Rep. Michael Speciale, a Republican who represents the 3^rd District in the N.C. House of Representatives is seeking re-election.

Republican Mattie Lawson is seeking to be the Republican nominee to run for the 6^th District seat in the N.C. House. That seat is now held by Democrat Paul Tine, who is seeking re-election. Republican Jeremy D. Adams is also seeking to be the Republican nominee for the 6^th District.

Speciale, in his first term in the state House, is a retired Marine, a former small-business owner and a former chairman of the Craven County Republican Party. He is a graduate fellow of the North Carolina Institute of Political Leadership, has an AAS in business management/operations management and graduated from basic law enforcement training.

The 3rd District includes all of Pamlico County and parts of Beaufort and Craven counties.

Speciale opposes tolls on ferries that are now free and increasing tolls on ferries that now charge tolls. During a recent meeting in Beaufort County concerning ferry tolls, Speciale said he would continue to fight them, taking that fight back to the N.C. General Assembly in its upcoming short session in May.

Speciale said the fight against ferry tolls is not over. “Don’t give up the fight. We (area legislators) haven’t,” he told the audience at the meeting.

Lawson was narrowly defeated by Tine in the 2012 election for the 6^th District seat. The district includes part of Beaufort County, part of Washington County and all of Hyde and Dare counties.

In a press release, Lawson said she wants to relax the state’s “excessive, punitive fishing regulations and fines imposed on our hardworking North Carolina seafood providers.”

Lawson also weighed in on education.

“North Carolina’s commitment to Common Core, the copyrighted education standards causing uproars across the nation due to the inappropriateness of their material for young students, the draconian way they were forced upon our students and unfairly tying the hands or our very able teachers must be stopped before more damage is done,” she said in the press release.

Judy Kahenbuhl, a retired educator and former chairwoman of the Dare County Democratic Party, is seeking the 1^st District seat in the state Senate. That seat is held by Republican Bill Cook, who is seeking re-election. Democrat Stan White, whom Cook defeated in 2012, is also seeking to be the Democratic nominee to take on Cook in the general election in November.

In a press release, she said she is running “in order to fight the extreme actions of the current General Assembly and help create a state that supports success for all citizens-not just a select few.” The candidate said her campaign will emphasis the importance of a strong public education system, support of voters and women’s rights and the need to create a business climate in District 1 that will provide new opportunity for growth through technology and education.