Member, eLearning Commission State of North Carolina, present

Former Member, Appropriations/Base Budget Committee, North Carolina State Senate

Former Co-Chair, Appropriations on General Government and Information Technology, North Carolina State Senate

Former Member, Education/Higher Education Committee, North Carolina State Senate

Former Member, Finance Committee, North Carolina State Senate

Former Member, Health Care Committee, North Carolina State Senate

Former Co-Chair, Information Technology Committee, North Carolina State Senate

Member, Metropolitan Transit Commission, Mecklenburg County

Former Member, Pensions & Retirement and Aging Committee, North Carolina State Senate

Former Member, Program Evaluation Committee, North Carolina State Senate

Former Co-Chair, State and Local Government Committee, North Carolina State Senate

— Awards:

• Top Freshman Senator, North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research
• Top Freshman Senator, North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation
• Emerging Leader, North Carolina Sustainability Energy Association
• Defender of Liberty Award, The American Conservative Union
• Effective Conservative, Civitas

Priority Issues:

I believe that our taxes are too high and our spending is not correctly prioritized on the services we need most to create lasting job growth, improve roads and create excellent schools. Please join me in the effort to bring conservative, pragmatic principles to our state government.

— Publications:

• I have co-authored a book published by Wiley & Sons, Information Technology for Integrated Health Systems

Reason for Seeking Public Office:

I am serving District 41 in the State Senate because I believe that our taxes are too high and our spending is not correctly prioritized on the services we need most to create lasting job growth, improve roads and create excellent schools. For example, North Carolina's businesses, especially those in and around Charlotte, simply cannot compete when our state's gas tax is the 6th highest in the country. I reject the idea that we must have a gas tax this high to build good roads.

In our state, we have a problem of misplaced spending priorities, not a problem of too little taxes. High taxes are driving up the costs of everything we buy, leaving less in our pockets to make purchases, as well as making it too difficult for our local businesses to compete. We can no longer pretend that we do not need pragmatic and fundamental change to our state government. It has grown far beyond its constitutional duties and must be cut back.

As a management consultant and as Mayor of Cornelius, I have seen firsthand that the only way to expand our economy is to shrink government and thereby empower North Carolina businesses to do what they do best - innovate, create and compete. It is no wonder we have a jobs crisis in our state with the way Democrats in Raleigh spent the last decade raising taxes, running up debt, and spending beyond our means. I will oppose that approach in every instance and fight for the same, sound, conservative principles that have proven to deliver positive results here in Cornelius.

My private sector experience in strategic planning and management leadership enabled me to build a team that made tough choices to cut taxes during a recession, eliminate wasteful spending, and prioritize needed support for public safety, roads and schools. As a result, Cornelius now has a brand new high school, enjoys an AAA bond rating (the highest available), our police department rates in the top 2% nationally by CALEA (the international law enforcement rating agency), and we saved $11 million in reserves for major capital projects. We did all that while reducing our taxes to the lowest rate in the state for towns with a full service police department. Those positive results are exactly what our state needs right now, and I know we can get them if we stick to our conservative, job-creating principles. You can count on me to do that.

Spouse's Occupation:

board-certified pediatrician at Davidson Clinic