Political Beat Preview: House District 98

MECKLENBURG COUNTY — The Political Beat is kicking off election coverage of some of the biggest races in our area.

Incumbent Democrat Beth Helfrich is seeking re-election and facing a challenge from former Republican representative John Rhodes in North Carolina’s 98th House district that covers the northern part of Mecklenburg County.

Joe Bruno sat down with Helfrich to talk about her priorities if re-elected.

Joe Bruno: What are you proud of the most from your first term?

Beth Helfrich: You know, the the cynical answer would be I survived, right? But no, I’m really proud of the first term. I think I was consistent. I think my constituents have a good sense of who I am and how I operate. A lot of the the wins that are most important to me have been quiet, behind-the-scenes wins, where we’re able to help a constituent access a resource that they weren’t able to access or navigate a tricky situation. Constituent services is the bread and butter of this job, and it doesn’t make the headlines. Legislatively, I’m really proud of the bipartisan collaborative effort that it took to get the PAVE Act passed and signed into law. And I’m proud because that’s going to deliver not just long-term, important investment in public transit, but also over the next 5 years, over $100 million to my three towns for their own local transportation projects.

JB: PAVE Act is huge for your area. I mean, just thinking about all the road money, and then Red Line, potentially, as well coming online in a couple years

BH: We really benefited from that legislation and from the vote on the referendum. And, again, it was it was not a small task to get it across the finish line, and I think to me it was an excellent example of good co-collaborative co-governance, and leadership, and working towards a common goal and and getting it across the finish line.

JB: So another thing you voted in favor of was Iryna’s Law. What are your thoughts on its implementation?

BH: You know, one thing that kept coming up on the floor as we were debating Iryna’s Law is just the lack of investment connected with it. And so, you know, there were good provisions within that law, and I think it was right to address potential loopholes in our criminal justice system. But we’ve got to really think carefully about what investment is lacking, and the reality is North Carolina is, you know, in the lower 40s in a lot of metrics that impact public safety. You know, we have a huge shortage of corrections officers. We We tried to make up for that in the in the comprehensive budget this year, but we are also short on clerks of court, we’re short on magistrates, and a lot of those positions, we have a hard time with turnover because the pay is so low. And so, I think as we think about public safety, we’ve got to find the gaps in the current system and make sure we’re investing properly.

JB: You mentioned the budget. I know you voted no on the second reading. You were absent for the third. Would Would that vote have been the same?

BH: That would have been the same, and I’ll explain. That was my first absence, throughout the whole session. That’s another thing that I’m proud of. My mom actually went into a full day surgery related to a very recent cancer diagnosis on that day. And so, you know, with with her, but also with my colleagues and leadership blessing, put in my note of absence that morning. But I would have voted no on the third reading as well.

JB: What were some of your concerns on the budget?

BH: My primary concern, really had to do with the provision, the the punitive provision for, Charlotte and the surrounding municipalities in Mecklenburg County related to the I-77 South toll project. You know, one of my priorities from the very beginning has been good governance, and to me that means, you know, we have extraordinary power in Raleigh. That’s sort of just the nature of the beast in North Carolina is that the state legislature has a lot of power, but as we know, you know, Spider-Man, lesson of Spider-Man, lesson number one is with great power comes great responsibility, right? And from my perspective, that means that we have to operate in a way that is ultimately respecting local authority where they have it, and the processes that we’ve decided are the processes. And, you know, in the North End, this is a project that’s not directly impacting my district. We are often pointed to as the place where a lot of lessons were learned about, public-private partnership and toll projects specifically. So, from my From my perspective, it’s it’s not about whether the project is right or wrong for what’s next in Charlotte, but to insert a punitive, financial effective punishment for the towns that voted with the regional transportation organization to rescind support, is not good governance

JB: How do you feel your relationship is with the Republican Party? Sometimes, as a minority member, you have to, you know, have relationships with the party with majority rule to get things done. Do you feel like you can effectively call someone and they’ll pick up the phone and answer?

BH: For sure. You know, I think I think we often are misled in in feeling as though there’s frostiness or or animosity all the time. There’s a lot of collaborative work that happens in Raleigh. Again, we don’t always read about it in the headlines. I think that I would like to think, and I and I believe that I’ve operated in a way that allows my colleagues, no matter their party affiliation, to see that I’m really interested in results, common-sense results, that I’m really loyal to the people and and towns of North Mecklenburg, and that’s my priority.

JB: So, next two years, if given another term, what do you want to do?

BH: I’m working on some legislation related to public safety. I’d love to expand. We’ve got really cool co-responder programs in both Davidson and Cornelius right now. Huntersville has launched a victim advocacy program. Would love to try to expand the opportunity for different towns, small towns like mine, to introduce similar programs across the state. Working on some e-bike legislation, that’s just a place where we’ve got to make some urgent changes to regulation pretty quickly so that we can keep people safer

JB: To wrap things up, it’s you versus Mr. Rhodes. What what do you think sets you apart from him in this race?

BH: You know, I’m just going to keep being me and and leading as I lead. I do think right now the relationships that I’ve built with our local folks, my clear-eyed understanding of the issues that the people of North Mecklenburg want us to be addressing, and that comes from knocking on doors and being accessible and, you know, serving. We’ve had over 3,000 constituents contact our office that we’ve helped to resolve issues for. I hear loud and clear, you know. We we hear from them every single day about their priorities, and I can assure them and try to operate in a way that that you know, solidifies for them that they’re my priority, their priorities are my priority, and I’m much more driven by my desire to serve, and and really reflect and represent their voices than I am by any particular, you know, party or political jargon.

>> You can see the full interview in the video at the top of the page.

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