by Joanna Rutter

1. Rep. Debra Conrad
Forsyth County Republican Debra Conrad voted in favor of the misleadingly titled “Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act” (HB 2) last week. The law obstructs the basic human rights of transgender people by requiring local boards of education and public agencies to ensure that single-sex public bathrooms be designated for and only used by people of that biological sex. Marilynn Baker is Conrad’s Democratic challenger in November for this Forsyth County district. 

2. Sen. Trudy Wade
It’s no surprise that Guilford County’s District 27 senator voted in support of the bill. A former Greensboro City Council member, Wade may be most known for leading the state charge for redistricting Greensboro’s council in 2015. Wade faces Democratic challenger Michael Garrett in November, a 30-year-old small business owner.

3. Rep. Jon Hardister
District 59 Rep. Jon Hardister posted on his Facebook page during the special session, “This is the right thing to do because it relates to public safety. I believe in local control, but there are some laws that need to be uniform across the state.” Democrat landscaping business owner Scott Jones, who challenged Hardister in 2014 and lost with 36 percent of the vote compared to Hardister’s 60 percent, is challenging him again this year.

4. Gov. Pat McCrory
And then of course there’s Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, who grew up in Jamestown, and who is serving his first term in the statewide office. Triad residents unsatisfied with his hasty signing of this damaging law can vote him out in November, too; the state’s attorney general and Democrat Roy Cooper is running against McCrory this fall.

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