On January 13, the North Carolina General Assembly began a new term that brought with it both new and experienced officers. Three Forsyth County Democrats will serve in this term.

Amber Baker and Evelyn Terry will represent us on the NC House of Representatives side. Representative Baker, representing House District 72, is serving her first term. She has served for more than a decade as principal of Kimberley Park School in Winston-Salem. Representative Baker holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Winston-Salem State University. She also earned a Master of Arts and a Ph.D. at the Ohio State University.

​Representative Terry, representing House District 71, has been representing Forsyth County since being sworn into office in 2013. She has experience serving as the chair of the Forsyth County Department of Social Services Board of Directors and President of the George Black House and Brickyard. She is also a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, the NAACP, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture, among others. Representative Terry has a bachelor's degree from Johnson C. Smith University and a master's degree from Appalachian State University.

On the Senate side of the General Assembly, Paul Lowe, Jr. is our sole representative during this term. Senator Lowe represents Senate District 32 and will begin his Sixth year as a State Senator from Forsyth County this year. Professionally, Senator Lowe serves as a pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church. 

To learn more about these General Assembly members, search for them here.

From left to right: Representative Amber Baker, Representative Evelyn Terry, State Senator Paul Lowe, Jr.

This past Tuesday, January 5, Georgia held runoff elections for both of its United States Senate seats after both seats ended in a virtual tie during the November general election. As a result of Tuesdays election, both Democratic Party United States Senate Candidates, Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, defeated their Republican opponents. The Democrats will now control both houses of Congress and the Presidency, opening room for an ambitious and progressive Biden administration agenda.

Reverend Raphael Warnock defeated Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler with 50.8 percent of the vote to Loeffler's 49.2 percent. With a victory margin over 1/2 of a percent, Warnock avoided a recount against Loeffler. Before becoming the Senator-elect from Georgia, Reverend Raphael Warnock was the senior pastor at Ebenezer Methodist Church in Atlanta, the former pulpit of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Jon Ossoff defeated incumbent Republican Senator David Perdue. Ossoff beat Perdue by gaining 50.3 percent of the vote to Perdue's 49.7 percent, also winning by more than the recount margin. Ossoff, at 33 years old, will be the youngest Democrat elected to the United States Senate since President-elect Joe Biden in 1972.