I asked a friend to make a campaign contribution to Rachel Hunt, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, and he asked me, “Why does the lieutenant governor matter?”

Here’s why.

As Lieutenant Governor, Hunt will preside over the Senate – unlike Mark Robinson, who handed over his gavel to the Republican Senate leader, Phil Berger.

Hunt will use the gavel to see that voices that have been shut out and shut down will be heard again on the floor of the Senate.

She’ll be a member of the State Board of Education, where she’ll be a champion for good public schools and higher teacher pay, just like her father, former Governor Jim Hunt.

She’ll be on the board of the Community College system, which is just as important to the state as public schools and the university system.

She’ll be a partner with Governor Josh Stein, not an obstacle like Robinson and Dan Forest have been to Governor Cooper.

She’ll be a powerful advocate for the right of women, instead of politicians, to make the decisions about pregnancy.

And this year her drive and energy will help the entire Democratic ticket: President Biden, Stein, the Council of State, the state House and Senate, and local candidates.

Hunt has the right experience: She’s a lawyer and a mom, an advocate in court for women and children, a school volunteer and a three-term legislator.

She won her three races despite gerrymandered districts. She wins because she goes to voters’ neighborhoods and talks to them face to face. In 2018, she unseated a powerful Republican incumbent, Rep. Bill Brawley. She beat him again in 2020. In 2022, she was elected to the Senate.

That’s why her campaign matters this year. You can donate to her here.