That gets to a question about legislative priorities and how they may have changed over your time in office, specifically thinking about that issue of growth—of exponential growth. PN: I think of legislative priorities as two sets. One is a longer- range vision. The second set is dealing with problems that have arisen while you’re here. So those change constantly. I didn’t come into this session thinking I would deal with wastewater capacity issues—it just arose. But the first category though, those are long-term. I have a long-term perspective on the prosperity of our state. We are a lifecycle state, right? You can be born here, you can go to a great school here in North Carolina, you can go to work and get a great job in North Carolina, and you can retire here and just have a great life with great amenities and quality of life being extraordinarily high. You can’t get complacent about that. It’s always been my goal to create a regulatory and a tax environment that makes job creators want to come here. Eli Lilly is a good example. If we had the highest taxes in the southeast like we had in 2010, they probably wouldn’t have chosen North Carolina. But we don’t. We’ve been working on this for better than a decade and creating the kind of environment that companies want to put iron in the ground. They know they’re safe putting iron in the ground in North Carolina because we’re rational on a regulatory regime and that we have a very favorable climate for them to prosper. And what that means is that our next generation of North Carolinians are going to have a great job right here. They don’t have to leave. And as you know, you and I may be emotional about North Carolina. Are you from here? I’m not from North Carolina originally, no. But I’ve been here for six years. PN: Six years. Okay. Well, so you’ve been here long enough to know about the seashore and the mountains and everything we’ve got in between. And so we are emotional about North Carolina. But job creators are not emotional. They are counting the costs, looking at the benefits, thinking about whether they can look at the families they’re going to ask to move and be proud of where they’re going to bring them. And so to me, we’ve got to continue looking toward making North Carolina better for everyone, and job creators as well, because the minute we get complacent and say, ‘You know what? We’ve done enough. We don’t have to do anymore,’ then Tennessee, South Carolina, or Virginia will move past us and they’ll get the jobs we would’ve otherwise gotten. I like that term: a lifecycle state. That’s exactly right, I think. Does your background, your relationship with your hometown and your family—do those things inform that emotional connection to the state that you just mentioned? PN: I think it does. I grew up in a small town, Eden, North Carolina, which was Leaksville, Spray and Draper, and we’d ride our bikes all over the place and walk all over the place and always felt very safe and just had a great childhood there. Then spent some time in Greensboro, some time in Chapel Hill before I returned back to Eden to graduate from high school. Fond memories for sure. That definitely makes a difference. So yeah, I think that does create an emotional connection if you’re born here. And what we are trying to do is create an emotional connection with the CEO of the next business that’s thinking about North Carolina, where Legislator Q&A: Senator Paul Newton continues on page 16 we’re competing with Ohio and Texas, and we want to make that emotional connection for them. And that’s where, to me, local government units play a huge role because when that CEO stays in a hotel, in that city, in that county where they’re thinking about relocating, I’ve told the travel and tourism industry, the hoteliers, they play an unsung role in economic development for North Carolina because they’re going to make an impression on somebody who stays there. That hometown connections—we hear that so often with our mayors and councilmembers too. So many of them are from where they now lead. And yes, they lead rationally like you described, but the foundation of it is this pride for their town that they want to succeed so much. It’s one of this state’s great attributes. PN: Yes. We have a lot of good local leaders, high quality local leaders in this state. Growing up—going from Eden to Chapel Hill and then back home—were you always interested in holding public office? PN: So, I didn’t move back home after Chapel Hill. After Chapel Hill I actually went to New Mexico for five years, and then came back to North Carolina. And no, I’m not political by nature. I got involved in running for office because of personal asks that were made of me. My predecessor decided at the 11th hour back in late 2015 not to run for office. Surprised everybody. They scrambled to find a candidate. And I was asked by a number of people that I respect to consider taking it on. I had three people I ran against in the primary and then I won the general. I’ve been here for seven, going on eight, years now. What was that process like? Deciding, ‘Okay, I’m going to do it,’ and then finding yourself in that first contested election? PN: Well, it’s a different world than most of us walk in on a daily basis. And that’s a good thing. You have a range of personalities here. Some are very extroverted and ambitious politically. I’m more introverted. I love presenting and debating issues and whatnot— that doesn’t bother me at all—but I’m not a public person. I like to live quietly and out of the public eye. But sometimes life calls you into stepping out of your comfort zone to do things for other I have a long-term perspective on the prosperity of our state. We are a lifecycle state, right? You can be born here, you can go to a great school here in North Carolina, you can go to work and get a great job in North Carolina, and you can retire here and just have a great life with great amenities and quality of life being extraordinarily high. NCLM.ORG 15
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