Natasha Marcus, candidate for NC Senate District 41

Name: Natasha Marcus

Political party: Democrat

Age as of Nov. 8, 2022: 53

Campaign website: NatashaMarcus.com

Occupation: State senator, attorney

Education: Hamilton College, B.A. in Public Policy; Duke University School of Law, J.D.

Have you run for elected office before? I ran for NC House in 2014 and NC Senate in 2018 and 2020

Please list highlights of your civic involvement: I volunteered for about 10 years at the Ada Jenkins Center in various capacities (medical clinic, front desk, fundraising, events, after-school, food pantry). I volunteer at my children’s schools as room Mom, PTO, etc. (Davidson Elem; Bailey Middle; CSD, etc.); I was a neighborhood team leader for the Obama campaigns in 2008 and 2012 (registering voters, encouraging participation in the election); I did pro-bono work at my law firm; I am a foster parent with various animal shelters.

What are the three issues that you see as most important to your district and what will you do to address them?

Protecting women’s reproductive autonomy — SB 888 is my bill to codify the protections of Roe v. Wade in NC; investing in public education — fight for meaningful teacher raises, capital investments and per pupil funding, and address the teacher shortage; ensure that every eligible voter can cast a ballot and that it will be counted — my pro-democracy work on the Senate Elections Committee where I fight against attempts to suppress or restrict voting.

At a time when costs are rising, state government has a surplus. How should it be used?

Save some for emergencies, then make investments in public education including teacher raises; reduce taxes for working families and students; make UNC colleges more affordable; supplement Medicaid reimbursements; fund research into the cause of ocular melanoma in Huntersville; early childhood education; widen I-77 and other major roads in Mecklenburg without tolls.

Will you vote for Medicaid expansion in North Carolina?

Yes.

What has the legislature gotten right, and what has it gotten wrong, about public education in North Carolina?

Right: creation of a world class UNC System, creation of NC Pre-K and Smart Start; LETRS literacy instruction. Wrong: decades of underfunding has created a teacher shortage, low morale, lack of resources, inequities, substandard school buildings; unfunded mandates; politicians interfering with curriculum; too much money in the private school voucher programs while not funding early childhood education and public schools; refusing to pay teachers commensurate with their training and experience.

Should North Carolina change its abortion laws? How?

There should be fewer restrictions on abortion after 20 weeks.

Please add anything else voters should know about your position on the legality or availability of abortion in North Carolina.

I support the protections of Roe v. Wade, which shouldn’t have been overturned. Until the point of fetal viability, the decision about whether to continue a pregnancy should be the woman’s to make. After viability (22-24 weeks), abortion should only be available when complications arise (fetal abnormality, risk to the mother, etc). Some serious cases can’t be detected until after 20 wks, so that’s too early to enforce a ban. All patients deserve compassionate medical care. See NatashaMarcus.com.

Should medical marijuana be legalized in North Carolina?

Yes.

What, if anything, should the legislature to do shape curriculum dealing with topics of race, sexuality and gender?

Legislators should not interfere with curriculum and should not whitewash or politicize curriculum. We should trust educators to teach the full history of our country, including the way race, sexuality and gender discrimination shaped history and is still in play today. Students deserve to receive age-appropriate, comprehensive sex education so they can make informed, wise decisions.

Do you accept the results of the 2020 presidential election?

Yes.