "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" was included as an example of unalienable rights. Our government is obligated to protect these rights. Elected politicians have enormous influence over what free people are allowed to do, what business they can conduct, what transaction they can engage in, and what products we are allowed to buy. It is a common practice of governments to hand out territorial monopolies to large establishment interests such as utilities, hospital associations, internet service providers, etc. Certificate of Need laws, to use Healthcare as an example, are cleverly written to ensure small independent clinics cannot compete with large Hospitals for services such as MRIs. This helps to keep the costs of this care high. The rent seeking seen when governments have the power to pick winners and losers is something I am passionate about ending. When politicians can interfere in free commerce it often seems to benefit those in positions of influence and power to the exclusion of common people.

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

The libertarian political philosophy can seem confusing at first to those unfamiliar with it. Libertarians are not Democrats. Libertarians are not Republicans. Even though there is overlap on specific issues, it is a wholly separate political philosophy. One of the my primary influences with regard to libertarianism is the economist Milton Friedman. In the 1980's Friedman's T.V. series "Free To Choose" explored this philosophy from an economist's point of view. While the show is quite dated by today's standards it still has much in the way of applicable principles all these years later.

More contemporary philosophical influences are the podcast series We Are Libertarians and their journal publication Heretic. While sometimes irreverent and casual, this podcast and online journal are major influences to my philosophical understanding of policy and politics.

These sources are good places to start if one wishes to understand my political viewpoint.

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

Partisan politics has a very strong and sadly destructive influence on our government. This effect can be seen at all levels, but with regard to our state government it can be particularly pernicious. Good politics requires compromises in most cases, but compromise in a duopoly can often be seen as ceding ground to the opposition. Real bi-partisan, or tri-partisan, compromise would serve the people of the state much better. The only way to see that change is to add another player into the mix. By having a third seat at the table it not only introduces new views and solutions but forces both Democrats and Republicans to be better. The old two parties would be faced with a choice in our state legislature, either work together in a bi-partisan way to forge good law for the people of N.C. or work with the Libertarians on specific issues and policies to do some good for the people of our state. As someone outside the status quo, I'm uniquely situated to be a bridge builder across the partisan divide in our state government.

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

The first historical event of my lifetime I can recall was the Gulf War. I was only 6 years old at the time, but my father was deployed to a far away place to do a job my 6 year old mind could not possibly understand. All I knew at the time was that dad was somewhere far away and we all wanted him back home. This earliest memory and its effects on our family back then strongly influence my views on duty and foreign intervention to this day.

What is your favorite book? Why?

My favorite book is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis. It is one of only a handful of books I've read multiple times in my youth and again as an adult. One of the things I like most about this book is that it doesn't have an overt main villain. Rather, it is a tale of adventure, self discovery, self improvement, and exploration. Again and again the protagonists of this tale are faced with their own flaws and imperfections. Only by confronting those flaws and improving themselves does the story continue. In particular the story arch of Eustace has stuck with me and how becoming a better person may be difficult but ultimately is a journey worth taking.

Governors have many responsibilities, which vary from state to state. Which of those do you personally consider the most important in your state?

The most important responsibility of the Governor, as chief executive, is to provide leadership and guidance to state agencies and bureaucracies to guide them on a path to being more effective and efficient in the interest of serving the people while simultaneously saving taxpayer funds.
There are many functional responsibilities held by the Governor of North Carolina, from forming a budget, the faithful execution of laws, considerations of clemency, appointments, etc. However, in everything the Governor does it is their duty to work for the common good of the people of our state and of our communities. The toxic partisanship currently in play have hampered our leaders from working together in the best interest of our state. Promoting unity and bridge building between these partisan divides will be of paramount concern in the next gubernatorial term.

If the governor's office in your state does not have the line-item veto power, do you believe it should? Why or why not?

The governor of North Carolina does not have line-item veto power, and indeed the power of Executive Veto wasn't instituted until 1996. From colonial times until the mid 90's, no Governor of our state had the power to veto bills from the General Assembly. This made our state unique as power wasn't centralized in the executive's office and gave more authority to the elected representatives in the legislature. Personally, I believe it was a mistake of our lawmakers to remove that particular novelty from our state's form of government. However, if the veto is to persist it should be required that an entire bill be sent back to the legislature for reconsideration. To be able to delete specific provisions of a bill without legislative input is too much power for the Executive Branch to have over the Legislature.

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

It is of vital importance to find common ground with not only the other elected members of the Executive Branch but to build bridges with the General Assembly as well. There will always be partisan dividing lines, but forming common ground so we can move forward in elevating the public discourse is among the most important things an incoming administration can do.
To that end, a summit with regional state leaders and legislative delegations will be necessary for the Council of State to compile a comprehensive list of regional concerns that will be actionable in our state legislature. Partisan bickering and rent seeking interests often can get in the way of good policy, however as a third party candidate outside of the Two-Party Status Quo, I will be uniquely situated to forge bonds of common interest within our legislature to work for the common good of all who live in North Carolina.

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.

2017

Candidate survey

See also: Ballotpedia's municipal government candidate survey

DiFiore II participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of municipal government candidates. The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:

“	If elected my top priority would be to help establish a consistent housing policy, not just for new developments, but for affordable housing as well. Currently City Hall consistently disregards its own guidelines against clustering affordable housing developments together and as often as not it seems, votes against the kinds of high density new development the younger generation wants.	”
—Steven DiFiore II (August 1, 2017)

Ranking the issues

The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the city, with 1 being the most important and 12 being the least important: city services (trash, utilities, etc.), civil rights, crime reduction/prevention, environment, government transparency, homelessness, housing, K-12 education, public pensions/retirement funds, recreational opportunities, transportation, and unemployment. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important.

Issue importance ranking
Candidate's ranking	Issue	Candidate's ranking	Issue
1	Housing	7	Homelessness
2	Government transparency	8	Environment
3	Transportation	9	Unemployment
4	K-12 education	10	Public pensions/retirement funds
5	Crime reduction/prevention	11	Recreational opportunities
6	Civil rights	12	City services (trash, utilities, etc.)

Nationwide municipal issues

The candidate was asked to answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding issues facing cities across America. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions.

Question	Response
Is it important for the city’s budget to be balanced?Answer options: Not important; Not important, but required by state law; A little important; A little important, but required by state law; Important; Very important	Important
Which level of government do you feel should set a minimum wage?Answer options: None, Local, State, Federal	None
What do you think is the best way to improve a city’s public safety? Candidates could write their own answer or choose from the following options: Increased economic opportunities, Increased police presence/activity, Harsher penalties for offenders, Public outreach/education programs	Increased economic opportunities
How do you think your city should emphasize economic development? Candidates could write their own answer or choose from the following options: Changing zoning restrictions, Create a more competitive business climate, Focusing on small business development, Instituting a citywide minimum wage, Recruiting new businesses to your city, Regulatory and licensing reforms, and tax reform	Focusing on small business development
What is the one thing you’re most proud of about your city?	I’m proud that Charlotte has managed to grow as much as it has, while still maintaining its small town feel. The Queen City has managed to grow into the largest city in the state without losing its character and charm. That’s not an easy thing to do. Charlotte represents to me the best of what an American city can be and I’m proud of our communities for that.
What is the one thing you’d most like to change about your city?	I’d like to see a more consistent housing policy coming from the city government. With the amount of growth Charlotte is expecting a consistent policy is needed for the development of housing solutions that are both profitable for developers and affordable for the majority of our residence.

Additional themes

DiFiore's website highlighted the following campaign themes:

Investment in the city

• Excerpt: "To move ahead, we must encourage renewed investment in our city and get back to the business of Charlotte, which is business. We have a number of opportunities on the horizon: renewable energy, urban agriculture, ride-sharing, fin-tech, construction, and many others."

Government spending

• Excerpt: "As a basic safeguard toward integrity, we must establish a system of complete transparency and accountability governing how our elected officials use their allowances. Documentation of expenses via receipt is a basic requirement of almost every business; our city government should be no different. Furthermore, a non-partisan review board must be in place to monitor and review these reimbursements periodically."

Affordable housing

• Excerpt: "A policy of incentivizing high density and mixed use residential development, particularly nearest to our urban core, will provide a better selection of potential new homes. At the same time, the high-density developments, if planned correctly, will also add more space for new businesses to serve these new communities."

Transit

• Excerpt: "I applaud CATS CEO John Lewis Jr. for already identifying the current hub-and-spoke system as old and outdated. A more decentralized system in conjunction with the light-rail will offer better, faster services for people who need to get around town. Increasing the number and frequency of buses and trains, both at peak and non-peak ridership hours, will also allow our citizens without cars to get to and from work more effectively."

Public safety

• Excerpt: "Community policing is an effective tool for reducing the crime rate in many cities across the U.S. This strategy must be prioritized as public safety is not only a legitimate role of government, but a prime responsibility."

Cooperation with ICE

• Excerpt: "I do not support the use of law enforcement resources to detain otherwise law-abiding, productive members of our Charlotte community, regardless of their immigration status, if they have not committed a crime against their fellow residents."

See also

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