From The East Carolinian: Recent Pirate alumnus vies for political office

Wanted to share a story written by a great YD, Tucker Middleton, about another great YD, D. Cole Phelps.

Phelps’ hard work and commitment paid off. In an 894-vote primary for the Democratic nomination for Washington County Commissioner, Phelps received 558 votes, equating to 62.42 percent, to challenger Mike Martin’s 336 votes, 37.58 percent. Phelps still has to win on the November general election ballot, but he’s confident in his chances — he has no Republican challenger, and therefore he will be the only candidate on the ballot for commissioner.

[Lee] Storrow said the Farm Team quickly recognized Phelps’ energy and enthusiasm as a young candidate and were “excited about Cole’s election because he has strong connections to the Washington County community.”

Storrow said he also thinks it is important that local elected officials reflect all people in the community they plan to represent. Young candidates like Phelps, Storrow said, many times provide “energy and long-range vision that other candidates don’t always bring to the table.”

You can check out the rest at the East Carolinian website.

We're really proud of soon-to-be Commissioner Phelps and wish him luck in his first term!

In other good news for young folks, over 1/4 of the delegates elected at NCDP District Conventions last week were under 35! Great to see young people represented at the convention. We led the way in 2008 and will do so again this time. Here's a partial list complied by YDNC's Sam Spencer, who helped organize folks across the state.

CD 3: Monica Gibbs
CD 4: Matt Hughes, Donald Hughes, Danielle Adams
CD 7: Tiffany Powers
CD 8: Joy Ellison
CD 10: Nick Carpenter, Chazs Basley
CD 11: Justin Conley, Parker Sloan, Sarah Zambon, Valerie Barnes
CD 12: Sam Spencer, Vibhav Kollu, Vani Hari, Joy Cook, Ryan Eller, Ralph Rodland, Herve Mesa
CD 13: Ryan Butler, Keylin Rivera