Diane Wheatley
Cumberland County voters renewed two-term Republican incumbent Diane Wheatley’s seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives, according to unofficial election results.
The unofficial results on Nov. 6 showed Wheatley, who will continue to represent county residents living near the I-95 corridor, earning 24,536 votes. The almost 58% margin of the voter share Wheatley earned is almost the same as in the 2022 midterm elections when Wheatley beat out former district representative and Democrat Elmer Floyd. Wheatley has not lost an election to represent the 43rd District since she first ran in 2020.
Wheatley’s Democrat opponent was Janene (Dublin) Ackles, a business consultant and grant writer with the non-profit Grantastic.
In the 2023-24 legislative session, Wheatley worked on a bill to bring $2.5 million to beautify Fayetteville and another that would prevent Fayetteville State’s name change under the University of North Carolina system. She also co-sponsored the House version of the General Assembly’s Opportunity Scholarship expansion.
Wheatley has long served Cumberland County on governing boards. From 1994 to 2004, Wheatley was one of two at-large members of the Cumberland County Board of Education and chaired the board during her first term. She also was elected to the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners in 2004.

 

Val Applewhite
State Sen. Val Applewhite will hold onto her seat in the state legislature after a victory over Republican challenger Semone Pemberton and Libertarian challenger Steven Swinton.
Applewhite is the incumbent and was elected to her first term in the state senate in 2022. According to unofficial results as of 1:30 a.m. Nov. 6, Applewhite received 54,761 votes, or 62.81% of ballots counted so far. She leads the district by 25,163 votes. In comparison, Pemberton received 33.95% of ballots counted, while Swinton received 3.24%.
District 19 is solely located in Cumberland County and covers the majority of Fayetteville. The district is heavily gerrymandered, so Applewhite’s victory — as a Democrat in the blue pocket of Fayetteville — was largely ensured.
Applewhite has previously served on the Fayetteville City Council. She is an Air Force veteran and works as a real estate broker.
During her first term, Applewhite sponsored several bills aimed at providing clean water for Fayetteville area residents affected by PFAS contamination. The first-time state senator supports abortion rights and voted against S.B. 20, North Carolina’s 12-week abortion ban. Applewhite also opposes school vouchers included in the state’s fiscal year 2023-24 budget with the Opportunity Scholarship program.
Swinton is the Libertarian candidate. Pemberton is a realtor who recently served as chair of the Fayetteville-Cumberland Human Relations Commission. Pemberton’s campaign gained traction locally, raising almost $34,000 in the first half of the year, and though a Republican, Pemberton has billed herself as the “unity candidate.” In her campaign, Pemberton supported the existing 12-week abortion ban in North Carolina and the state’s school choice voucher program.

 

Charles Smith
Charles Smith will again represent the North Carolina House of Representatives 44th District after defending his seat against Republican challenger Freddie de la Cruz.
The 44th District is a Democrat stronghold in Cumberland County. Unofficially election results show Smith earning 20,612 votes, or 62.20% of ballots counted so far.
“I’m grateful to the voters of House District 44, and I’m thankful for the people that gave their time, talents, and energy for my campaign,” said Smith in a statement to CityView. “I look forward to a second term in the General Assembly, building on the experiences and relationships gained during my first term. North Carolina has work to do, and I’m excited to get back to it.”
Smith is a single-term incumbent. He was first elected to represent the 44th District in 2022 when he ran unopposed after beating out Terry Johnson in the Democratic primary.
De la Cruz is a retired Army lieutenant colonel who described himself on his campaign website as a “conservative, capitalist, constitutionalist and bible-believing Christian.” He unsuccessfully ran for Fayetteville mayor in 2023.
During his last term, Smith worked on bills that, amongst other things, sought to increase access to broadband in rural areas and provide more information on rape kit status to sexual assault victims. He voted against S.B. 20, which limited abortion access to the 12th week of pregnancy in North Carolina.
Smith focused on Medicaid expansion, public education and early child care while campaigning for reelection. In his responses to CityView’s candidate questionnaire, Smith outlined changes around price regulation that he’d like to see made to the state’s Opportunity Scholarship expansion, including greater government oversight of private schools. Smith also said he would secure more funding for Fayetteville’s Public Works Commissions to install forever chemical-filtering equipment.