Candidate Biography (submitted by candidate):

I grew up and still live in Lexington, N.C. I received my bachelor's and law degrees from UNC Chapel Hill.   In addition, I received my Masters of Science in Public Administration and Public Policy from the London School of Economics. 

From 2001-2002, I served as a State Senator representing a swing district consisting of Davidson, Rowan, and Iredell counties. In the State Senate, I worked to balance the budget and pass privacy legislation, campaign reform, a patient's bill of rights, the clean smokestacks bill, class size reductions, and preservation of farmland. I also served as Vice Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and on the Senate's education committees.

As an attorney, I have volunteered legal services to assist victims of domestic violence and tenants in disputes with their landlords. I have proudly served in the Army Reserves. During 2007-8, I served on active duty in Iraq as an Army prosecutor and Captain with Fort Bragg's XVIII Airborne Corps. There, I held rogue contractors accountable for their crimes, prosecuted sexual assault in the ranks and investigated theft of our tax dollars. For my service, I was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and General Douglas MacArthur Award.

I am a member of the Board of Trustees of Davidson County Community College, served on the North Carolina Banking Commission and served as a Deacon and Elder of the First Presbyterian Church of Lexington.  

I believe there has never been a more vital time than right now for public service.  I'm running for U.S. Senate to work with our President create jobs and restore innovation to our economy. As a State Senator, I frequently reached across party lines to work on legislation that would benefit Main Street, North Carolina. From expanding health care for children to lowering class sizes, my first priority has always been making sure the voices of the people of North Carolina come first.

Creating jobs and restoring our economy are my top concerns for North Carolinians.  I have put together a comprehensive and detailed plan to address economic issues on my website, www.calfornc.com.  In the short term we must get businesses hiring again.  Encouraging small business growth means providing tax breaks for companies that hire more workers and ending the freeze on small business lending.  In the medium term we must fix our failed trade policies.  Long before the current economic collapse, our state's economy was harmed by tax breaks that encourage companies to ship jobs overseas, by bad trade deals like NAFTA and CAFTA that must be renegotiated and by currency manipulation and by unfair trade practices by China.  A recent report showed that North Carolina has lost almost 100,000 jobs to China alone in the last decade.  In the long term, rebuilding our economy means investing in education to prepare our children for the 21st century workforce.  Innovation is essential for economic success, and a high quality education is the best vehicle we have for passing that from one generation to the next.