Cumberland County voters renewed two-term Republican incumbent Diane Wheatley’s seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives, according to unofficial election results.
The unofficial results on Wednesday morning showed Wheatley, who will continue to represent county residents living near the I-95 corridor, earning 24,536 votes. The almost 58% margin of the voter share Wheatley earned is almost the same as in the 2022 midterm elections when Wheatley beat out former district representative and Democrat Elmer Floyd. Wheatley has not lost an election to represent the 43rd District since she first ran in 2020.
Wheatley’s Democrat opponent was Janene (Dublin) Ackles, a business consultant and grant writer with the non-profit Grantastic.
In the 2023-24 legislative session, Wheatley worked on a bill to bring $2.5 million to beautify Fayetteville and another that would prevent Fayetteville State’s name change under the University of North Carolina system. She also co-sponsored the House version of the General Assembly’s Opportunity Scholarship expansion.
Wheatley has long served Cumberland County on governing boards. From 1994 to 2004, Wheatley was one of two at-large members of the Cumberland County Board of Education and chaired the board during her first term. She also was elected to the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners in 2004.
CityView Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in and around Cumberland County and can be supported through the CityView News Fund.