Meet Lee County Commissioner candidate Rachel Herrington

Rachel Herrington is running for Lee County Commissioner District 2 as a write-in against Commissioner Kirk Smith in the Nov. 2026 election.

Each candidate received the same invitation and questions. Responses are published individually as they were received.

Questions for Candidates Seeking the Office of County Commissioner

Question 1. Read the following and explain your support for oversight committees.

Dr. Michael Cline, North Carolina’s state demographer, projects the state’s population will reach 11.7 million by 2030, enough to add an additional congressional seat after the 2030 Census. North Carolina is also expected to surpass Georgia and Ohio to become the seventh-largest state in the nation in the early 2030s.

Addressing growth while protecting assets and mitigating school district needs requires collaboration, and citizens demand transparency.

In city councils, school boards and county governments, developers, investors, and realtors hold offices, some with planning board members as relatives by blood or marriage.

There is no oversight to prevent facilitating urban sprawl either through tweaking land use plans, by extending infrastructure that invites future development corridors, or by allowing developments “by right,” or by denying evidence in quasi-judicial hearings.

Administrative teams, including planning boards, surrounding elected officials are their paid employees.

When citizens with security clearance volunteer on oversight committees (The three counties have bountiful military residents.), their statuses would relieve concerns about possible leaked information during real estate purchases, which are negotiated under general statutes during closed sessions.

According to general statutes, a committee may be formally adopted as part of the board to advise on real estate purchases in closed sessions.

Oversight committees working with governments would provide input without loyalty restraints because they would not be paid employees or compensated volunteers. They would keep records of the meetings for public release after transactions to show who recommended purchasing compromised property or industrial-zoned businesses into rural areas or who may facilitate working with selective organizations.

Oversight committees, selected for specific career experience and who work outside of county and municipal government, would bridge transparency, could help protect rural farmlands, and provide insight to multi-faceted issues for stronger outcomes.

Collaboration and transparency are preventative measures. Read an example here.

Answer:

Oversight committees are an excellent way to ensure that there is unbiased decisions and transparency to the public. The decisions made in closed meetings may not be open to the public, but they directly affect them. Oversight committees would allow Lee County residents to be informed about the future of their home.

In a small town area like Lee County, it’s almost unavoidable to have close friends or family serving and working in different capacities within Lee County government. It is also natural for people to be biased in favor of the people they are personally close with. Having oversight committees would allow Lee County to make unbiased decisions that are in the best interest of the residents. It would provide built in checks and balances.

Question 2: Public board discussions help the public learn alternative viewpoints and reveal new information, which may lead to a stronger solution than what was originally proposed as the only solution. When a dominant leader opposes differing viewpoints, communication stops, and the opportunity for growth and transparency disappears. How do you plan to negotiate with dominant board members to work for what is best for the citizens?

Answer:

I plan to be vocal about what the people here want. I plan to listen, and never stop speaking out about issues that affect the community. A dominant voice can make it difficult for others to be heard. I plan to listen first, and stand by what is best for the people here, even under pressure.

Question 3: What is your position on recent zoning decisions and land-use disputes, including those involving schools, subdivision expansion, and farmland conversion?

Answer:

To be honest, this can be a tough topic. On the one hand, we need housing for people. On the other, some of these farms have been in the same family for generations, and family farms are disappearing across the country. I think this is another area where oversight committees would be an excellent way to make sure the needs of Lee County are met. First, we should make sure that if a developer comes in, they are giving the landowners a fair price for their land. We should also do research on how that developer does business. Are they pushy? Do they have a history of using predatory tactics to acquire land? Does the landowner even want to sell their property? We should be looking at rezoning and land-use disputes on a case by case basis with a focus on the best interest of the people who live here.

As far as schools, I fully support a strong education system in the county. For example, building a school in the area of Wicker Street to serve the community in that area is an excellent idea. An area’s investment into their schools has a direct impact on crime rates, addiction, and median household income in the future. A strong education system benefits everyone.

Question 4: What types of businesses or industries should your county attract or avoid? Should the county hold the economic development associations financially accountable for attracting businesses with potential environmental impacts?

Answer:

We should be prioritizing businesses that benefit the county. For example, we are getting a Target. Even though that is a major corporation, it will bring tax revenue to the county, and those taxes can be used to benefit the people of Lee County. We should also be encouraging of a strong small business community. We should avoid businesses that want to benefit from the resources here without doing something for the people of Lee County in return, or that have the potential to cause harm.

As far as holding economic development associations accountable, there needs to be checks and balances for who they approve to come in. They need to show that there was research done on the company they attracted. They also need to have at least a minimum standard for environmental safety that companies must meet in order to establish themselves in our county. If negative environmental impacts occur, and it is found that these minimum standards were not met or enforced, then yes, economic development associations should be held financially responsible at that point.

Question 5: Do you support the state’s Rural Infrastructure Authority grant programs and similar incentives? Why or why not? (Read about the reuse programs here and the push for industrial businesses into rural areas here.)

Answer:

Reuse programs are an excellent way to use what we already have in a way that benefits people here. Giving unused buildings new life is an excellent way to save taxpayer money, minimize the environmental impact by not adding new builds to a rural area, and preserve historic buildings in the county.

Rural Infrastructure Authority grants are great when they are used correctly. Bringing in businesses that create jobs and benefit the people in an area is fantastic. However, we cannot forget that our focus is the people here, not business and infrastructure. We should not be rezoning areas to circumvent what the majority of people want in order to appease corporations. Board members are there to advocate for what is best for the people, not corporations and developers. Corporations and developers trying to take advantage of Rural Infrastructure Authority grants should have to show why they are a long term benefit to the people that live here.

May 30, 2026

Stephanie M. Sellers

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