August 2022

Now or Never NC is announcing an important change to its candidate selection criteria to add women’s reproductive rights.

Until recent weeks, we’ve asked prospective endorsed candidates to affirm strong support for public education, redistricting reform, voting rights, and appreciation for the role of local government. 

But tragically, as we know, the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade. Many women across the country have already had their fundamental right to reproductive decision-making taken away. 

In North Carolina, abortion remains legal, though critical decisions will now be made by extreme State Legislators in Raleigh, especially if they regain a Supermajority.

Yet, there’s more.

This week, a federal judge reinstated a North Carolina ban on abortion after 20 weeks. And State Legislative “leaders” say they will eliminate women’s reproductive rights when the Legislature returns in January. 

That will happen if we cannot sustain Governor Cooper’s vetoes.

For this reason, Now or Never NC formally adds support for women’s reproductive rights as a fifth criteria for endorsed candidates.

Women must have decision-making over their own bodies.

The North Carolina we have known is a forward-looking beacon in the South, and leader in the nation. For almost a decade, our trajectory has been and remains in jeopardy. 

With phenomenal candidates, their campaigns, and you, we’ve helped blunt the tide and flip more than 15 State Legislative seats. 

In 2022, please join us in supporting our alumni and grounded challengers to protect women’s rights and prevent Supermajority return.

Now more than ever, it’s now or never.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing has left a hole in the collective heart of our nation.  

She was a history maker in the fight for justice and equality, and a history-enabler for generations who followed. A life of principle and immense purpose, both before and after joining the United States Supreme Court.

Many of us will mourn her loss at length, even with fright for what it may mean for her legacy and our nation.

But whether the flame she’s lit is dimmed in your heart tonight, or already raging to work for causes she championed with almost superhuman fight, we know we are led by her example.  

Her spirit and determination will live on within us, in you. We will build a more perfect union in her name. 

In that, and so many ways, her memory is most truly a blessing.

Make no mistake, the President & Vice President are making a play for North Carolina.

Both have been here this week, and they and their surrogates will continue to be in our state through the election. And the GOP National Convention starts later this month in Charlotte.

All our top challengers are running in districts the President won in 2016.

It’s true, thankfully, that in 2018 we (together) made great strides in electing challengers in many such districts.

Earlier today, Now or Never NC issued the following press release on the next phase of our efforts to create a new majority in the North Carolina State Legislature:

Now or Never NC welcomes Blair Reeves

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Raleigh – Now or Never NC, a volunteer-driven, independent political action committee dedicated to electing progressive candidates to North Carolina’s State Legislature, welcomes new team member Blair Reeves, creator of Long Leaf Pine Slate, a highly successful online fundraising project.

The immediate goal is to further propel top State Legislative challengers to help create a new majority in the 2020 elections.  Now or Never NC’s new grassroots, social media fundraising effort will utilize the moniker Longleaf Slate. 

Now or Never NC member Mark Granville stated:

“We welcome Blair Reeves, whose leading-edge work creating the Long Leaf Pine Slate has helped transform North Carolina political fundraising.  Now or Never NC amplifies the work of top challengers who are committed to the causes of public education, nonpartisan Redistricting Reform, voting rights, and have an appreciation for the role of local government. The addition of Mr. Reeves turbo charges our continued efforts to elect progressive candidates in North Carolina’s most competitive state legislative races in 2020.”

Blair Reeves offered this statement on the opportunity to join Now or Never NC:

“In state legislative campaigns, mostly unknown candidates must constantly compete with well-entrenched incumbents for donors and visibility.  Now or Never NC has done tremendous work supporting these candidates to help level the playing field and I respect their track record.  I’m eager to combine our strengths and join forces to most effectively get North Carolina back on a progressive trajectory and return fair elections, good government, and honest leadership to Raleigh.”  

Now or Never NC was founded in Raleigh in 2014, and has been a key, early supporter of many of the new progressive State Legislators elected in North Carolina over the past 3 election cycles.  For more information visit www.NowOrNeverNC.org  

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Now or Never NC 

On October 1, 2013, a group of concerned citizens, comprised of Democrats, Independents, and mainstream Republicans, met in the back of a salon in Cameron Village, in Raleigh.  

North Carolina had taken a hard political turn the right, though we knew of our State’s history of support for public education, and the role of Governors like Martin and Hunt.

As would be the case with subsequent gatherings in communities across the State, a future Legislator and future local elected official would join in. This effort was born. 

We established two main goals: 1) to focus time, talent, and resources on top-tier challengers in the most winnable districts in this gerrymandered State, and 2) to focus on actual solutions to our State’s most pressing concerns. 

The following mission statement ensued:

     WE ARE committed North Carolinians who know our state to be a place of reason and moderation.

     WE SEEK to support a forward-looking agenda, a common-sense approach, and a tone of civility in the public affairs of our state.

     WE AIM to promote changes that strengthen North Carolina's reputation as the best place to live, raise a family, educate a child, build a business, and pursue the American Dream.

     WE ASK for your gifts, talents, and time as we work together towards this goal.

     WE BELIEVE North Carolina is at a crossroads, and that the time to act is now.

Adversity, Resilience, Results:

Since then, with top challengers, their campaigns, and you, we’ve helped propel more than 15 top challengers to great victories, while facing considerable adversity. In 2014 and 2016, our first two cycles, the final weeks of each election were hard.

In 2014, a tide that saw the defeat of U.S. Senator Kay Hagan, close State Senate races were lost: one in Fayetteville we’d win back in 2018, and another in Wake County where Sarah Crawford is highly favored in 2020. 

In 2016, a tide that almost prevented Governor Cooper from winning office, Jane Hipps of Waynesville waged a valiant battle in a tough Senate district and subsequently with cancer. She inspired us all.  Joe Sam Queen would win back the overlapping State House seat in 2018. 

Also in 2016, Warren Judge of Kitty Hawk, one of the most tenured local elected officials in our State’s history, sadly passed away just days before the election. In 2020, it's an honor to back his widow, Tess, for the State Senate. 

The point is:  This effort and the people of North Carolina have the resilience and experience to win. 

For now, we’ll focus on the present crisis. 

While the temporary physical distance between us seems daunting, we’re sufficiently steeled and of one mind to get through this.  Soon enough, we’ll again marshal the talent and resources to politically fight where we are, for the heart and soul of America. 

Now or Never NC

Recent weeks have been a strain on us all, though for some more than others. It’s been a monumentally difficult time for restauranteurs and their employees, many of whom have utilized their talents and labored to help Now or Never NC flip numerous seats over three election cycles.

No one has done more than Chef Sunny Gerhart of St. Roch Fine Oysters + Bar in downtown Raleigh.  Among other things, he’s personally presided over four chef-led events to benefit various candidates who are now great Legislators.

When reached by phone recently, Chef Sunny’s main concern was for his employees, all now laid off.  He’s put his entire life savings into the restaurant, named after the neighborhood in which he grew up in New Orleans.  He does not have kids and indicates he can live off very little, though he wants there to be something that his employees can come back to. 

Thankfully, he’s still offering take-out daily at St. Roch from 11am-8pm.  Call 919.322.0359 or walk-up order at 223 South Wilmington Street in Raleigh.  You can also place an online order here or purchase a gift card (click "Order Online"). 

Also steadfast have been Shannon & Chef Jake Wolf of Capital Club 16, and David Meeker of Trophy Brewing.  Shannon, Jake, and David have always answered the call to work with Now or Never NC for boutique events.  They have been unwavering.  

Capital Club 16 & Trophy Brewing are part of a win-win effort spearheaded by Jai Kumar, to help these great establishments feed our healthcare workers in this time of crisis.  It’s called “Feeding the Soul,” and you can learn more and donate by clicking this link.

Sunny, Shannon, Jake, and David are examples of how North Carolinians have utilized various talents to help restore the forward-looking North Carolina we know: a beacon in the South, leader in the nation, and light in the world.

Well wishes to you for good health and safety as we pull together, individually and collectively, to meet the challenge before us.

Now or Never NC

P.S. These are among the many chefs, artists, and establishments impacted by this crisis, all of whom have graciously shared their talents and venues to help get us back on track. Snap Pea Catering, The Connells, Jon Shain, Rod Abernethy, and so many others have been vital to this work. Let's all do our part. 

"The purpose of life is… to make a difference – to have it matter that you lived at all." - Mary Ann Brittain

One of our earliest encouragers, Mary Ann Brittain, has passed away. Today, we celebrate her life, one of immense purpose for the betterment of all.

For decades, Mary Ann worked in concert with others to make the natural environment come to life for school children and teachers at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences and, with her late husband Bill, offered love to foster children and helped change the face of children's services in group homes. She also led a coach-pitch little league baseball team. We share her obituary here: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/raleigh-nc/mary-ann-brittain-8208491.

Mary Ann lived and worked in communities all across our State.  She knew the worth of each individual, and the impact that informed, committed North Carolinians can have to effect change.

North Carolina would not be where it is today, and our desire to rectify wrongs would not have been fueled as intensely as it was and remains, were it not for the tireless, often unheralded work and leadership of neighbors like Mary Ann Brittain. It’s why we’re committed to restoring forward-looking leadership to our State that has given us so much, a State as good as its people.

We send our sincere gratitude, prayers, and sympathy to the family of Mary Ann Cromer Powell Brittain. A neighbor who made a difference, whose example lives on.

It mattered that she lived.

October seems a long time away.  It's not.  And it's the final push to definitively Break the State Legislative Supermajority.

You've heard of an "October Surprise" in politics, an event orchestrated to influence the outcome of an election.  The wind is at the back of challengers, and we're keeping our foot on the pedal of support for them through Election Day, to limit any surprises to come.

We're also preparing for our own October Surprise.  Sign up now to host a house party in your neighborhood for a challenger who can Break the Supermajority, sustain our Governor's vetoes, and get North Carolina back on track.  (Late September and early October are great times to send a message to the overreaching Legislators in Raleigh.)

We call our house party guide "House to House," because we’re in an electoral fight to the finish all across North Carolina, and the election will be decided by bringing neighbors together to turn outrage into action.  Please stay tuned for supplements to this guide that incorporate canvassing, voter education, and Get Out The Vote (GOTV) information. 

www.nowornevernc.org/house_parties 

P.S. To sign up to host a house party for a challenger in your home, or help, please click on this link and sign up.  If you need more information please contact us at [email protected] or call 919-283-4819.  We’re partial to house parties on *October 1 in particular, which will mark five years working to restore the forward-looking NC we know.

“Politics is the science of human happiness - and the felicity of societies depends on the constitutions of government under which they live."

- Founding Father, John Adams, writing in early 1776 in response to a request from drafters of North Carolina’s Constitution, some of whom would go on to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Five years ago this summer, volunteers across North Carolina started working on a plan to help Break the State Legislative Supermajority and restore balance and moderation to the forward-looking State we’ve known, culminating in the formation of Now or Never NC.

We’ve backed 7 new State House members thus far, a majority of whom are women or African-American.    

On Memorial Day, we remembered those who have died in service to our nation. Every day, we honor their sacrifices by exercising the freedoms they helped secure, freedoms enshrined in our federal and State Constitutions.

Today, the unconstitutionally-gerrymandered Supermajority is ramming through a $24 Billion budget released by them just last night, without input or debate for the first time in recent history.

As in the past, we’re in a political struggle for the heart and soul of our State and nation, and we choose to fight here at home.

With 5 years behind us, and the election just 5 months away, we’re envisioning victory, inspired by the words of John Adams, incredible candidates, and your ongoing support. 

Together, we’re built for this moment, and we’re preparing for the sprint to the finish, lifting up and endorsing candidates across the State, and engaging with North Carolinians and friends of the Tar Heel State across the nation.

So, rest up. Prepare to sprint, with victory in mind. 

(May 29, 2018)