Name: Guy Philip Meilleur
Age: 75
Party affiliation: Libertarian
Campaign website: https://guy4nc.org
Occupation & employer: Consulting Arborist, Historic Tree Care
Years lived in the area: 40
1. What are your primary concerns for the State of North Carolina?
My primary concern is finding ways to correct the climate of fear and cruelty currently imposed by the executive branch. This involves conversations with people, finding out their motivations, and uniting with others to restore hope and respect for each other.
2. What in your background qualifies you to represent the people of this state effectively? What would you cite as your biggest career accomplishments?
My career has involved inspecting trees and landscapes, analyzing the facts on the ground, and specifying ways to improve the quality of trees and landscapes. I wrote 34 episodes in the Detective Dendro series, where a diagnostic sleuth figures out the toughest tree problems and proposes solutions.
In my career I have served on the national tree care committee, chairing the effort to develop a Tree inspection standard. I have served on other committees with highly skilled and highly opinionated members, working to find areas of agreement and selling policy for the industry.
My strongest qualification for representing district 4 in Congress lies in my ability to ask good questions.
3. If elected, what three policies would you prioritize and how would you work across the aisle to enact those initiatives?
The multiparty Problem Solvers Caucus, 40+ strong, have established a model on collaboration. I would look to expand their numbers, and their power.They ignore the aisles, advocating for legislation that will solve problems, like:
1. Keeping our elections managed by the states; tolerate no federal agents or postal problems. North Carolina voters need to know the vote is free and fair, and their votes count. Yet legislatures gerrymander districts so the politicians are picking their voters, instead of the other way around. Whether it’s the red team or the blue team, it’s not fair, especially to the Libertarian and unaffiliated team, which outnumbers them both. There must be an independent commission that draws these districts, so these cases do not bounce around in the courts at the last minute, creating havoc in our democracy.
2. Rebuild our alliances with other democracies, and realign our military priorities to adjust to present conditions.
3. Open the US House!, now shut down after members pressured leaders to stop the war and prosecute pedophiles.
4. Federal cuts to Medicaid are expected to cost the state $50 billion over the next decade, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. How would you address Medicaid funding to maintain coverage for the millions of North Carolinians enrolled?
Federal benefits to North Carolina citizens have been chainsawed, when a chisel was needed. We need to rigorously fact-check the database, and then restore benefits. AI must not decide on actions without human direction.
5. How would you address the rising costs of housing, childcare, and basic necessities facing North Carolina families?
We must allow free trade with our neighbors and allies. Congress must prevent wars and vanity projects that burn up cash for nothing. That would bring costs down.
Our cities used to have rooming houses, where people of limited means could be safe and secure. Too often, zoning ordinances discourage the most affordable types of housing,, and encourage limited rent reductions for a short time, to get expensive projects approved.
6. Thousands of North Carolina workers lost their jobs in 2025 due to federal budget cuts—RTI and FHI 360 alone have laid off hundreds of employees, while Duke and UNC face massive funding cuts and hiring freezes. How would you address both the human toll and the long-term economic impact of these federal funding changes on our state?
Cuts in funding cause cuts in jobs, or other expenses. Federal funding is no longer reliable so companies are seeking other sources, and tightening belts.
The challenge will be to keep producing good products and research and education with limited resources.
Unemployment insurance should help people transition to new steps in their careers. 5300 jobs lost and $1.2 billion of economic impact is a lot to recover from. Congress should make it easier for businesses small and large to function and grow.
7. Climate disasters are intensifying: Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina in 2024, Tropical Storm Chantal flooded the Triangle in 2025, and coastal erosion threatens the Outer Banks. With much affordable housing located in flood-prone areas and FEMA resources stretched thin, what is your plan for climate resilience and disaster relief?
“My plan to mitigate climate disasters will follow the programming demonstrated by nature to resist and repair storm damage. Broken trees can be regenerated by only cutting off the broken parts, back to concentrations of vitality. No more than unnecessary.
The same principle applies to all damaged places and things: start with the intent to minimize loss. We Have seen whole sections of houses ground up and dumped. Salvaging can be cost-effective, and especially in this time of rising prices for building materials.
We have to use new materials and new designs to resist the next Storm. A government should not subsidize insurance companies for building where future destruction is probable. In some places there must be other uses found for unbuildable land.”
8. Last year, federal agents arrested more than 250 people in immigration enforcement operations across North Carolina, creating fear in immigrant communities and disrupting businesses and schools. How do you view the enforcement actions, and how would you address their impact on North Carolina’s economy and communities?
“Last year there were more than 250 arrested PER MONTH! 3400 arrested in the first 10 months of last year, over 5000 so far this year. And the majority do not have criminal records.
We must obey the fourth amendment: requiring warrants signed by a judge before search and seizure. There must be accountability, with body cameras turned on and independent investigations into law breaking by law enforcement. Congress needs to act when agents shoot US citizens — women in the face and nurses in the back. 12 times.”
9. Federal contractors are no longer required to maintain non-discrimination policies, and many DEI-related programs have been eliminated across sectors in our state. What is your view on recent changes to DEI and anti-discrimination policies?
“The current policy is a misguided overcorrection. Anti-“DEI” mania has ruined the US Army leadership, making us much less safe.
Americans should not act like a victims. Not billionaires complaining about being investigated for crimes or paying taxes or renting to black people. Not minorities who point to historical wrongs or poor people who don’t work, but can.
Institutions should avoid bias against minorities.
They should also avoid bias toward minorities.
As the Supreme Court ruled.””
10. Federal education funding faced significant delays and cuts in 2025, affecting Title I programs, teacher training, and after-school services in North Carolina. How will you work to ensure stable federal education funding for our state’s schools?
I will work to reverse unfunded federal mandates that tell schools what to do without paying them to do it. Like elections, education is best managed locally.
We should maximize the autonomy of teachers and principals and parents, to unleash their creative abilities, and hold them accountable for the results.
As a child I went to both public and Catholic schools, where I learned much more. Public schools should be nimble enough to change when an example like Mississippi’s comes along, and to keep schools open to maximize children’s education, not closing due to union pressure.
11. President Trump has dramatically expanded executive power through emergency declarations, the use of federal agents in cities without local coordination, and the initiation of a war in Iran without Congressional approval. What role should Congress play in checking executive power?
Congress should play a decisive role, and restore the balance of power. A multiparty caucus like the Problem Solvers won’t fight… They will force oversight.
Congress can pass judicial reform, and join with the judicial branch to restrain dictatorship, the “unitary executive”.
Congress must engage with the public to solve problems, and not leave town when the kitchen gets hot.
12. Both Democrats and Republicans are experiencing severe internal divisions. How would you navigate disagreements within your own party while still effectively representing North Carolina’s interests? Or, if you are running as an Independent, how will you work effectively with both parties?
“The Libertarian Party is perfectly positioned to work with any party. We believe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We don’t believe in fighting with each other. Members of the other two parties can see government losing control of agencies, our resources burning, and our defense falling apart.
As we rebuild, our focus should first be on restoring control of agencies mandated by the constitution, and then on those required by law. We can’t try to rebuild everything we had. That would be an impossible task!”
13. Give an example of an opinion, policy, vote or action you changed based on constituent feedback. If you have not yet held elected office, describe a time when you changed your position on an issue after listening to those affected by it.
I used to believe in the right to life so strictly that I was dead set against capital punishment. But after reading through many cases where justice prevailed and justice did not, I believe our legal system can in some cases make that determination.
14. Are there any issues this questionnaire has not addressed that you would like to address?
“At representative Foushee’s Townhall, I asked her how Congress could find a balance between legislating for the future with seeking accountability for past crimes. In her answer she seemed to understand the primary role of Congress and the need to find common purpose to move forward.
If she is elected, I hope she considers declaring independence from partisan bullying by joining the Problem Solver’s Caucus.
The other night, I attended a talk at Duke University by a survivor and now historian of Soviet dictatorship.
The Q&A closed with my question: “As a Libertarian, for 50 years I have watched politics ping-ponging between the red and blue teams, resulting in the bipolar madness and dictatorship we have today. Will our country have an easier path to restore democracy under the current system, or a multiparty system?“
Gessen’s reply went to the experience of covering the restoration of democracy in Czechoslovakia and Poland in the 1980s. It started with small groups of people getting together and talking, and having the courage to spread the ideals of liberty. That looks like the path forward for us.”
