Name as it appears on the ballot: Sophia Chitlik 

Age: 35 

Party affiliation: Democrat 

Campaign website: https://sophiafornc.com/ 

Occupation & employer: Self Employed, Investor & Fractional COO

Years lived in North Carolina: Seven 

1. What in your background qualifies you to represent the people of your North Carolina district effectively? What would you cite as your three biggest career accomplishments? 

The core job of a State Senator is to be accountable and accessible to the community, create effective and inclusive policy, be a supportive and effective part of the delegation, raise funds for the party, bring resources to the district, and understand how complex budgets and systems work. I have a fifteen-year track record of doing all of these things consistently. 

I have served as a board member and pro-bono consultant for dozens of community-based organizations. I’ve helped to raise millions of dollars throughout my career for nonprofits, candidates, and start-ups. I’ve built enduring partnerships with major philanthropists, government entities, and Fortune 500 companies. I’ve worked with people who disagree with me to get things done. I’ve been accountable for eight-figure budgets and have managed large teams. Most importantly, I learn quickly, thrive in dynamic and uncertain environments, and multitask well. I am, after all, a mom! 

My top three career accomplishments include: 

1. Flipping Virginia Blue for Barack Obama. I started my career as a field organizer on the Obama Campaign, where I launched general elections in Loudoun County, Virginia. Along with thousands of volunteers, we worked tirelessly to turn the bellwether county blue for the first time, a +10 point shift from the previous election in 2004. That change was permanent because of the incredible community leaders who kept organizing long after the campaign was over. Leaders make more leaders, and I helped to do that in Virginia. 

2. Doubling the size and impact of The Future Project during my tenure, where I was the Chief Operating Officer of our 80 person, $11M education start-up during a period of 50-100%+ year over year growth and $50M+ investment. I learned so much about how to turn big ideas into plans and then into reality and how to manage a large team. I also learned how to lead people through uncertainty while providing clarity, inspiration, and respect. 

3. Launching, investing in, and supporting dozens of women-led organizations: Women receive less than 3% of venture capital investment and BIPOC entrepreneurs receive less than 1%; it is not a meritocracy. I’ve supported dozens of underrepresented social entrepreneurs in finding their confidence and building their companies. Whether it’s an early women’s health investment maturing and scaling or a non-profit that almost didn’t make it but has now experienced 30% year-over-year growth for five consecutive years, these companies are stronger today and I’m grateful to have been a contributor to that process. 

2. What do you believe to be the three most pressing issues facing the next General Assembly? What steps do you believe the state should take to address them? 

I am running on a comprehensive Platform of Care, because that’s what we need in our politics. Our state can: 

1. Care for our Children by focussing on: 

● Public schools. Ensure every child age three or older has access to high-quality publicly funded education. 

● Career readiness. Expand affordable access to community college and job training programs like paid apprenticeships. 

● Healthy kids. Support the mental and physical health of children beginning before they are born and extending well beyond graduation. 2. Care for our Caregivers for focussing on: 

● Women’s rights. Safeguard access to abortion, contraception, and bodily autonomy. 

● Family health equity. Tackle our state’s maternal mortality crisis and expand access to healthcare.

● Work that works. Stabilize and support working families by expanding childcare, increasing workforce housing, and providing livable wages. ● Dignity for caregivers. Support the people who make our communities function with clear rights and just wages. 

3. Care for our Communities by focussing on: 

● Affordable housing. Expand the supply of affordable for-sale housing, change zoning laws, and provide increased emergency assistance. ● Support for working families. Make it possible for families to be healthy, whole, and employed. 

● Community justice. Increase equity in our criminal legal system. ● A green future. Protect our environment and invest in a clean energy future. 

3. To what extent do you support municipalities exerting local control over issues such as regulating greenhouse gas emissions, criminal justice reforms and police oversight, and passing development-regulating ordinances? 

I study social movement theory and community control, and I have spent my entire career supporting non-profits and projects that bring those theories into reality. That begins with trusting directly impacted communities to create the strategies that work best for them and to manage their own resources. Generally speaking, I support municipal control because communities best know what they need. Examples include: 

● Allowing municipalities to set a living wage that works for them: I support fully repealing HB-2 and the archaic limitations on municipalities so that cities and regions can set their own higher minimum wages. 

● Eliminating barriers to inclusionary zoning at a state level: Inclusionary zoning can require developers to set aside a percentage of new developments to be affordable to low and moderate-income renters and homeowners. North Carolina is one of eleven states that reinforce historically exclusionary development by blocking communities from pursuing these policies. 

● Increasing local control of schools: I am in favor of letting local districts decide their curriculum and professional development requirements for teachers. I am also in favor of allowing schools to control their school safety budgets so that they can bring in restorative practices instead of SROs. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. 

● Promoting trust-based investment and community participation: I am in favor of initiatives that increase community voice, including participatory budgeting and contracting with community-based organizations to work directly on those challenges at a government level.

● Expanding unarmed mental health response: Durham has innovated new models of community care, including the H.E.A.R.T. program, which sends out unarmed clinicians and other mental health responders to address non-violent mental health crises or quality of life concerns. H.E.A.R.T. is a case-and-point example of what happens when municipalities lead. 

4. Do you support raising North Carolina’s minimum wage, and if so, by how much? 

According to the North Carolina Justice Center, “the current North Carolina minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, a full-time minimum-wage worker earns… $1,000 less than the federal poverty level for 2016 for a family of one adult and one child.” We must raise the minimum wage to at least $15 per hour so full-time workers don’t live in poverty. As stated above, I also believe in repealing HB-2 and the archaic limitations on municipalities so that cities and regions can set their own higher minimum wages. A true living wage in Durham is closer to $23 per hour. 

5. What, if anything, should the state legislature do to address the growing affordability crisis and support low-income families in North Carolina? 

Right now, too many people are working full-time and still aren’t making enough to support their families. I outline my plans to address this crisis in Caring for Our Communities and Caring for Our Caregivers. The two most critical things the General Assembly must do are: 1) make it easier to be a provider and a parent and 2) expand access to high-quality, affordable housing. 

Our General Assembly can make it possible to be a provider and a parent by: ● Stabilizing the childcare industry: AARPA funds put $24B into the childcare industry, but the General Assembly failed to continue these subsidies even though we have a budget surplus. Waitlists for full-day care for infants in large city areas are often one year long. What are families supposed to do in the meantime? Beginning January 1st, 155,000 children lost access to care. ● Supporting domestic workers and childcare providers: I am in favor of a Domestic Worker Bill of Rights and support supplements and incentives for child and home healthcare workers so that they can make a living wage while doing vital work for our communities. 

● Providing paid sick and family leave: I support paid sick leave, including legislation modeled on The Healthy Families Act. I am in favor of making at least twelve weeks of paid parental leave standard for all in North Carolina to

welcome a new baby, care for an aging parent or support an ill spouse. We must make it possible to be parents and workers. 

Our General Assembly should expand access to high-quality, affordable housing by: ● Supporting reparative ownership initiatives that keep residents in their communities by: investing in community land trusts; expanding the first-generation homeownership credit; replicating successful pilots to increase Black home ownership; and providing down payment assistance. ● Building more and more intentional housing by investing in workforce housing; expanding the Supportive Housing Development Program; allowing inclusive development; and building more public housing. 

● Supporting tenants and limiting evictions by encouraging best practices; creating a Tenant’s Bill of Rights; and preventing eviction by continuing COVID-era eviction assistance programs. 

6. What is your vision for transit in North Carolina? What kind of regional transit systems should the state work to implement and what kind of transit legislation would you support? 

I envision a transit system that is sustainable, equitable, affordable, and accessible – but too often, those needs are seen as competing. Durham has the opportunity to be an example of how those needs are actually mutually reinforcing, but only if we have local control. 

For example, Durham should be able to make Roxboro and Gregson two-way, bike-friendly streets if that’s what the community wants. But the power of local lawmakers is limited by preemption from our legislature because these corridors are state-owned. Our laws need to acknowledge this reality and put power into the hands of the people who know best – local elected leaders. That’s something the legislature can fix, and I will be a voice for that. 

We have the second largest highway system in the country, and our allocation system is biased towards highway expansion and maintenance because of the STI (Strategic Transportation Investments) law, which really limits our ability to focus on other critical transit infrastructure that is more sustainable,

equitable, and safe. That law actually restricts our ability to invest in bike safety and public transit and locks us into endless investment into 20th century modes of transport. Our General Assembly made that law over a decade ago – which means that they can also choose to fix it. 

7. Would you support an independent process for drawing new legislative and congressional districts? 

Yes. Redistricting must be led by a bi-partisan commission of citizens, which is why I support SB 642. America is one of only a handful of countries that leave it to lawmakers, who have everything to gain from gerrymandering districts to suit their needs, to create their own districts. We’ve been seeing the consequences for generations, and this kind of corrupt redistricting is one of the greatest threats to our democracy. 

The most recent process to redraw districts had absolutely no transparency or accountability and was done behind closed doors in a purely partisan matter. The new districts, particularly the Congressional districts, intentionally limit the voting power of Black voters and are deeply unjust. 

8. Do you support expanding funding for Opportunity Scholarships? Do you believe the legislature has a role in ensuring that private schools don’t further raise tuition on families and taxpayers with the infusion of hundreds of millions of dollars into the private school economy? Please explain your answer. 

I am against the disastrous Republican-led voucher program (branded as “Opportunity Scholarships), which most recently allocated an ADDITIONAL $463 million to give private school vouchers to 55,000 additional families, a quarter of whom make over $250,000 a year. The “Opportunity Scholarship” is part of a national Republican playbook to try to dismantle public education and redirect public funds to religious institutions. 

In reality, the vast, vast majority of this scholarship money (88%+) goes directly into the hands of religious schools, which can and do discriminate against LGBTQIA+ families, people with disabilities, and anyone for any reason they want. They don’t follow the

same rules as public schools, and aren’t held to the same standards of quality. Teachers don’t even have to be licensed! 

We need to repeal this program, which is set to drain over $800 million a year annually from our public schools by 2031, and invest money into our public schools so that every student has access to a high-quality public education. 

9. North Carolina is one of the lowest-paying states for teachers in the nation. Schools across the state are facing shortages of educators, support staff, and other key personnel. By what percentage should the next budget raise wages for teachers and school employees? What else can the General Assembly do to improve working conditions for teachers and make the teaching profession more attractive to potential future educators? 

I went to public schools for most of my life and know that teachers aren’t in it for the money. We must make teacher pay and pay for classified staff competitive with other kinds of employment that require similar credentials. If states like Texas have successfully boosted teacher pay, then we can, too. 

Teachers must be paid a starting salary of at least $45,000 a year for their hard work. I am in favor of an across the board 10% raise for teachers and school staff, but that’s just the beginning. 

I also believe in replicating successful incentive programs for teachers, including tuition reimbursement and mortgage assistance. There are no high-performing schools without high-performing teachers. 

Members of our General Assembly need to center the voices and needs of educators and, which means legislating to: 

● Lower our teacher to student ratio, reinstate master’s pay statewide, and expand free breakfast and lunch programs. 

● Address the threat of mass shootings in our schools by passing common sense gun laws like banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, regulating ghost guns, expanding background checks for people who want to buy guns, and requiring that all gun dealers be licensed at a state level. 

● Repeal the disastrous Republican-led voucher program that is defunding out public schools.

10. North Carolina bans abortion after 12 weeks’ gestation. Do you think abortion access in North Carolina should be expanded or further restricted, or do you support the current law? 

I am strongly against the current abortion ban and it must be repealed. SB 20’s disastrous passing means more women in our state are going to die. Women’s rights are under attack, and that’s partially because our legislature doesn’t look like the people they were elected to serve. Our Senate in Raleigh is only 34% women and has only a handful of young working moms, and that makes it easier to ignore our needs. 

As State Senator, I would be a champion for choice. Floor speeches are not enough in this era – this moment calls for someone who will fight for reproductive justice in the State Senate. I would do that by: 

● Protecting abortion access: Abortion access should be safe, legal, and accessible. I am strongly against the current ban and against punishment or criminalization for abortion providers or patients. 

● Expanding contraception access: I am in favor of expanding access to contraception, especially for individuals who are uninsured or underinsured. I am in favor of SB 540, the Right to Use Contraception Act. 

● Reinstating freedom of choice for local governments: I am in favor of repealing current law which prohibits local governments from offering abortion care to their employees. 

● Striking down the waiting ban: The current 72-hour waiting ban on abortion care is sexist and patronizing and believe it should be repealed. 

11. Do you support reforming North Carolina’s marijuana laws? Do you support full legalization? Please explain your position. 

Yes. I am in favor of massive shifts to our criminal legal system, which has, since its inception, been weaponized against communities of color. This includes reforming our state’s marijuana laws. 

I am in favor of the legalization of marijuana for recreational and medical use. This will have massive economic benefits for our state, and it will end discriminatory over-enforcement that disproportionately impacts Black citizens. We know that Black and White citizens use marijuana at similar rates but that Black citizens are twice as likely to be arrested for using marijuana. That’s why I am in favor of SB 346, the

Marijuana Justice and Reinvestment Act, and if elected would work with my colleagues to get it passed. I am also in favor of retroactive releases for people impacted by the passage of marijuana legalization. 

12. Do you support strengthening gun safety regulations such as expanding background checks, banning bump stocks, and raising the age to buy or otherwise regulating the sales of assault-style weapons? Please explain. 

It is imperative to end the gun violence epidemic in our community, which means focusing on common-sense policies that keep guns out of the hands of people who just shouldn’t have them. I’m in favor of: 

● Regulating who can buy and sell guns by: banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, regulating ghost guns and requiring that all gun dealers be licensed at a state level . 

● Keeping guns out of the hands of people who are a threat to society by: supporting an Extreme Risk Law, which would mean people in crisis don’t have access to firearms, and implementing waiting periods to buy a gun. 

● Keeping guns out of the hands of people who endanger women, children, LGBTQ people, and people of color by: making it illegal for someone convicted of a violent hate crime to buy a gun, making it illegal for domestic violence offenders to buy a gun, and making it illegal for someone convicted of stalking to buy a gun. 

● Expanding background checks: These are critical to helping us keep women and children safe; in North Carolina, about 40% of homicides among women are related to intimate partner (domestic) violence. In our state, guns are one of the leading causes of death among children and teens, second only to car accidents. 

13. Are there any issues this questionnaire has not addressed that you would like to address? 

The maternal mortality crisis that is destroying lives in our community. Birth justice is a critical, foundational part of achieving health equity, and it’s one of the issues that is most important to me and to the constituents of District 22. 

There are so many critical issues facing our state, but we can overcome them only when we begin at the beginning: with birth. As State Senator, I will tackle the maternal and infant mortality crisis by:

● Expanding access to midwifery care: by making it legal for Certified Professional Midwives to practice in North Carolina 

● Expanding Medicaid reimbursement of out-of-hospital birth ● Making doulas accessible to people who receive Medicaid ● Holding hospitals accountable for outcomes and data transparency