Incumbent Michael Lee is facing challenger Jessica Bichler in the race for N.C. Senate District 7, which represents most of New Hanover County.
State senators serve two-year terms and earn a base salary of $13,951.
In-person early voting begins on Thursday, Oct. 15 and continues through 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, and polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Here are the candidates’ responses and their thoughts on current issues.
Candidate responses have been edited for style, grammar and length.
Jessica Bichler
- Age: 48
- Occupation: Small business owner and yoga teacher; co-owner of Wilmington YogaCenter
- Education: B.F.A., Ithaca College; M.A. in Visual and Cultural Anthropology,University of South Carolina
- Political experience: First-time candidate
- Political affiliation: Democrat
Michael Lee
- Age: 57
- Occupation: Attorney; founding partner, Kaess Parker Lee, PLLC, Wilmington
- Education: B.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1991; J.D., cum laude, Wake Forest University School of Law, 1997
- Political experience: NC Senate, 2014-2018 and 2021-present; Senate Majority Leader; Chairman, Senate Appropriations/Base Budget Committee and Senate Education/Higher Education Committee; co-chair, bipartisan Hunt-Lee Commission on the future of education; former chairman, NC State Ports Authority Board; former member, NC Board of Transportation, myFutureNC, and UNCW Board of Trustees; board member, The Hunt Institute
- Political affiliation: Republican
What are the top issues facing your district?
Bichler: The rising cost of living, supporting our public schools, and cleaning our water. Families here are squeezed by housing costs and property tax bills while the minimum wage sits at $7.25, where it has been since
2009. Our classrooms are short on licensed teachers while Raleigh budgets $731 million a year for private school vouchers with no academic accountability. Finally, we’ve spent almost a decade paying through our water bills to clean up PFAS after Chemours contaminated the Cape Fear River.
Lee: The cost of living comes first - groceries, housing, insurance and the tax bill on top of it all. Then the things a growing county has to get right: strong schools, health care families can reach and afford, infrastructure that keeps up with traffic and water and sewer needs, and clean water, because we live with the consequences of PFAS in the Cape Fear River. Safe neighborhoods and good schools underpin all of it. Those are the issues I hear every day, and the ones I have worked on in Raleigh, with results to show for it.
What goals do you have for your district?
Bichler: New Hanover County should be a place where people can afford to live and have the opportunities they need to thrive. That means school budgets that keep a licensed teacher in every classroom instead of subsidizing private ones. It means polluters paying to clean our water, not ratepayers: the $590 million Chemours settlement is a start, but it doesn’t help CFPUA customers who’ve paid $91 million for filters. Finally, it means responsible growth that protects our wetlands for generations to come.
Lee: Four things. Bring down the cost of living: a lower income tax rate, no state income tax on the first $25,500 a married couple earns, and budgets that raise pay for teachers, state employees and law enforcement. Build the infrastructure a growing county needs, starting with the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge and the water, sewer and roads growth demands. Keep education strong: K-12, Cape Fear Community College and UNCW, including its planned medical school. And economic development: film, the port, the airport and small business, in a state CNBC has ranked top two for business six years running.
Why are you the best candidate for this position?
Bichler: Like most New Hanover residents, I’ve actually felt the consequences of decisions made in Raleigh. I run a small business and have a child attending public school. My family drank PFAS-contaminated water for years without knowing it, and I found out the day after my son was born at three pounds. I’m not a career politician, and I don’t owe Raleigh favors. My opponent has been in Raleigh since 2014 and is the Senate Majority Leader. The private school voucher expansion he sponsored, a corporate income tax headed to zero, and a 12-week abortion ban the state’s medical societies opposed: that’s his record.
Lee: Because I deliver results for our county. Heidi and I raised our four children here. As Senate Majority Leader and a budget chairman, I make sure this county is in the room when decisions are made. Since 2014, budgets I voted for and helped write have delivered nearly $1 billion in state investment to New Hanover County and the Cape Fear region: the port, water and sewer, UNCW and Cape Fear Community College, the airport, non-profits, beaches and our first behavioral health urgent care. And since GenX was discovered, I have written a Water Safety Act every budget cycle.
How will you tackle affordability?
Bichler: Families are feeling the squeeze of higher costs on everything: utility bills, healthcare, groceries, gas. I’ll start by fighting to lower energy bills by holding Duke Energy accountable for raising rates and prevent them from charging ratepayers for planned energy projects, lower taxes for working families and make corporations pay their fair share, and expand access to affordable healthcare.
Lee: Start with what the state controls. North Carolina has cut its income tax rate from 7.75% to 3.99%, and this year's budget takes it to 3.49% next year. I have voted for every cut since joining the Senate. A married couple pays no state income tax on the first $25,500 they earn, and military retirement pay is no longer taxed. Housing: make it faster and cheaper to build, starting with pipes - $110 million for local water and sewer. Health care: more competition and fewer barriers to new providers, so families have choices and lower bills.
How will you increase healthcare access in your district?
Bichler: My son spent nearly a month in the NICU, and Medicaid kept us from going bankrupt. About one in four North Carolinians is covered by Medicaid, including half of all births. I’d fund Medicaid fully and on time, expand mental health and substance use treatment so the emergency room isn’t the only option, and hold insurers accountable for what they charge. Medical decisions belong to patients and their doctors, not legislators.
Lee: Families need care they can reach, providers they can see and bills they can afford. I helped pass the 2023 law that covers more than 650,000 North Carolinians, and this budget funds Medicaid in full. I introduced the bill to repeal certificate-of-need review for surgery centers and rehabilitation hospitals; this budget repealed it for rehab, and three health systems propose more than $1 billion in new hospital capacity here. Next: UNCW's planned medical school, which I will help the state support so the doctors we train here stay here. And this budget funds our region's first behavioral health urgent care.
What's your plan to improve infrastructure in your district?
Bichler: Replacing the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge will cost over $1 billion, and the state’s share is $85 million. In 2024 my opponent said he’d work on “a new critical bridge infrastructure formula.” There is no “formula,” the plan is a toll. Once in office, I’ll do everything I can to keep that from happening. Second, I’ll stop Fuquay-Varina from permanently pulling six million gallons daily out of the Cape Fear River. Finally, I’ll protect our wetlands as one of our cheapest and most effective methods of preventing catastrophic flooding.
Lee: The Cape Fear Memorial Bridge is the priority. We have $242 million in federal money and $85 million from the state against a billion-dollar bridge. I filed a bill to create a state funding formula for critical bridges and will bring it back in the long session. Beyond the bridge, growth has to come with pipes and pavement: $110 million for local water and sewer since 2023, nearly $27 million for ILM, $5.1 million this year for the Piner Road and Masonboro Loop Road intersections, and my FUTURE NC Infrastructure Act, long-term planning for the roads and water we need.
Daniel Sheehan covers New Hanover County for the StarNews. Reach him at dsheehan@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Meet the candidates for NC Senate District 7
