NC Attorney General
(Democratic Ballot Only)
NOTE: You may vote for one. Candidates are presented below in the order they appear on your ballot.
Reason for my Endorsement: Jeff Jackson is where it’s at: straight shooter, a solid and handshaking campaigner who takes it past the podium, and the flat out best communicator of progressive policies anywhere. Jackson is a rising star and I’m hitching a ride.
Deberry is from Hamlet, NC. She received her AB in Sociology from Princeton University, her Juris Doctor from Duke University School of Law, and her master’s in Business Administration from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. She is a recipient of the North Carolina Justice Center’s 2020 Defender of Justice Award for Litigation, the Duke Law Alumni Association’s 2020 Charles S. Murphy Award for Civic Service, and Attorney General Josh Stein’s Dogwood Award. She has also served as general counsel for the state Department of Health and Human Services and executive director of the North Carolina Housing Coalition.
Deberry was first elected Durham DA in 2018 and was reelected in 2022 after winning almost 80% of the Democratic primary vote. Her time as district attorney has been marked in part by efforts to alter how cash bonds are used to reduce what she considers unnecessary jail time before trials, and to promote diversion programs for offenders of nonviolent crimes. Deberry says she would continue to decline to consider the death penalty in murder cases, calling the punishment “neither fair nor equitable.”
Deberry made some waves when she suddenly announced in Nov. 2023 that she would challenge frontrunner Jeff Jackson for the attorney general job, saying to WFAE reporter Steve Harrison that she considered herself a “progressive prosecutor,” “a serious lawyer and a serious person — not a national social media following.”
The snark referred to Jackson’s very sizable following on social media which began to grow while he was still in the NC Senate and increased substantially during his one term in the U.S. House.
“The people of North Carolina deserve an Attorney General who is fair, firm, and consistent. An Attorney General who will go to work for them every day no matter where they come from or who they are,” Deberry said in a news release. “My life’s work has been dedicated to putting the people above politics and the people’s business first…. As Attorney General of this state, that’s exactly what I will do.”
Deberry has been endorsed by The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, a nearly century-old organization of Black voters whose endorsements can weigh heavily in local elections.
Tim Dunn
https://www.facebook.com/DunnForNC/
Watch Dunn’s campaign video here.
Dunn is a native of Fayetteville, got his college degree from UNC-Chapel Hill and his law degree from Campbell University. He joined the Marine Corps and became a Marine prosecutor as a member of the judge advocate corps.
Dunn was deployed overseas countless times and specifically served in combat areas in the Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan, where he was a key player in some of the most significant incidents in American foreign affairs to play out in real time, including, among many others, serving as legal advisor to the Iraqi Special Tribunal against Saddam Hussein, and other former senior leaders of the Iraqi regime prosecuted for crimes against humanity, genocide and law of war crimes.
Dunn retired from the Marines in 2019 after over 33 years of service. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his service in Iraq in 2004, and also received numerous additional awards during his USMC service including the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy -Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, and Navy- Marine Corps Parachutist Wings.
Dunn now limits his law practice to representing juveniles facing criminal charges, and he represents Veterans, Active-duty, and Law Enforcement Officers in restoring their Second Amendment rights. This is Dunn’s first run for public office.
Jeff Jackson
https://www.facebook.com/JeffJacksonNC
https://twitter.com/JeffJacksonNC
Jackson earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees in philosophy from Emory University. After 9/11, he volunteered for the Army, served in Afghanistan, and continues today as a major in the Army National Guard in his 20th year of military service. After his service in Afghanistan, Jackson attended the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law on the G.I. Bill and then worked as an assistant prosecutor in Gaston County.
Jackson was first appointed to the NC Senate in 2014 to fill out the unexpired term of Democrat Dan Clodfelter, who resigned to become mayor of Charlotte. Jackson was elected in his own right in November 2014 and went on to win reelection to his Senate seat in 2016 and 2018. In 2020 he announced his intention of seeking the U.S. Senate seat for North Carolina but stepped aside to allow Cheri Beasley to easily win the 2020 Democratic primary without wasting resources.
Jackson returned in 2022 to run for a Congressional seat after the court-ordered redistricting opened a path for him. He announced late last year that the latest round of Republican gerrymandering had removed all possibility of retaining his Congressional seat and quickly announced a run for Attorney General.
Jackson has earned wide (even national) respect as an effective communicator, spokesman for progressive causes going back to his years in the NC Senate, and a generous promoter of fellow Democrats trying to make a difference. He’s also a straight shooter, and I love it.
Jackson has been an outspoken advocate for reforming the evils of gerrymandering and he fought valiantly against the “bathroom bill,” HB2, and has been upstanding for honesty and decency in public service. His frequent video messages on his Facebook page have been both educational (offering valuable insight about the behind-the-scenes on Capitol Hill) and fun. His campaign platform and record is very progressive and his narratives well fleshed out on his website.
In addition to numerous current and former NC Congress folks, Jackson has received the nod from International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, North Carolina State AFL-CIO, Sierra Club NC, Simkins PAC, The Next 50, VoteVets, and With Honor.