Name: Lisa Grafstein

Age: 60

Party affiliation: Democrat

Campaign website: www.lisagrafstein.com

Occupation & employer: Attorney, Disability Rights NC

Years lived in the area: 36

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? 

As a civil rights lawyer for 31 years, and a member of the General Assembly in my second term, I have experience working on some of the most important issues we face. I ran for the North Carolina Senate because I believe in public service, and that we are here to make a difference. I have spent my career trying to do just that – advocating for people with disabilities, for workers facing unfair treatment, and for people whose civil rights have been violated. I have tried to ensure that the work I do in the NC Senate remains focused on the things that make people’s lives better. 

The three career accomplishments I am most proud of are: 1. Being a mentor to younger lawyers in my work at Disability Rights NC and helping them develop into effective disability rights advocates who are making a difference for the disability community; 2. Winning cases that have made a difference in clients’ lives – from individual employment discrimination cases, to voting rights cases, to ensuring access to Medicaid for thousands of workers with disabilities; 3. Being respected by my peers for my integrity and hard work, including being elected to serve as president/chair of several statewide organizations, and being named among the top lawyers in the state. 

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?

The most important issue is the cost-of-living crisis and getting our fiscal priorities in order. The current majority has ensured profits for corporations and the wealthiest and raised costs for everyone else, while failing to fund education and other core functions. We must reign in utility rates, ensure consumers are not subsidizing data centers, reverse the scheduled elimination of the corporate income tax, and fund education and healthcare – align our state budget to bring costs down. 

We have to improve our education system across the state by funding the Leandro plan, raising teacher pay, and staffing our schools with the other professionals (e.g. nurses, social workers, etc.) that have been defunded over the past 15 years. 

Our democracy is in dire need of repair – from ending gerrymandering to de-politicizing the State Board of Elections. We need a constitutional amendment to create a non-partisan redistricting commission, and to reverse the partisan takeover of our voting systems. 

3. 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?

We have to address the urgent needs created by the Trump administration, but in the long run it will be important for the federal government to resume its central role in funding these services. Currently, costs are being pushed down to the counties to make up administrative and other costs associated with SNAP and Medicaid work requirements – even as we take sources of revenue away from local governments. The current General Assembly majority has hindered our ability to meet these significant increased costs (e.g. through elimination of the corporate income tax, and implementation of a flat tax that mostly benefits the wealthiest). To pay for healthcare, education, and all of our state’s fundamental needs, we need to shift spending priorities (e.g. away from taxpayer-funded private education and pork projects). Non-partisan fiscal staff have indicated that we face a structural deficit because of the careless way revenue is being drained. Our state is growing and has the capacity to meet future needs, but we have to stop digging ourselves a deeper hole.

4. The General Assembly has voted to put a constitutional amendment on ballots that, if passed, would put a cap on property tax increases. Do you support the amendment? Why or why not?

The General Assembly has the power now to limit property taxes, but the majority opted not to. I voted not to place the amendment on the ballot because it’s a sham and doesn’t actually do anything to help struggling homeowners. We must do 2 things to bring down property taxes: 1. The GA must fully fund public education and address gaps in federal support for Medicaid and SNAP; instead, the GA has shifted costs to counties, including $600M in Wake Co. alone, leading to increases property taxes. 2. The GA should give counties the power to provide targeted adjustments for elderly, disabled veteran, and new homeowners.

5. How would you address the rising costs of housing, childcare, and basic necessities facing North Carolina families?

I have filed or co-sponsored a number of bills aimed at housing costs, including banning mass acquisition of housing by large corporate interests (driving up the cost of ownership and rent), and providing support for public servants trying to afford homes in the communities where they work. There is a clear need for public involvement in childcare, and I have supported bills aimed at enabling parents to access affordable childcare. With regard to other consumer costs, I filed a bill to ban surveillance pricing so that our data is not used to charge us inflated prices for things like groceries. 

6. 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?

Helene relief has been inadequate at the federal and state levels. While the funding provided was important (and some of it allocated only after Democrats in the NC Senate threatened a discharge petition on the second relief bill), small businesses did not get direct relief, and many people waited while the “rainy day” fund was available (but not deployed) to meet more immediate needs. Our climate response, more generally, has to include repealing SB266, which signaled a retreat from renewable energy. Many of the powers that have been stripped from DEQ should be restored so that the agency can help limit and prepare for environmental impacts. Housing planning and policy has to account for the realities of flooding and erosion; we cannot just hope for the best and spend state funds on reacting.

7. The General Assembly recently passed a new congressional redistricting map. This marks the state’s seventh congressional map since 2016. How do you view the most recent redistricting? And do you support independent redistricting processes, or do you believe the legislature should retain this power? 

We need a non-partisan redistricting commission. I have filed and supported bills to get it done. The congressional map debacle was truly a new low in a context where we never seem to hit bottom. As Democrats learned in 2010, if you believe you have a permanent majority, you may want to retain the power to control the maps, but reality has a way of winning in the end. The reality is that North Carolina is a purple state. There are – and should be – no permanent majorities. Both parties have to accept that, pass a constitutional amendment, and govern like you are accountable to voters. 

8. North Carolina ranks near the bottom nationally in teacher pay. How would you address teacher compensation, and what will you do to ensure a budget passes that adequately funds education?

It’s really not rocket science. As the billboards say: Pay the Dadgum Teachers. We could look at it in terms of the national average or regional competition, but the bottom line is that ensuring a high-quality public education is a most basic role of state government. Having a budget that adequately funds education is a question of political will. Speaking of not-rocket-science, 15 years of Republican control have dug us a deep hole. We should stop digging. 

9. North Carolina currently has a 12-week abortion ban with certain exceptions. Some legislators have proposed further restrictions. Do you support the current law, believe access should be expanded, or would you support further restrictions?

I voted no on SB20 (the current abortion ban) and support its repeal. We have a number of trap laws on the books that create barriers to care without increasing health or safety, and I also support repealing those.

10. Federal legislation will ban most hemp-derived THC products, like Delta-8, by December 2026, threatening North Carolina’s hemp industry. Meanwhile, recreational marijuana remains illegal and medical marijuana bills have stalled. What is your position on hemp regulation and would you address the upcoming federal ban, if at all?

I support regulating rather than criminalizing adult access to hemp products and cannabis generally, with strict enforcement against access by minors. The state legislature cannot reverse the federal ban, but we should be regulating the hemp industry rather than banning all hemp products. 

11. Iryna’s Law eliminates cashless bail, requires mental health evaluations for certain defendants, and attempts to restart the death penalty by requiring alternative execution methods if lethal injection is unavailable. The law also accelerates death penalty appeals. Where do you stand on the death penalty and these criminal justice reforms?

Our criminal justice system should make people safer. The death penalty does not do that, and in fact diverts resources that should be used to prevent and prosecute crime. We have to address the failures of our mental health system because there are so many people in need of basic care, and because that lack of care sometimes shows up in the overcrowding of our jails and prisons, which in turn creates worse outcomes for all involved. Our system should identify those who genuinely need continued incarceration, and those who do not. Politicizing our criminal justice system does not make anyone safer; there is plenty of rhetoric about being “tough on crime” by increasing criminal penalties, for example, but tough talk and rhetoric does not actually make people safer. 

12. Tech companies are investing heavily in North Carolina data centers, bringing tax revenue but also consuming significant electricity and water resources. How should the state balance data center investment with environmental protection and community concerns?

State law should require a baseline of environmental, energy usage, and water usage analysis and allow local governments to set additional restrictions. Data centers should pay large-load rates for energy so that their usage, and the construction of additional capacity, does not increase costs for consumers. The tax breaks data centers currently receive must be repealed. There is no basis for favorable treatment of these facilities.

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.

Two come to mind: 

A constituent reached out with a suggestion to reduce DMV visits by allowing people to renew their license online twice in a row instead of once. We drafted a bill to do that. Although I could not get a member of the majority in the NC Senate to move the bill, it got a good deal of attention and the provision ended up in a House bill that ultimately passed and was signed into law. 

Another constituent reached out regarding a professional licensing issue and continued to answer questions for me about the provision as it worked its way through committees. Her feedback, and willingness to engage in a detailed discussion of the pros and cons, led me to change a tentative yes to a no on the bill. 

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

Additional information about my positions and qualifications can be found at lisagrafstein.com. If readers have specific questions, I would welcome those. My email address is [email protected]. Thank you.