Paul Newton
Majority Leader of the North Carolina Senate
Assumed office
January 1, 2023
LeaderPhil Berger
Preceded byKathy Harrington
Member of the North Carolina Senate
Assumed office
January 1, 2017
Preceded byFletcher L. Hartsell Jr.
Constituency36th district (2017–2023)
34th district (2023–present)
Personal details
Born
Paul Robert Newton

(1960-06-02) June 2, 1960 (age 63)
North Carolina, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseMelanie
Children4
EducationUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (BS, JD)

Paul Robert Newton (born June 2, 1960) is an American politician and Republican member of the North Carolina State Senate, formerly representing the 36th district.[1][2]

Political career

Newton was an executive at the utility company Duke Energy before retiring.[3][4] As a member of the state Senate's energy committee, Newton opposed natural gas production limitations in North Carolina.[3]

In 2021, amid nationwide Republican efforts to Republican efforts to restrict voting following the 2020 presidential election, Newton proposed legislation that would prevent counties from counting valid mail-in absentee ballots postmarked before or on election day unless they were received by the polling places by 5 p.m. on election day. Newton argued that it was "suspicious" for valid absentee ballots to be counted after election day.[5] In the 2020 elections, 11,000 ballots arrived in the three-day grace period after election day and were counted; under Newton's proposal, they would have been thrown out.[5]

In 2021, as co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Newton sponsored a proposal to reduce the state income tax rate from 5.25% to 4.99%.[6]

In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in North Carolina, Newton was one of five Republican state senators asked Governor Roy Cooper to allow the Coca-Cola 600, a NASCAR race, to be run at Charlotte Motor Speedway, although without a crowd of fans.[7] The following year, Newton sponsored a "liability shield" bill to provide a limited form of immunity to businesses, government agency or nonprofit against lawsuits arising from COVID-19 transmission on their premises.[8]

In November 2022, Newton was elected by his colleagues to become Senate Majority Leader for the 2023–2024 session.[9]

Electoral history

2022

2022 North Carolina Senate 34th district general election[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Paul Newton (incumbent) 40,991 56.90%
Democratic Keshia Sandidge 31,044 43.10%
Total votes 72,035 100%
Republican hold

2020

2020 North Carolina Senate 36th district general election[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Paul Newton (incumbent) 69,932 57.71%
Democratic Marcus J. Singleton 51,249 42.29%
Total votes 121,181 100%
Republican hold

2018

2018 North Carolina Senate 36th district general election[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Paul Newton (incumbent) 44,938 56.63%
Democratic Mark E. Shelley 34,416 43.37%
Total votes 79,354 100%
Republican hold

2016

Republican primary for the 2016 North Carolina Senate 36th district election[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Paul Newton 9,562 37.04%
Republican Scott C. Aumuller 7,749 30.02%
Republican Amy Blake 5,509 21.34%
Republican Parish Moffitt 2,994 11.60%
Total votes 25,814 100%
2016 North Carolina Senate 36th district general election[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Paul Newton 59,584 62.56%
Democratic Robert Brown 35,664 37.44%
Total votes 95,248 100%
Republican hold

References

  1. ^ "The Voter's Self Defense System". Vote Smart.
  2. ^ "Meet the candidates: NC Senate District 36 Paul Newton". The Independent Tribune.
  3. ^ a b Gary D. Robertson, Experts: 1 pipeline each for NC natural gas, fuel a concern, Associated Press (May 18, 2021).
  4. ^ Gary D. Robertson, NC Senate nixes environment chief, but Cooper rehires her, Associated Press (June 3, 2021).
  5. ^ a b "'Obstacles in voters' way': Three state bills could drastically change North Carolina's election laws". The Chronicle. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  6. ^ Gary D. Robertson, NC Senate Republicans to pitch more state tax reductions, Associated Press (March 22, 2021).
  7. ^ GOP senators ask NC governor to allow racing at Charlotte, Associated Press (April 19, 2020).
  8. ^ Gary D. Robertson, N.C. lawmakers push reopen bills, virus liability protection, Associated Press (June 16, 2020).
  9. ^ "Sen. Paul Newton elected N.C. Senate majority leader; Sen. Blue to serve as Democratic leader". Gray Television, Inc. November 29, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  10. ^ [1] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
  11. ^ [2] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
  12. ^ [3] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
  13. ^ [4] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
  14. ^ [5] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
North Carolina Senate Preceded byFletcher L. Hartsell Jr. Member of the North Carolina Senatefrom the 36th district 2017–2023 Succeeded byEddie Settle Preceded byVickie Sawyer Member of the North Carolina Senatefrom the 34th district 2023–present Incumbent Preceded byKathy Harrington Majority Leader of the North Carolina Senate 2023–present
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