Phil Feagan announced Tuesday, Feb. 28 his candidacy for the North Carolina Senate.  He became the first Democrat to officially enter the race when he filed at the Polk County Board of Elections.
“After many conversations and much consideration, I have decided to run for the new 47th District of the North Carolina Senate,” said Feagan.  “I did not anticipate taking on this challenge at this point in my life, but I feel very strongly that the current legislature has been too partisan and too extreme. They are taking North Carolina in the wrong direction and a change is needed. I’m stepping up because I think our district deserves to have a choice at this critical time.”
“I believe people are sick of the nastiness and polarization of politics today,” Feagan continued. “I’m tired of seeing our representatives put their narrow ideologies ahead of practical results. They are attacking public education at every level, and they seem to be more interested in pushing divisive social issues than creating jobs. I hope to be a moderate and civil voice, and will focus on protecting education and promoting economic development.”
Feagan would be the first member of the General Assembly from Polk County since Thurston Arledge served in the 1950s.
The redrawn 47th District includes Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford and Yancey counties. First-term Republican Ralph Hise Jr. of Mitchell County currently holds the seat.
Feagan is a Western North Carolina native whose family has lived in what are now Rutherford and Polk counties for generations.
Feagan worked for nearly five years as a congressional aide in the Capitol Hill office of Congressman David Price, the senior Democrat in the North Carolina delegation. He is a graduate of Polk County High School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and will complete his law degree from Carolina this May. While in law school, he has worked as a law clerk for the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the Governor’s Office of Legal Counsel, the North Carolina Department of Justice Education Section and the district attorney’s office for North Carolina Judicial District 15B.
At 30, Feagan would be the youngest member of the North Carolina Senate. An Eagle Scout, he is a member of Tryon First Baptist Church.
– article submitted by Phil Feagan