Shelly Willingham (born November 27, 1943) is a Democratic member of the North Carolina House of Representatives. He has represented the 23rd district (which includes all of Martin and Edgecombe counties) since 2015.[1] He previously served in the House from 2002 to 2003.
Political career
Willingham was first appointed to the 70th district of the North Carolina House of Representatives in 2002 to succeed Toby Fitch, who stepped down to become a judge. Willingham ran for a full term in the new 24th district (the geographic successor to the 70th district[2][3]) in 2002, but lost the primary to Jean Farmer-Butterfield who went on to win the general election. Willingham unsuccessfully challenged state senator Clark Jenkins in the 2004, 2006, and 2008 primaries. Willingham then served 2 terms on the Edgecombe County School Board.[4] Willingham returned to the NC House in 2015, after being elected in 2014 to the 23rd district. Since his initial election in 2014, Willingham has been re-elected to the NC House a total of 4 times, most recently in 2022.
Electoral history
2020
North Carolina House of Representatives 23rd district general election, 2020[5]
^"1992 House Base Plan 5" (PDF). North Carolina General Assembly. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
^"INTERIM HOUSE REDISTRICTING PLAN FOR N.C. 2002 ELECTION" (PDF). North Carolina General Assembly. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
^Calvin Adkins (January 17, 2014). "Willingham ponders District 23 run". The Daily Southerner. Archived from the original on 2014-04-18. Retrieved January 28, 2022.