Charlotte City Council member Braxton Winston announces bid for statewide office

In a video on his campaign website and an email to supporters Saturday, Charlotte City Council member Braxton Winston said he will seek to become North Carolina’s next Commissioner of Labor in 2024.

“The core responsibilities of the Department of Labor are to ensure the health and safety of workers in the workplace, and that has to be the No. 1 priority,” Winston told The Charlotte Observer in a phone interview Saturday afternoon.

According to the latest available data, 179 people died in North Carolina workplaces in 2021, Winston, a Democrat and Charlotte’s mayor pro tem, told the Observer.

“We need to do everything we can to eliminate that,” and the toll on families and communities, he said.

“And we need to ensure worker rights to fair wages,” Winston said.

In his email to supporters, he added: “Communities where workers are safe and making competitive wages lead to improved housing opportunities, better educational opportunities for their children, and better access to all forms of health care.”

North Carolina has ranked No. 1 in the country to do business, Winston said in his 1-minute, 37-second video. “And I want to make sure we are the No. 1 state for business and workers,” he said.

During his six years on council, Winston said, he’s worked to make Charlotte “a more equitable, accessible and interconnected city.”

Winston, a 2007 Davidson College graduate, was first elected to his at-large council seat in 2017, after coming to prominence during protests over the police killing of Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte.

As commissioner, Winston told the Observer, he would combine his municipal leadership and more than 12 years’ experience as a labor leader to build community coalitions. He is a member of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees Locals 322, stagecraft, and 491, film and TV.

He’s learned through his time on council “to focus on common ground” rather than differences and has received support from such titans of U.S. commerce as Hugh McColl, former Bank of America chairman and CEO, he said.

“We can connect the diversity of strengths in our rural and urban communities to work together for the common good of North Carolina’s workforce and business communities,” he said in his email to supporters. “I want to work with you toward that common good.”

He said he will criss-cross the state in the months ahead “to learn about the needs of work forces in all of our communities.”

Josh Dobson, the current Commissioner of Labor, announced in December that he won’t seek another four-year term.

Dobson is a Republican and former state House member and county commissioner from McDowell County. He succeeded long-time Commissioner of Labor Cherie Berry after narrowly defeating Democrat Jessica Holmes in 2020.

Asked by the Observer in a 2022 candidate questionnaire what separated him from other candidates, Winston said he’s a single father of three who works multiple jobs, some with hourly wages, “to make ends meet.”

“I rent housing and have moved 3 times in the past 3 years,” he said in the questionnaire. “I know the difficulties of trying to afford to live in this city in the middle class. I am a victim of domestic violence that played out publicly.

“I understand the tightrope so many in our community walk in order to provide for your family and maintain a level of self care while living in a toxic situation,” he said.

Charlotte Observer Staff Writer Genna Contino contributed.