RALEIGH — North Carolina Democratic Party Vice Chair Jonah Garson has been nominated to fill the remainder of Sen. Graig Meyer’s (D-Orange) term for Senate District 23. His nomination now goes to Gov. Josh Stein, who will make the appointment official.
Garson issued a video statement on his official Facebook page in which he thanked the nominating committee, as well as others who put their names into the mix, which included Orange County General Assembly House Reps. Allen Buansi and Renée Price, Person County Advisory Board Member Kenneth Perry and Sheila Mikhai, a Hillsborough area resident.
“Thank you, friends. I am honored and humbled and thrilled to be our Senator-select(?!) for Caswell, Orange, and Person Counties,” Garson wrote in addition to posting the video. He also thanked Meyer, who has “done so much work under difficult circumstances.”
The Orange County Democratic Party’s District 23 Nominating Committee made their decision Saturday afternoon. Garson received overwhelming support with 636 votes, while Buansi received 65.
Garson previously ran for House District 56 in 2022 but lost in the May Democratic primary to Buansi by 462 votes (or just over 3%).
North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton congratulated Garson in a post on X, and said she was “grateful to the senatorial committee members from Orange, Person, and Caswell counties who played a role in this process.”
Given the district leans heavily Democratic, Garson will likely defeat Republican Laura Pichardo in November to retain the seat.
In his bid for Meyer’s spot, Garson’s platform focused on progressive Democrat causes like gun control, climate/environmental justice, Medicaid For All, LGBTQ causes, education funding and restoring a “progressive income tax system” in North Carolina.
On the “rule of law,” Garson’s platform includes both abolishing ICE and ending local law enforcement cooperation with that agency, as well as a desire to “free our NC boards of election from hyper-partisan MAGA control.” His platform also states he wants to raise the minimum wage to “over $15 per hour” while expanding unemployment benefits.
Meyer announced March 9 he would be resigning to take the role of executive director at the left-leaning North Carolina Justice Center. Nine days later, on March 18, Garson announced his bid for the seat — with concerns from fellow Democrats and the re-raising of anonymous complaints of allegations of past cocaine use and inappropriate behavior with women, characterized as getting “handsy,” which Garson denied in statement to CBS affiliate WNCN.
Garson, a Chapel Hill native, is a lawyer with the Parry Law firm. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2009) and his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Columbia Law School (2014). Garson was named as a North Carolina Super Lawyers Rising Star (2023-25).
Relevant past experience at the General Assembly for Garson includes working for Senate District 23’s Sen. Ellie Kinnaird and the late N.C. Rep. Paul Luebke, as well as working on the campaign of former N.C. House Speaker Joe Hackney.
Per his biography, Garson has worked with the Chapel Hill Carrboro NAACP and Carolina Performing Arts, has served as an Orange County Planning Board member and serves on the North Carolina Education and Workforce Innovation Commission. Garson is also a past chair of the Orange County Democratic Party.
