Candidate Biography (submitted by campaign):

Martha Bedell Alexander is the State Representative for the 106th District in North Carolina.  Martha is currently serving her eighth term.  As the representative of this district, she currently serves on the following committees: Appropriations, (one of the Chairs); Children, Youth and Families; Education; Health; Judiciary I; Mental Health Reform (one of the Vice-Chairs).  Other assignments include: Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, Legislative Oversight Committee on Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services, Advisory Budget Commission, the North Carolina Council on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.  She is active in the National Conference of State Legislatures where she is serving on several committees.

In her tenure as a state legislator, Martha has received numerous awards for her work on mental health parity legislation.  She received special recognition from the Democratic Women when she was named Outstanding Legislator.  She was Woman of the Year in Charlotte in 1993; has received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from UNCC (The University of North Carolina at Charlotte) and has been inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame at UNCC.  She is the recipient of the Jody Kellermann Award from the Chemical Dependency Center in Charlotte.  She received the Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award which is the highest award presented by The Association of Junior Leagues, International, Inc.

Martha was appointed to the Standing Commission on World Mission in 2004, a national committee of the Episcopal Church, and presently serves as Chairman of the Commission.  She is active in the Diocese of North Carolina (Episcopal Church) and is Deputy Chair of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.

Martha received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Education from Florida State University and Mater of Human Development and Learning from the University of North Carolina in Charlotte.

Martha has two children and five grandchildren.

Over the past sixteen years I have had the privilege of serving and working for the people in my district as well as the people of North Carolina.  It has been an honor to serve and I look forward to continuing my service.

There are many major issues facing us today.  Education for our citizenry is very important.  We need to ensure our children have the best education possible since they are the key to our future.  We need to provide quality child care to the very young children, to work together to provide a good public education system and we need to continue with our excellent community college system and university system.

Affordable and quality health care is also very important.  Without our health we cannot be productive citizens.  This includes our mental health as well as our physical health.

Energy and energy savings are a concern and we need to address cost saving measures as well as alternative ways of energy.  Air and water resources are precious.  We need to be sure we have clean air and continue to look at ways of reducing pollution as well as having clean and safe water available to all.

Our citizens need to be safe.  We need to work with the criminal justice system and work to keep the legal system in good working order.  We need to be sure justice is preserved.  And we need to continue to work for adequate funding for the court system.

The economy needs to be strong and we need to do all we can at the local and state level to continue to attract companies to North Carolina that provide opportunities for good jobs and companies that are interested in being good corporate citizens.

By working together all of these things can be accomplished.