RALEIGH — Deanna Ballard wants to pick up where she left off.
In the final term of her career in the North Carolina Senate, Ballard was instrumental in forming state education policy – both the fight to reopen schools and changes in the state curriculum.
Her campaign announcement highlights her “going toe to toe” with Gov. Roy Cooper and former N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen for months, eventually winning a compromise bill that allowed students back in classrooms full-time.
“I felt like at times I was fighting a bit of a war to get the kids back into the classroom,” Ballard said in an interview with North State Journal on Tuesday.
“It took the effort of our families and parents across the state who just stood up and said, ‘enough is enough’ too – they needed help. They needed a voice.”
Ballard said she met with parents across the state to help determine the path forward that that point.
“We had to get the kids back in the classroom. They were just falling more and more behind, there was no telling how much learning loss would take place even at the end of another school year,” she added.
The legislation would be signed into law in March 2021.
After being double-bunked with fellow state Sen. Ralph Hise in a 2022 primary following court-ordered redistricting changes, Ballard would narrowly lose that race. Despite not serving in the legislature this year, she said she felt she still had value to add to the state.
“I still feel like I have a lot of value add to the policy work and to serve the citizens of the state. I was eager to jump back in and continue to fight for our parents and our kids all across the state,” Ballard said.
Among the responsibilities of the lieutenant governor are serving on the State Board of Education and the N.C. Community College Board, something Ballard says she’s excited about being an active participant in.
“Lifting up our community colleges, I love our community colleges and really believe in delivering a workforce for the state and being a part of that. I’m told (previous lieutenant governors) just sent proxies more or less, I know how to get things done with these guys,” she said, adding, “I want to continue that good work and deliver on behalf of the people of the state.”
She added she had an understanding of the structure of state government and how to navigate it to produce results.
Going back to her focus on education, Ballard said, “I think it’s a big part of my heart. I grew up in a school. My mom was an educator, so I grew up in the school community itself, I know how important each staff individual is and the importance of the classroom.”
A native of Lincoln County, Ballard has settled in Watauga County and says she’s stayed true to a scrappy, blue-collar work ethic that’s taken her from western North Carolina to working in a presidential administration under former President George W. Bush. Since 2009, she has worked with Rev. Franklin Graham at Samaritan’s Purse, expanding the organization’s charitable work across the globe.
