North Carolina state Rep. Vernetta Alston (D) is all buttoned up.

That quality is on display in a uniform of pressed white dress shirt and blazer, thorough preparation as a state legislator after years of experience as an attorney, and in considered answers to sometimes vexing questions.

The Democratic incumbent, who’s running unopposed for a third term in the North Carolina House from Durham, will also laugh at her own expense and light up when she’s talking about her kids — she and her wife were scheduled for a visit to the North Carolina State Fair with them later that afternoon on a “classic fall” day in the Carolinas.

Alston spoke from her office in downtown Durham just over a week before Election Day.

Your LGBTQ+ guide to Election 2024

Stay ahead of the 2024 Election with our newsletter that covers candidates, issues, and perspectives that matter.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

LGBTQ Nation: There’s a Jim Crow-era literacy test written into the state constitution of North Carolina. A repeal of that language went to a popular vote in 1970 and it failed. A new ballot measure has been introduced in the state House several years running, including one this year that you sponsored, but it hasn’t made it to the ballot. Why?

State Rep. Vernetta Alston: Well, I don’t know, is the honest answer. To your point, we are long past the time where not only should it be considered as a ballot measure, but that provision should have been repealed ages ago. I think that there are a majority of folks in the Assembly who understand the history of that requirement and agree that it should come out of our Constitution. And as a practical matter, it has no formal function currently.

But there isn’t adequate political will amongst the current majority and our general assembly to push that through to be considered by both chambers, and ultimately to have that kind of literacy test repeal on the ballot. As you mentioned, I’ve supported it, it should have been taken out a long time ago, and hopefully we’ll have an opportunity to consider it again next year.

I’ve read that some folks are wary it gets rejected again. Do you think that’s a legitimate concern?

I think it’s an understandable speculation, particularly given our kind of demographics. Certainly, with any ballot measure, you want to err on the side of being very, very cautious about anything you put before voters that’s going to impact the constitution.

After law school, you devoted your career to advocating for death row inmates, representing them in a variety of appellate court cases. In 2014, you worked with the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission to get one of your clients exonerated and released from death row. How many similar cases do you think there are in North Carolina?

We were fortunate to still have DNA that could be tested, but 90% of the people who are incarcerated don’t have the benefit of something as black and white as a DNA result, and so that really begs the question of how many innocent folks are in prison, and we can’t know the answer to that, but they’re certain to be there.

I take that as an argument against the death penalty.

Absolutely. A lot of things kind of fell into place in that case that put us in a position to expose his wrongful conviction, but whether it’s the death penalty or general population, there’s some people who are there that we cannot prove it, and so it’s absolutely an argument against the death penalty, because we cannot guarantee that we haven’t or won’t execute an innocent person.

In 2017, you made a big career change, running for the Durham City Council to represent your hometown. What inspired the switch?

This is a town that I think is really special. In 2017, we were really at the front door of a lot of growth and a lot of change, and I saw a really exciting opportunity to bring my perspective and the kind of accountability that is really important to me in my work to the council. Who and what are we going to be as a city? What communities are we going to prioritize? We have to make sure there are certain people we don’t forget.

How big a role does your identity as a lesbian play in your work as a legislator?

On the one hand, it plays as much of a role in my work as a legislator as it does in my role as a — as a grocery store shopper, you know? It is that thread that’s in everything that I do, and I think that brings great value to the fact that I’m in this position, like, demonstratively.

On the other hand, it plays an enormous role. I try to take my representation as a real responsibility, and so I try to be a voice for equality issues. I try to make sure that the issues confronting the LGBT community are considered and that the right questions are asked, whether we’re talking about pro-equality issues or anything in any realm of government — making sure that our issues are always being considered and are not forgotten.  

I’ve been a primary sponsor for the Equality for All Act for the last two legislative cycles. We’ve had some really unfortunate anti-LGBTQ legislation this past year, and so I made it a point to make sure that the public knew that those bills were being introduced and passed and that the legislators who brought them were being held to account for some really unnecessary and politically driven decisions that really hurt a lot of our communities.

There are five out LGBTQ+ representatives and a senator in the North Carolina General Assembly. What do you have in common with those folks, and what sets you apart?

Oh, well, great fashion (laughing). Just kidding. I think predictably, like, we just see each other. You know, there’s just a level of familiarity and of acknowledgement anytime we have a conversation, whether it’s about issues that directly affect us because of our identities, or if it’s, like, about lunch. There’s just a level of community.

I will say we are over-represented with lawyers (laughing). I think, I think at least 50% of that group are attorneys, so we have that in common.

But I mean, our ages vary. Where we’re situated geographically varies. Our backgrounds vary. But I think we all care deeply about these issues. And I think to a person, we have all devoted a lot of time to really be vocal and out front on trying to push legislation in the right direction on LGBTQ issues. So yeah, we share that. It’s been easy to work together on this stuff.

I checked your Insta and you’ve made all of 75 posts on the platform.

That’s a lot. I don’t know, I feel like that’s a criticism, but listen, I’m not good at social media. I do my best.

Well, I was going to ask, is communicating with constituents via social a generational thing, and what’s your preferred method of interacting with members of your district?

(Laughing) Are you telling me I’m old? I think, unfortunately, my social media is just a victim of my personality, and it’s just not a strength. I think it’s important. I think it’s valuable. That’s why I do make some effort, but I think we all know and appreciate that social media platforms are very algorithmic, and so I have not made it a number one priority, although it is a tool that I do use.

My district is a quarter of my county, so I’m in the community. I’m downtown now, I’m downtown most days, I see my community very regularly. We do a periodic newsletter for the legislature. I have an email list that’s much more active when it comes to updates on what’s going on in the General Assembly. Historically, I’ve done town halls a few times a year, so I’m out here. I’m just not good on social media.

Your district is majority-minority, with a population of about 50% Black, 30% white, 40% Latin, 4% Asian. You’re Black, as well as a lesbian. Do you think you can represent all of your constituents equitably?

I think that’s for my constituents to judge. I mean, that’s certainly my goal, and I certainly think that because of my experience, because of my intersecting identities, frankly, and because of my deep love and commitment to this community, I certainly aim to represent all of my constituents equitably across identities and also across ideologies.

You know, I tell folks all the time, I don’t just represent people who think the way I do. I represent everybody. And so I work really hard to be accessible to all of my constituents.

Frankly, 90% or more of the issues that we confront in the General Assembly, but also just constituent services that we offer to folks in my district, have nothing to do with top-line political issues. It’s, “How do I access my unemployment insurance?” or, “I can’t get a hold of my doctor.” And you know, they may not be issues that we can’t directly fix, but they’re issues that we can try to help facilitate answers for. So I always want folks to know that I’m here as a resource.

You joined the House Environment Committee in your second term. What’s the single most important thing the world should do to address the climate crisis?

Top line: transportation. Transportation is the number one emitter of CO2 emissions, so that’s electrification of vehicles, that’s electrification of the state fleet, that’s mass transit, that’s a lot of things.

Would you support mandatory national service for young people in the military or some other form of public service of their choosing, like the Peace Corps or Teach for America?

I don’t know that I’m prepared to say I’d mandate anything in that regard. I think service is incredibly important, and how you come to service can vary and still have very significant impacts on your community.

Mark Robinson just filed a lawsuit against CNN for what he describes as false allegations that he made incendiary comments on the porn forum NudeAfrica, calling himself a black Nazi, disparaging Martin Luther King Jr, and supporting a return of slavery. How did a guy like Robinson ever get elected lieutenant governor and nominated by Republicans to lead the state, and who hangs out in porn chat rooms anyway?

Mark Robinson is not fit to be governor of North Carolina, and I maintain that he’s been unfit to serve as lieutenant governor of North Carolina.

You’ll leave it at that.

Yep.

There’s a Republican running for State Superintendent of Schools in North Carolina, Michele Morrow, who posted a few weeks ago that the plus in LGBTQ+ stands for pedophilia. She’s also called for Joe Biden and Barack Obama to be executed. What’s the reaction from North Carolina voters to that kind of bigotry, and could people like her and Mark Robinson be a drag on Trump in swing state North Carolina?

I don’t know what the outcome of the election will be, but it is my hope that voters will reject those candidates and their message.

One fact our readers may not realize about U.S. elections is how many seats go uncontested. In 2022, 67 percent of local races were uncontested. 37 U.S. Congressional races will only see one candidate running this year, and 35% of all state legislative seats are uncontested in 2024. Yours is one of them, and your primary was canceled, as well. It sounds like you could stay in office indefinitely barring a major scandal, or stepping aside to pursue higher office, or getting out of electoral politics altogether. How long should an uncontested elected representative stay in office before giving someone else a chance?

Everyone approaches public service differently. I take the approach that the seat doesn’t belong to me, it belongs to the people of Durham County, District 29, and I don’t take it for granted. I can’t speak for other candidates.

The statistic that you shared — and I don’t know what happens in other states — but here, in terms of the Legislature, a lot of uncontested races are due in part to the gerrymandering that we have in our legislative maps that have overly concentrated certain voters of certain registrations in different parts of the state in both directions, and so, in part, because of that you’re going to see districts that lean so far in one direction or the other that they’re simply not competitive. It’s an outgrowth of an issue that we have been talking about for over a decade, in terms of how Republicans have approached the drawing of these legislative maps; they are extremely gerrymandered, and we should have a different process by which an independent, nonpartisan body draws these maps.

Are there term limits in North Carolina?

No, not for the legislature.

Would you be in favor of term limits?

I don’t presently have an opinion about it. Honestly, like I said, these seats are not ours. They belong to the people, and that’s what elections are meant to determine.

Ballot measures this year in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New York, South Dakota, Arizona, and Missouri will give voters the opportunity to put abortion rights into their state constitutions. In North Carolina, ballot measures need a referral from the General Assembly, and Republicans have blocked an effort to do so in the state this year. What’s the state of reproductive rights in North Carolina right now, and how do you overcome GOP opposition to guarantee reproductive freedom?

Well, Republicans passed an abortion ban last year — it was devastating — over the objections of the governor, and we were unable to sustain our governor’s veto in order to protect access to abortion care. Things are bad here in that regard, and our hope is that we can break the Republican supermajority and put ourselves in a position to, frankly, prevent even more aggressive bans like those you’ve seen in some other states from being pursued in the Legislature and passed and enacted into law.

The majority of people do not think that Roe v. Wade should have been overturned. Donald Trump is wrong about this and many other things. I will do everything I can, from my perspective as a legislator, as a woman, as a parent, to continue to advocate for the restoration of Roe v. Wade, for the restoration of abortion care here in North Carolina, and also the protection of important technologies like IVF.

What can you tell us about your wife, Courtney?

Courtney and I have been married now for nine years, and we have two wonderful kids, and we are kind of doing our best to juggle our respective responsibilities and raise smart, healthy, happy kids here at home. So we’re enjoying life and look forward to the future, hopefully one where they feel that they are themselves.

North Carolina could determine the outcome of the presidential election. Are you more nervous about a Trump victory there or excited about the prospect of North Carolina sending Kamala Harris to the White House?

I’m very excited and hopeful that North Carolina will send Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to the White House. As you mentioned, we have a really important opportunity here to help Kamala win, and also to see some important victories in our statewide races, and certainly in our legislative races. So I think there’s very strong momentum towards those outcomes here, and I look forward to seeing this through to the end.

What’s the best thing about representing the constituents of North Carolina Assembly District 29?

This is a community that cares very deeply for each other and that insists that its elected leaders be responsive and accountable to everyone in this community. Folks don’t just look out for themselves. They look out for their neighbors. And I couldn’t be more proud to serve a district than I am to serve District 29.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.