Wiley Nickel
Wiley Nickel[1] (born November 23, 1975) is an attorney, and Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the State's 16th Senate district.[2]
Wiley Nickel | |
---|---|
Member of the North Carolina Senate from the 16th district | |
Assumed office 1 January 2019 | |
Preceded by | Jay Chaudhuri (Redistricted) |
Personal details | |
Born | November 23, 1975 |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Caroline Nickel |
Residence | Cary, NC |
Alma mater | Tulane University |
Occupation | Attorney, Former Obama White House Staffer |
Website | www.wileynickelfornc.com |
Career
Wiley Nickel, a former Obama White House staffer,[3] was elected to the North Carolina State Senate on November 6, 2018 as a member of the Democratic Party.[4] Nickel was elected with sixty-five percent of the vote while his closest rival Republican Paul Smith received thirty-one percent.[5]
Nickel worked for Vice President Al Gore from 1996-2001 as a member of his national advance staff. He is also a member of Al Gore's Climate Reality Leadership Corps. Wiley later joined the national advance staff for then-Senator Barack Obama in 2008 and later the White House until 2012 traveling with President Obama in the United States and abroad.
2018 Campaign for NC Senate
Nickel was elected to represent the 16th Senate District with over 65% of the vote on November 6, 2018. His seat was one of the six seats Democrats picked up to break the Republican super majority in the North Carolina General Assembly.[6]
Obama White House
Nickel worked for the Obama for President Campaign and then the Obama White House as a member of the National Advance Staff from 2008 until 2012. Wiley is a member of the Obama Alumni Association and was part of President Obama's first wave of political endorsements in 2018. President Obama endorsed six candidates in North Carolina, including Wiley Nickel, in August 2018.[7] President Obama announced the endorsement via Twitter on August 1, 2018.[8]
2019 North Carolina General Assembly - Long Session
Nickel was appointed to the Agriculture/Environment/Natural Resources Committee, the Pensions/Retirement/Aging Committee and the Education/Higher Education Appropriations Committee on January 18, 2019[9] His first legislative action was to co-sponsor SB3, a bill to expand medicaid in North Carolina [10] along with a bi-partisan bill to restore Master's Pay for teachers in North Carolina.[11] Nickel introduced Senate Bill 104 in February 2019 to effectively abolish the electoral college and award the presidency to the winner of the national popular vote.[12] Nickel was a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 209 which would increase the scope and punishment of hate crimes and require the SBI to maintain and create a hate crimes statistics database. He spoke about SB 209 during a candlelight vigil at the Islamic Center of Cary to remember the New Zealand terror attack victims.[13]
References
- http://msweb03.co.wake.nc.us/bordelec/downloads/6candidate/6candidatelist/2018primary.pdf
- "Info about NC 16th SD". Ballotpedia.
- "Former Obama White House Staffer to run for Senate". Raleigh News & Observer. May 22, 2017.
- WRAL. "Democrats break veto-proof majority in General Assembly". wral.com. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
- "North Carolina Election Results - Election Results 2018 - The New York Times". nytimes.com. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
- "Democrats break GOP 'supermajority'". Raleigh News & Observer. November 6, 2018.
- "Obama endorses 81 candidates, 6 in NC for November vote". spectrumlocalnews.com. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
- "Obama endorses 6 candidates for the North Carolina legislature". The News & Observer. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
- "NCGA Week in Review- Jan 18, 2019 | Lexology". www.lexology.com. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
- Gudger, Sarah. "Senator Wiley Nickel Co-Sponsors Bill to Expand Medicaid in North Carolina". Wiley Nickel for North Carolina. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
- WRAL (2019-02-07). "Senate bill would restore master's pay for some teachers". WRAL.com. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
- "Lawmaker looks to add NC to list of states pushing to abolish Electoral College". The Progressive Pulse. 2019-02-25. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
- "Vigil held in Cary to remember New Zealand terror attack victims". ABC11 Raleigh-Durham. 2019-03-16. Retrieved 2019-03-31.