LeVon Barnes
LeVon Barnes (Democratic Party) is running for election to the North Carolina House of Representatives to represent District 64. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 5, 2024. The Democratic primary for this office on March 5, 2024, was canceled.
Barnes completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Barnes earned a B.S. in physical education teaching and coaching from Campbell University in 2004 and an M.Ed. in health and physical education from Prairie View A&M University in 2008.[1][2]
At the time of his 2017 run for city council, Barnes was a physical education teacher for the Durham Public Schools. His professional experience also includes work as the head men's basketball coach and associate dean of students for Lackawanna College and as an assistant men's basketball coach and adjunct instructor for the Dallas County Community College District.[1]
As of 2024, Barnes was affiliated with the following organizations:[2]
- Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.
- Fellow North Carolina Institute of Political Leadership
- Leadership Triangle Transforming Leaders, Goodmon Fellow
Elections
2024
See also: North Carolina House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 64
Incumbent Dennis Riddell and LeVon Barnes are running in the general election for North Carolina House of Representatives District 64 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | ||
 | Dennis Riddell (R) | |
 | LeVon Barnes (D)  | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. LeVon Barnes advanced from the Democratic primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 64.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Dennis Riddell advanced from the Republican primary for North Carolina House of Representatives District 64.
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2020
See also: Municipal elections in Durham County, North Carolina (2020)
General election
General election for Durham County Board of Commissioners (5 seats)
Nida Allam, Nimasheena Burns, incumbent Wendy Jacobs, incumbent Brenda Howerton, and incumbent Heidi Carter won election in the general election for Durham County Board of Commissioners on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Nida Allam (D) | 20.1 | 122,947 |
| ✔ |  | Nimasheena Burns (D) | 20.1 | 122,555 |
| ✔ | | Wendy Jacobs (D) | 20.0 | 122,432 |
| ✔ | | Brenda Howerton (D) | 20.0 | 122,328 |
| ✔ | | Heidi Carter (D) | 19.7 | 120,436 |
| Total votes: 610,698 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Durham County Board of Commissioners (5 seats)
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Durham County Board of Commissioners on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Nimasheena Burns | 14.7 | 47,776 |
| ✔ | | Wendy Jacobs | 13.2 | 42,888 |
| ✔ | | Heidi Carter | 12.8 | 41,501 |
| ✔ | | Nida Allam | 12.3 | 39,977 |
| ✔ | | Brenda Howerton | 11.8 | 38,227 |
| Matt Kopac | 7.8 | 25,220 | |
 | John Rooks Jr. | 5.2 | 16,897 | |
| Michael Page | 4.9 | 16,046 | |
| LeVon Barnes | 3.7 | 11,866 | |
 | Nate Baker | 3.0 | 9,700 | |
| Tara Fikes | 2.9 | 9,345 | |
| Regina Mays | 2.8 | 9,075 | |
| Fred Foster Jr. | 1.8 | 5,694 | |
 | James Hill | 1.6 | 5,253 | |
| Patrick Byker | 1.5 | 4,937 | |
| Total votes: 324,402 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2017
The following candidates ran in the primary election for the Ward 2 seat on the Durham City Council.[3]
| Durham City Council, Ward 2 Primary Election, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Mark-Anthony Middleton |
41.87% | 9,940 |
| John Rooks Jr. |
31.32% | 7,434 |
| Deanna Hall | 11.91% | 2,827 |
| LeVon Barnes | 10.25% | 2,432 |
| Robert Fluet | 2.59% | 615 |
| Dolly Reaves | 2.06% | 490 |
| Total Votes | 23,738 | |
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections, "10/10/2017 Official Primary Election Results - Durham," accessed October 27, 2017 | ||
Endorsements
Barnes received endorsements from the following in 2017:[4]
- Equality NC
- People for the American Way Next Up Fund
- Run for Something
- Sierra Club
- VoteProChoice
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
LeVon Barnes completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Barnes' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a father, 19 year and counting public school educator, founder of youth empowerment movement, Fellow of NC Institute of Political Leadership, Noble Peace Prize Nominee, coach and motivational speaker who been around the world speaking on the power of collective action. I believe in paying it forward to our next generation and not handing them the same problems that were left to mine. We can disagree and have civility all at the same time. It's time to get back to meaningful government that people can actually feel and says that works for them.
- Saving our public schools: The biggest item in our state budget is public school funding and yet it is also grossly underfunded. Schools in Alamance County and across the state are falling apart in front of our eyes, between our students breathing in mold, one of the lowest student expenditure in the country, bottom third in country in teacher pay and the purposeful privatization of our schools using public dollars. We are truly on the brink of furthering the divide of those that have and those who don't have as much. The next generation of leaders don't need any more barriers in order to make it. So investing in our public schools is my top priority.
- There will never be a perfect government but we can have a balanced one. North Carolinians want civil discourse but are tired of the public discourse and want leaders who will do more than blame the other side. This helps no one and only further divides us, I want to represent all of the citizens in Alamance. As an educator I teach students & work with families from all sides of the aisle that are open and honest about what they stand for and yet I’m still able to get the best from them regardless of whether I agree or disagree. Getting rid of extremism & getting back to cordiality is paramount for North Carolina to be at its best. I stand on that I will be approachable, present & an active listener regardless of the issue.
- Let’s face it while the overall economy in our state and country are doing well, I like you are not feeling it enough. I share in the experience like most state employees, health care workers and civil servants who have to work multiple jobs to stay above water and we are salaried. For our hard working folks in the food service industry or warehouse workers, it has been since 2008 in which the legislature raised minimum wage .70 cents to make it 7.25 an hour. As of the start of this new year 15 states have raised their minimum to at least $15 an hour but North Carolina is not one of them. So how can one be happy and not get the compensation they need to survive. I will be fighting hard to change our minimum wage to $17 an hour.
Access to healthcare that's not 35 mins or more away. Broadband internet access to many of our neighbors don't have quality internet access. Protecting a women's right to choose, as a girl dad there should never be a time my 19 month old daughter should have less rights with her own body than her grandmothers. Protecting our environment and our right to vote in fair non gerrymandered elections. I'm gonna fight like hell to save our public schools including creating more opportunities within our community colleges.
I look up to God first and foremost. I look up to my mother and father who instilled in me at a very young age to speak up for yourself and for those who may not feel they have a voice. The strength and resolve my mother showed when my father died to keep me off the streets and out of trouble while trying to maintain a house and all the bills associated with going from a two to one income i'll never forget.
I look up to my students, the players I have coached over the young men I have been able to mentor in youth empowerment program over the last 19 years is why I do what I do. Trying to make their lives better than mine and not leave them the same baggage my generation and others have created is important to me.
I'm a huge West Wing fan, the American President was one of my favorite films but if I could offer a book that would make up my political philosophy is The Art of War by Sun Tzu.
Honest, integrity, transparency, humble, and connectivity. I say these five but there are others for the following reasons: No one is birth rited into elected office, you get there by the voters who believe in what you say and mean. Even the most hard pressed politico knows you will not be able to accomplish everything you state you would but do you stand up and actually vote for the things that make it better for the lives of the people who put you in position.
I listen actively, I prepare and study before I make any decision, I know how to collaborate and work in a team setting. My ability to stay calm in crisis and negotiate with others makes me an ideal candidate.
I believe the core responsibilities are the ones I stated above. You must have integrity in this job but also the transparency needed to answer to the people whether you got a vote right or wrong. Leadership is hard but we signed up for this whether I have obtained your vote or not.
Legacy is not determined by me, it is determined by the lives I have been able to affect in a meaningful way. When it's my time, they will be able share my story and the impact that I was able to make in their lives.
The first historical event that I remember as a kid was the Challenger explosion in 1986. I was 4 years old.
My very first job was as a summer camp counselor at the camp I went to as a kid. I worked every summer or after school program for 4 years.
Audacity of Hope. President Obama is just that dude.
Man in the Mirror- Michael Jackson
A real struggle has always been fighting for a country that has never viewed you as a human being. A lot of the images that I have seen in my life and a lot of my own personal experiences it's just bothered me. But I know if I give up trying to achieve equality and equity then I fall into the trap that's been there. I look at my students, their families but most importantly my daughter and it gives me all the strength to keep fighting.
I believe in checks and balances but the ideal relationship should be an open one and a cordial working relationship that's based on effective governance, bi-partisan cooperation when we can. We all should want to make the lives of the people we get to serve better. But you can't work with irrational folks who extreme views.
Over the next decade our biggest challenges will be population growth but specifically addressing the modernizing of our infrastructure, transportation and the affordable housing crisis. Funding our public schools, climate change, voting rights and specifically the purposeful gerrymandering of districts, access to affordable healthcare and mental health care are just some of the major issues facing this state.
While that maybe helpful especially in knowing public policy and just how the legislative process works , I believe the number one issue that we have within our state legislature is the lack of diversity across the board, whether that's different fields and socio-economic backgrounds. Having a diverse legislature that represents all communities in North Carolina can have some real impact on bills and laws that get passed.
No question, we can't have a functional. efficient and effective government without bi-partisan relationships. We can either choose to be on our side and get nothing done as been the case or we can focus on where we agree the most and pass bills that can help North Carolinians. We can civil discourse but the time of public discourse and extremism has to end.
President Barack H. Obama
Congressman John Lewis
I think for the time being winning NC House 64 is my main goal and serving the people of Alamance County.
Too many stories to name just one. When I listen to residents who are going through struggle but have the resiliency to keep going despite all the barriers those are the stories that fuel me in this campaign. Not only can I empathizes with them because I have been there but I also know what it took to fight my way out of it.
Again I believe in checks and balances but voters make decisions on who they want to be in the seat and when it comes to an emergency there needs to be one voice leading with guidance of their cabinet. But when there's over reach that is when the legislature should step in.
I would immediately like to file a bill that would increase the state's minimum wage to $17 an hour.
Education K-12 Committee, Appropriations, Ethics and House Appropriations on Health and Human Services.
I'm all about transparency and holding government officials accountable. Our right to represent the people in the State of North Carolina is the ultimate privilege and one where it's temporary at best. Where we receive our money from in our campaigns should be open and our emails should be open as well. Government officials should be held to the highest of ethics and character standards.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2020
LeVon Barnes did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
2017
Barnes' campaign website highlighted the following issues:
| " |
INVESTING IN OUR YOUTH When students graduate high school, what kind of Durham are these students walking into? Is it a Durham full of opportunities and inclusiveness? We need to strengthen the summer internship program by developing better relationships with local business and nonprofits, creating opportunities for our youth. They need to learn trades and tangible skills that will benefit them and Durham, enhancing the quality of life for all people, whether they choose to go to college or enter the workforce. AN ECONOMY FOR ALL We need to bring in jobs and train our local workforce offering opportunities for full-time employment. People are getting forced out of their homes in Durham, therefore we must offer jobs with a living wage. We cannot continue to support a system where people are forced to spend the majority of their income on rent, especially when they have a mouth to feed. Families deserve better. And elected officials need to provide families with sustainable opportunities. These parents want to make a better life for themselves and their children. Everybody should feel the growth in this city and believe that this is the kind of Durham we want. POLICE AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS FAIR ELECTIONS Additionally, the NC State Legislature keeps introducing oppressive Voter ID laws. The pro-Voter ID argument is weak, especially since voter fraud isn’t an issue in this city. it’s just another hurdle put in place to prohibit people from voting. It’s a barrier intentionally put in front of minorities, low-income individuals, and especially our seniors. To deny people the right to vote demotes Americans to second class citizen in this nation. It goes against who we are as Americans. AFFORDABLE HOUSING ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY DURHAM AS A SANCTUARY CITY EQUITABLE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION |
” |
| —LeVon Barnes' campaign website, (2017)[6] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate North Carolina House of Representatives District 64 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 LinkedIn, "LeVon Barnes," accessed August 14, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 4, 2024
- ↑ Durham Board of Elections, "Candidate Detail List," accessed July 21, 2017
- ↑ Ballotpedia's municipal government candidate survey, 2017, "LeVon Barnes' Responses," October 8, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ LeVon Barnes, "Issues," accessed October 4, 2017
