Shelly Willingham
Member of the
North Carolina House of Representatives
Assumed office
January 1, 2015
Preceded byJoe Tolson
Constituency23rd District
In office
January 28, 2002 – January 1, 2003
Preceded byToby Fitch
Succeeded byJean Farmer-Butterfield
Constituency70th District
Personal details
Born
Shelly Willingham

(1943-11-27) November 27, 1943 (age 80)
Rocky Mount, North Carolina
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceRocky Mount, North Carolina
Alma materElizabeth City State University (BA)

Shelly Willingham (born November 27, 1943) is a Democratic member of the North Carolina House of Representatives. He has represented the 23rd district (which includes all of Martin and Edgecombe counties) since 2015.[1] He previously served in the House from 2002 to 2003.

Political career

Willingham was first appointed to the 70th district of the North Carolina House of Representatives in 2002 to succeed Toby Fitch, who stepped down to become a judge. Willingham ran for a full term in the new 24th district (the geographic successor to the 70th district[2][3]) in 2002, but lost the primary to Jean Farmer-Butterfield who went on to win the general election. Willingham unsuccessfully challenged state senator Clark Jenkins in the 2004, 2006, and 2008 primaries. Willingham then served 2 terms on the Edgecombe County School Board.[4] Willingham returned to the NC House in 2015, after being elected in 2014 to the 23rd district. Since his initial election in 2014, Willingham has been re-elected to the NC House a total of 4 times, most recently in 2022.

Electoral history

2020

North Carolina House of Representatives 23rd district general election, 2020[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Shelly Willingham (incumbent) 21,754 58.76%
Republican Claiborne Holtzman 14,656 39.59%
Green Abbie (Bud) Lane 612 1.65%
Total votes 37,022 100%
Democratic hold

2018

North Carolina House of Representatives 23rd district general election, 2018[6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Shelly Willingham (incumbent) 15,959 60.85%
Republican Claiborne Holtzman 10,266 39.15%
Total votes 26,225 100%
Democratic hold

2016

North Carolina House of Representatives 23rd district general election, 2016[7]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Shelly Willingham (incumbent) 27,208 100%
Total votes 27,208 100%
Democratic hold

2014

North Carolina House of Representatives 23rd district Democratic primary election, 2014[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Shelly Willingham 2,978 35.61%
Democratic R. B. (Rusty) Holderness 2,543 30.41%
Democratic Taro Knight 1,715 20.51%
Democratic Bronson Williams 1,126 13.47%
Total votes 8,362 100%
North Carolina House of Representatives 23rd district Democratic primary run-off election, 2014[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Shelly Willingham 2,702 52.16%
Democratic R. B. (Rusty) Holderness 2,478 47.84%
Total votes 5,180 100%
North Carolina House of Representatives 23rd district general election, 2014[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Shelly Willingham 18,660 100%
Total votes 18,660 100%
Democratic hold

2008

North Carolina Senate 3rd district Democratic primary election, 2008[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Clark Jenkins (incumbent) 16,187 50.52%
Democratic Shelly Willingham 13,200 41.20%
Democratic Henry Williams II 2,652 8.28%
Total votes 32,039 100%

2006

North Carolina Senate 3rd district Democratic primary election, 2006[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Clark Jenkins (incumbent) 7,969 64.28%
Democratic Shelly Willingham 4,429 35.72%
Total votes 12,398 100%

2004

North Carolina Senate 3rd district Democratic primary election, 2004[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Clark Jenkins (incumbent) 5,044 33.13%
Democratic Shelly Willingham 4,991 32.79%
Democratic Charles Elliott Johnson 4,011 26.35%
Democratic Jim Rouse 1,177 7.73%
Total votes 15,223 100%
North Carolina Senate 3rd district Democratic primary run-off election, 2004[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Clark Jenkins (incumbent) 6,070 54.47%
Democratic Shelly Willingham 5,074 45.53%
Total votes 11,144 100%

2002

North Carolina House of Representatives 24th district Democratic primary election, 2002[15]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jean Farmer-Butterfield 2,431 36.11%
Democratic Shelly Willingham (incumbent) 2,102 31.22%
Democratic A P Coleman 1,502 22.31%
Democratic Ronald L. (Ronnie) Williams 697 10.35%
Total votes 6,732 100%

Committee assignments

[16]

2021-2022 Session

2019-2020 Session

2017-2018 Session

2015-2016 session

References

  1. ^ "The Voter's Self Defense System". Vote Smart. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  2. ^ "1992 House Base Plan 5" (PDF). North Carolina General Assembly. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  3. ^ "INTERIM HOUSE REDISTRICTING PLAN FOR N.C. 2002 ELECTION" (PDF). North Carolina General Assembly. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  4. ^ Calvin Adkins (January 17, 2014). "Willingham ponders District 23 run". The Daily Southerner. Archived from the original on 2014-04-18. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  5. ^ [1] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
  6. ^ [2] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
  7. ^ [3] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
  8. ^ [4] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
  9. ^ [5] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
  10. ^ [6] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
  11. ^ [7] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
  12. ^ [8] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
  13. ^ [9] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
  14. ^ [10] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
  15. ^ [11] North Carolina State Board of Elections.
  16. ^ "Shelly Willingham". Retrieved January 28, 2022.

External links

North Carolina House of Representatives Preceded byToby Fitch Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from the 70th district 2002-2003 Succeeded byBobby Barbee Preceded byJoe Tolson Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from the 23rd district 2015-present Incumbent
Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives
Categories