Name as it appears on the ballot: Maurice (Butch) Holland, Jr.

Party affiliation: Democrat

Previous elected offices held: None

Age as of Election Day: 61

Immediate family members: Two sons

Occupation (employer, where you work, what you do): CEO of The Castle Livery Chauffeured Transportation

Website and campaign social media: butch4nc.com, butchsd21@gmail.com

1. 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.

Work with state and federal agencies to provide bottled water immediately. Appeal to secure funding for emergency expansion of municipal water to residents currently utilizing wells for drinking water.

2. 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 do not support vouchers and firmly believe that tax dollars should only be spent on public schools where there is accountability as to how the funds are used.

3. 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 support reinstating the previous status quo that existed under Roe v. Wade by legislation of N.C. Constitutional Amendment referendum

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?

This is a structural fiscal cliff brought on by unwise fiscal policy by GOP leadership in North Carolina General Assembly. The quickest way to solve this fiscal shortfall is to eliminate the voucher expansion and roll back the phase out of the corporate income tax.