Dorothea White, chair of the Craven County Democratic Party, has filed for candidacy in North Carolina Senate District 2. As another Democratic candidate, Ginger Garner, has also filed for that seat, there will be a contested Democratic primary for that seat on Tuesday, May 8.

According to the North Carolina Democratic Party’s Plan of Organization, any county party officer who is a candidate or campaign manager in a contested Democratic primary must temporarily step down from his or her position until the primary election, in order to ensure that the county party organization isn’t biased towards one candidate in the primary.

Therefore, as of Tuesday, February 27, Ms. White will be taking a leave of absence as county Democratic chair, and 1st Vice Chair Richard Friend will serve as acting chair, until Wednesday, May 9, the day after the North Carolina primary.

We in the Democratic Party believe that contested primaries can be constructive, if the candidates involved commit to a positive campaign. Primaries are an opportunity for Democrats to engage in a good-faith, fair-minded debate about our values and priorities, and then to come together behind our party’s democratically-chosen nominee to victory in the general election.

We wish the best of luck to all of our candidates in contested primaries, and we look forward to fully supporting all of our Democratic nominees as November’s #BlueWave approaches. Working together, we’ll turn Craven County blue and return sane, people-powered government to Raleigh.