Hundreds of ONE Wake Leaders Join Allies for 1,100 Person Action with Candidates for Governor, Attorney General, and State Superintendent.

Enlace Latino NC: North Carolina Council of State Candidates Pledge to More Than 1,100 Community Leaders 

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Report from Statewide Candidate Assembly

Over 300 members of ONE Wake institutions came out in force for Sunday's joint, 1,100-person non-partisan assembly with candidates for statewide office. Together, we proudly launched our new statewide network – North Carolina United Power for Action – and asked candidates to publicly state whether they would act on our shared priorities, including affordable housing, accessible mental health care, consumer protections for mobile home park residents, food access, and public safety.

Check out candidate responses here.

This assembly marked the culmination of a year-long organizing effort involving leaders from ONE Wake member institutions, alongside our partners from Durham CAN, Orange County Justice United, the NC Congress of Latino Organizations, and the Forsyth County Sponsoring Committee. Since early spring, these leaders have worked on volunteer research action teams, identifying shared priorities across our network and crafting practical, achievable solutions that the next Governor, Attorney General, and Superintendent of Public Instruction will have the authority to implement.

Together, we called on candidates to support a diverse range of community-led solutions, including directing the State Property Office to identify state-owned land for affordable housing development, protecting mobile home park residents from substandard living conditions and predatory rent-to-own schemes, ensuring the Department of Health and Human Services provides linguistically and culturally accessible mental health care, and collaborating with our network to move private sector CEOs to invest in housing and food access within our communities.

The assembly’s purpose went beyond securing candidate commitments – it was also a powerful moment to launch a renewed network capable of creating change at the state level. North Carolina operates under Dillon’s Rule, meaning local governments only have the authority granted to them by the state. In this environment, local power alone is insufficient to tackle the top issues affecting our families and communities.

Nearly every candidate in attendance said YES to the proposals presented to them, and pledged to meet with our network if elected. Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, Attorney General Dan Bishop, and Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate Michelle Morrow declined to attend. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein also declined, but sent a letter of support.

Last Sunday's statewide candidate assembly was the second major action in just 10 days for ONE Wake, following our 1,000-person local candidate assembly on October 10.

This has been an incredibly productive time for ONE Wake – congratulations to the dedicated leaders who made it all happen!