For decades, David Price has been a local institution. Indeed, he’s almost custom-made for a district of liberal intellectuals. Price, a thoughtful and reliable progressive, deserves another term in Congress. If Democrats reclaim the House, Price’s tenure will position him well to pass meaningful legislation. (He introduced eleven bills in 2017, though none have passed the Republican-controlled House.)
Of course, his longevity in officewith the exception of a brief hiatus from 1995–97, Price has been in Congress since 1987could lead some folks to say it’s time for a change. So too could the fact that Price’s challenger, Michelle Laws, is an excellent candidate whom we would be inclined to endorse were she running in almost any other district. Laws, a former executive director of the state NAACP, would become the third African-American woman to represent North Carolina in the U.S. House should she be elected, and she has been outspoken about the lack of representation of black women in the Democratic Party.
Although they are some of the Democratic Party’s most reliable voters94 percent of black women voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016they comprise just 3.6 percent of Congress members and 3.7 percent of state lawmakers across the nation, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. Laws wants to change that.
Ultimately, we would be pleased with either Laws or Price representing North Carolina’s Fourth Congressional District. But we don’t think it’s time for Price to bow out just yet, and we believe that Price’s experience could pay dividends in the next Congress.
