Political newcomer fed up with school systems faces House rep in Mecklenburg’s tightest Senate race

Rep. Rachel Hunt, a Democrat in the state House, and Cheryl Russo, a Republican and longtime cardiologist in town, are similar in some ways. They’re both mothers. They both refer to themselves as not politicians. They’re both running to improve education. But their ideologies are far apart, Hunt notes.

• “The Republican Party differs from the Democratic Party in almost every way nowadays,” she says.

Why it matters: Russo or Hunt’s win could tip the balance of power in Raleigh, where GOP lawmakers are just a few seats away from achieving a veto-proof majority.

By the numbers: Past elections have been tight but leaned blue in District 42, which includes Matthews and Ballantyne. In the 2020 U.S. Senate race, 44.5% of its voters supported the Republican candidate, and 51.6% cast ballots for the Democrat. Nearly 57% voted for President Joe Biden.

• Hunt has proven she can sway a swing district. In 2018, she won her House seat by 68 votes over Republican incumbent Bill Brawley.

Context: There’s a bit of transitioning occurring in state politics right now. District 42’s current officeholder, Jeff Jackson, is going after the new U.S. House seat that North Carolina gained after the 2020 census.

• Now Hunt is going for Jackson’s soon-to-be old job. The district is about three times the size of her House district, Hunt tells me, and she believes she can help more people in the position.
• And since Hunt has opened up her current House seat, Brawley may represent District 42 again if he can fend off Democratic opponent Laura Budd.

[Go deeper: Axios voter guide for the November 2022 elections in Mecklenburg County]

Flashback: Hunt says over her past four years in the House she has reached across the aisle “to get good things done” for North Carolinians. Her bipartisan “wins” include Raise the Age and a clean energy bill to cut carbon emissions by 70%. She also wants to continue work on the proposed Student Borrowers’ Bill of Rights, which would increase regulations for student loan companies.

• Hunt’s father is former four-term North Carolina Gov. Jim Hunt. His commitment to education inspired her to pursue public service, but she knew what it was like growing up with a parent who worked long hours. She waited until her children went to college before she considered running.
• “Then the final straw was the 2016 presidential election when Hillary Clinton lost,” she says.

Russo says her interest in education also spurred her to run for office, but for different reasons. She moved her children from public to private school because traditional lessons, such as spelling rules, were omitted. She says schools should focus on academics, not politics.

• “Our education system is failing our kids,” she says.
• She wants to expand the possibility of school choice for North Carolina families.

Her other top issue is reducing violence, which she says can be achieved by supporting law enforcement and hiring district attorneys and judges to prosecute a backlog of criminals. The North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Russo.

• “I feel the difference when I’m on the streets, when I’m out in public,” she says. “I feel like crime has become a significant problem.” She references a recent stabbing in Ballantyne and a sexual assault on a Matthews greenway.

Zoom out: Russo’s or Hunt’s win could affect the future of abortion access in North Carolina.

[Go deeper: The legislative races that could influence state abortion laws]

• Russo calls herself a pro-life candidate. “But I’m also a physician and recognize that there are exceptions and certainly think that, as a physician, I’m in a much better place to be making medical decisions in Raleigh.”
• Hunt supports the right to choose and says women she meets while door knocking are usually interested in the issue. “I’ve even had people start crying, especially older women in their 70s,” she says. “That’s been incredibly powerful.”

The intrigue: Russo comes from a family of cheese entrepreneurs. Her great uncle started Sorrento Cheese and her grandfather worked for Polly-O Cheese.

• “Our family is full of hard workers,” she says. “Some of my memories from childhood were going around and visiting dairy farms, who would be supplying the milk for the cheese.”

Hunt grew up riding horses with Jim Hunt on a farm in Rock Ridge before he started governing the state. When she entered middle school, she moved into the second floor of the governor’s mansion.

• “That was back in the day when school groups came five days a week, touring the first floor,” she says. “There were people in the house 24 hours a day besides us.”
• A self-described extrovert, Hunt tells me she enjoyed greeting the visitors, traveling to other states and meeting other governors’ children.