by CLC staff

To find the answer, we turned to two sources: 1) the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce, and 2) the CPAC Foundation’s Center for Legislative Accountability.

The Chamber, the leading business advocacy organization in the state, produces an annual “How They Voted” report. CPAC’s Center for Legislative Accountability is home to the nation’s most comprehensive conservative policy database, containing over 23,000 detailed bill analyses spanning 50 years of Congress and all 50 state legislatures. We reported on their 2023 findings for the North Carolina House of Representatives earlier this year.

Both groups identify key pieces of legislation and how each legislator voted. The aggregate of these votes determine, in the Chamber’s case, a legislator’s pro-jobs grade; in CPAC’s case, a grade which reflects where a legislator stands on the ideological spectrum.

There are 120 members of the state House, 72 of whom are in the majority party and 48 of whom are in the minority party.

Three House members, all from the majority party, received a 100% pro-jobs rating: Representatives Jimmy Dixon, Ben Moss, and Tim Reeder. 53 members of the majority party received a pro-jobs grade between 90% and 100%, and the remaining 16 members of the majority party scored no less than an 85%.

From the minority party, only six House members received 80% or above in the Chamber’s pro-jobs score (Representatives Cecil Brockman, Carla Cunningham, Nasif Majeed, Garland Pierce, Shelly Willingham, and Michael Wray) and another six received a score between 51% and 79% (Representatives Kelly Alexander, Rosa Gill, Ray Jeffers, Joe John, Abe Jones, and James Roberson). The remaining 36 members of the minority party — fully three quarters of them — scored 50% or below. Four House members, Representatives Julie von Haefen, John Autry, Marcia Morey, and Pricey Harrison, scored below 25%.

On the ideological spectrum, seven members of the majority party received a 100% conservative grade from CPAC: Representatives John Bell, George Cleveland, Kelly Hastings, Keith Kidwell, Mitchell Setzer, Carson Smith, and Frank Sossamon. Of the remaining 65 members of the majority party, 32 scored between 90% and 99% and 33 members received a score of 88%.

From the minority party, only seven House members received a CPAC score above 10%: Kelly Alexander, Cecil Brockman, Carla Cunningham, Ray Jeffers, Garland Pierce, Shelly Willingham, and Michael Wray. Ten received a score between 1% and 7%, and 31 members received a 0% CPAC score (in other words, a 100% progressive voting record) — roughly two-thirds of the entire minority caucus.

It’s a pretty safe bet to conclude that the entire membership of the NC House’s majority party is very conservative and very pro-jobs. It’s also reasonable to conclude that the vast number of the NC House’s minority party (41 of 48) are extremely progressive (less than 10% on their CPAC score) and 36 of the 48 get a failing grade on their jobs record (50% or less on their Chamber pro-jobs score).

So, to answer our question “Are progressives bad for business?” The short answer is a resounding yes — but with maybe three or four exceptions (Representatives Kelly Alexander, Carla Cunningham, Ray Jeffers, and Nasif Majid).

Here’s a closer look at those twelve members of the minority party who scored above a 50% in their pro-jobs voting record:

• Incumbent Rep. Cecil Brockman had the best pro-jobs voting record of any member of his party, scoring 90%. His CPAC score came in at 36%, the third highest of his party. Rep. Brockman, who had the support of the NC Chamber of Commerce and other pro-business groups, narrowly defeated more progressive challenger James Adams in the March 5 primary (50.71% to 49.29%). Adams was endorsed by a legion of far-left activist groups, including Carolina Forward, Swing Left, Indivisible Guilford, Work for Democracy, the YDNC, and the Progressive Caucus of the NCDP.

• Rep. Michael Wray, the most conservative member of his party (with a CPAC score of 50%), came in second in his pro-jobs voting record at 88%. Like Rep. Brockman, Rep. Wray was similarly supported in his race by pro-business groups, including the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), the Chamber, and others. He was narrowly defeated by progressive candidate Rodney Pierce on March 5 (50.14% to 49.86%). Pierce, like Adams, was endorsed by Carolina Forward, the YDNC, and the Progressive Caucus of the NCDP. He was also endorsed by state senator Graig Meyer, who, for context, struck out at 0% on his own CPAC score.

• Rep. Garland Pierce came in third with an 87% pro-jobs voting record, just below Rep. Wray. He was also the second most conservative member of his party, with a CPAC score of 41%. Rep. Pierce ran unopposed on March 5.

• Rep. Shelly Willingham tied Rep. Pierce for third place with his pro-jobs voting record, at 87%. He is considered the fourth most conservative member of his party, with a 31% CPAC score. Rep. Willingham trounced his progressive primary opponent, Abbie Lane, who ran for the same seat as a Green Party candidate in 2020. Lane was endorsed by the Progressive Caucus of the NCDP.

• Rep. Carla Cunningham came in fifth place with an 86% pro-jobs rating and sixth in her ranking as a conservative within her party at 19%. Rep. Cunningham overwhelmingly defeated her more progressive opponent, Vermanno Bowman, 84.56% to 15.44%. Bowman was also endorsed by the Progressive Caucus of the NCDP and now serves as the president of the Progressive Caucus of Charlotte.

• Rep. Nasif Majeed came in sixth with an 80% pro-jobs voting record and just a 6% CPAC score. Majeed ran unopposed on March 5.

• Rep. Ray Jeffers came in seventh among his party for a pro-jobs voting record at 69%. Majeed, who had a 13% CPAC rating, ran unopposed on March 5.

• Rep. Kelly Alexander came in eighth place in his party for a pro-jobs voting record at 67%. He was the fifth most conservative member of his party, with a 26% CPAC score. Alexander also did not have a primary opponent.

• Rep. Rosa Gill and Rep. James Roberson shared ninth place with a 54% pro-jobs rating. Gill received a 9% CPAC score and Roberson a 0%. Neither had a primary opponent.

• Sharing tenth place for a pro-jobs voting record were Reps. Joe John and Abe Jones at 53%. They both scored a 6% CPAC rating and neither had a primary opponent.

Additional Information

March 5th’s primary produced a few newsworthy results, not the least of which occurred in a handful of the 34 contested seats in the North Carolina House. All told, the majority party had 20 seats with primary challengers, the minority party 13. Two incumbents in the majority party lost their primary reelection bids (Representatives Kevin Crutchfield and George Cleveland) and one incumbent in the minority party (Rep. Michael Wray) lost his race.

The Progressive Caucus of the NCDP endorsed 12 NC House candidates, winning eight of those races (Linda Moore, Katie Tomberlin, Rodney Pierce, Monika Johnson-Hostler, James Adams, Amber Baker, Amy Taylor North, and Beth Gardner Helfrich).