NC State Senate District 19: Val Applewhite

Name as it appears on the ballot: Val Applewhite

Party affiliation: Democrat

Previous elected offices held: Fayetteville City Council, 2007-2013

Age as of Election Day: 63

Immediate family members: Two adult sons

Occupation (employer, where you work, what you do): Retired military, current real estate broker and owner of her own firm, Val Applewhite Real Estate And Consulting

Website and campaign social media: valapplewhitencsenate.com, applewhiteforsenate@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.

One of my first acts after being elected was visiting Alderman and Gray’s Creek Elementary Schools, where children have been using bottled water for years. I convened a meeting with our Cumberland County delegation, elected officials from Cumberland County, City of Fayetteville and the Public Works Commission (PWC) that led to an agreement to extend clean water to a portion of the Gray’s Creek area. Securing $15 million in funding with the support of my Republican colleagues for this project was a start, but it fell far short of the more than $100 million needed for a full build-out.

I’m grateful for Governor Cooper’s support in securing an additional $35 million grant through the Biden administration to help PWC meet federal EPA standards. I will keep pushing for more funding from the state and exploring alternative sources to ensure we get the clean water we deserve. This issue transcends politics — clean water is a basic human right and we must act now.

While partisan politics sometimes limit the funding we receive, I remain hopeful that we can set aside differences for the good of the people of Cumberland County. Through continued collaboration, we can secure the resources our community needs.

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?

My position is clear: taxpayer dollars should not be used to support private schools. The Opportunity Scholarship program is diverting hundreds of millions from public schools across the state, including $25 million from Cumberland County Schools alone. This is money that our public schools desperately need.

What we’re seeing is that some private schools are already raising tuition, making them unaffordable for lower-income families. It’s a shell game by design, many students were already attending private schools, and now the taxpayers are simply picking up their tuition bills. It sets the stage for further segregation in our schools, creating a system where wealthier families benefit while poorer and rural students are left behind. These are private, mostly religious-based schools that have little accountability to the state that funds them nor do have to meet the same stringent standards as our public schools.

The best solution is to end this program entirely and return the funding to our public schools. North Carolina needs to fully fund the Leandro decision and provide every child with the quality public education guaranteed by our state’s constitution. That is how we ensure a better future for all students, not just a privileged few.

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 voted against Senate Bill 20, the so-called “Care for Women, Children, and Families Act,” which reduced the time limits from 20 weeks to 12 for an abortion. This law disregards a woman’s right to make deeply personal health care decisions, and I see it as just the beginning of continued attacks on women’s reproductive rights.

I supported the previous 20-week limit, which allowed for exceptions in cases of rape, incest and when a woman’s life is at risk based on medical advice. The 12-week limit is far too restrictive and does not account for the complexities of pregnancy and the real-life situations that women face.

North Carolina must protect a woman’s right to choose. We’ve already seen the devastating effects of restrictive abortion bans in other states, harming women’s health and futures. I will continue to advocate for reproductive freedom because women have fought too hard to have their rights rolled back. Reproductive choice should not be a political issue — it’s about ensuring women have the right to control their own bodies and health care decisions.

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?

Passing a budget with a clear structural imbalance is fiscally irresponsible, and that’s one of the reasons I did not support the 2023-24 budget. While it claims to increase public school funding, millions are siphoned away to private schools through the Opportunity Scholarship program and our teacher pay ranks 42nd in the nation. Is this how we “increase spending to support public education” — give money with one hand and take it away with the other? This budget raises deep concerns for the future economic stability of our state.

In addition to underfunding education, many state agencies are struggling to deliver quality services, with staffing shortages of 40% or more due to inadequate funding and uncompetitive salaries. I suspect leadership may be banking on new revenues from casinos, gambling or other regressive taxes that disproportionately affect poor people to fill these gaps.

Instead of addressing our fiscal future responsibly, we’re heading toward a fiscal cliff. If my Republican colleagues have a plan to address the looming shortfalls, maybe they should share it with all of us. We need a transparent, collaborative budget process that ensures the long-term well-being of North Carolina.