Name as it appears on the ballot: Mike Colvin

Party affiliation: Democrat

Previous elected offices held: None

Age as of Election Day: 46

Immediate family members: Mother, Ernestine Colvin; daughter, Michaela Colvin; son, Michael Colvin; brother, Mitch Colvin; sister, Shelia Colvin Singleton

Occupation (employer, where you work, what you do): Funeral director

Website and campaign social media: mike@colvinnc.com, votemikecolvin.com, Facebook at Mike Colvin for NC

1. North Carolina law bans abortion in most cases after the 12th week of pregnancy. What change (if any) do you want to make to this, and why? And if no change, why no change?

I am a pro-choice candidate. Therefore, I will advocate for more inclusive policies for women’s rights to make personal health care decisions. I fully trust women to make the best reproductive health care decisions, which directly impact themselves, their families and medical professionals.

2. With high levels of toxic chemicals in Cumberland County’s drinking water, describe the assistance you plan to send to water utilities, and to people who use drinking water wells, to cover the costs of mitigating PFAS contamination.

Building on the $30 million in funding PWC is to receive to construct the Granulated Activated Carbon Facility, I am dedicated to working for additional financial resources to support our water system treatment programs. These advocacy efforts for financial resources will not only offer support programs to assist area water utility companies, but also serve as a safeguard to monitoring the health risk of our residents. I also plan to work for resources that will grant allowances for residents to maintain comprehensive water monitoring and up-to-date analysis of contamination levels in the county’s drinking water supply. I plan to seek the assistance of the federal government and look for grant opportunities that will ensure the county’s drinking water supply meets federal safety guidelines countywide.

3. North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarships are injecting hundreds of millions of tax dollars into the private school economy. Economists say that when the government puts money into an economy, prices rise. What price controls or other regulations do you intend to enact to prevent private schools from raising tuition prices at the expense of the North Carolina taxpayers?

I am a proponent of the North Carolina public school system. If we adequately fund our public schools, our state’s educational resources will help to contain the rising cost and control the price of the increasing tuition at private learning institutions.

4. Based on increased spending to support education and infrastructure, and tax cuts enacted by the legislature, the General Assembly’s Fiscal Research Division projects that the state budget will start having shortfalls in the 2026-27 fiscal year, and these will exceed $2 billion by the 2028-29 fiscal year. The North Carolina Constitution requires the budget to be balanced. What should be done to prevent the shortfall?

Given that the potential shortfalls may have derived from previous legislative work, I am researching information to properly assess the situation and find sensible proposals for solutions to the projected state budget shortfall.