Born in the USA? You Don’t Have to Be!

By Nelda Holder –

As has been drummed into our heads for the past eight years, the president of the United States of America must be a “natural born citizen.” And that person must also be at least 35 years old and “fourteen years a resident within the United States.”

While it might be interesting to constitutionally expect that the governor of the sovereign state of North Carolina should also be “natural born” within its boundaries, the state constitution sets forth the following requirements for both governor and lieutenant governor (ignoring the gender-specific language). “He shall have …”

• Attained the age of 30 years
• Been a citizen of the United States for five years
• Been a resident of the state for two years “immediately preceding his election”

What about the governor?

Of the past eleven governors of this state, eight were native-born. They hailed from Rocky Mount (Mike Easley), Wilson (Jim Hunt), Boone (Jim Holshouser), Haw River (Robert Scott and his father, Kerr Scott), Asheville (Dan Moore), Laurenberg (Terry Sanford), Durham (William B. Umstead). Of the remaining three, two were born in Virginia (Bev Purdue and Luther Hodges), and one in Georgia (Jim Martin).

This year’s candidates for governor, Pat McCrory and Roy Cooper, obviously meet the three constitutional requirements. To our knowledge, neither has been asked to produce a birth certificate, but according to publically available information the current Gov. McCrory was born on October 17, 1956, in Columbus, Ohio. Current Attorney General Cooper was born June 13, 1957, in Nashville, North Carolina, which takes care of the age and citizenship requirements. And since both are serving in elected office here, they obviously meet the residential status.

How about the candidates for lieutenant governor, then? Current Lt. Governor Dan Forest was born in Harrisburg, Virginia, on October 15, 1967. He was, however, reared in Charlotte (according to his Ballotpedia campaign profile), and his two years in office also qualify him as a two-year resident. Challenger Linda Coleman, the only one of the four candidates for top office who is African American, was born July 12, 1949, in Greenville, North Carolina. She served as director of State Personnel from 2009 to 2012, and there’s no evidence she wandered away from the state in the interim before enjoining Forest in battle.

What about Congress?

U.S. Senate and Congressional seats are guided by the U.S. Constitution. For the Senate, the Constitution requires a minimum age of 30, a citizenship span of at least nine years, and residency in the state from which they are elected. House members must be at least 25, a citizen for the previous seven years, and an inhabitant (at the time of election) of the state they represent.

There is only one U.S. Senate race on the North Carolina ballot this year, pitting incumbent Sen. Richard Burr against challenger Deborah Ross. Ross was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Connecticut, but attended law school in Chapel Hill, NC, and has spent her career in NC; she lives in Raleigh. Burr, who is running for a third term, was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, but graduated from high school and later worked in Winston-Salem, NC.

There are 13 House districts in NC, but the two affecting Asheville and Buncombe County are Districts 10 and 11. In District 10, candidate Andy Millard is challenging incumbent Rep. Patrick McHenry. Millard’s public information lists Flint, Michigan as his place of birth but there is no date (grey hair says he’s at least 25!); he is a longtime resident of Western North Carolina, residing in Tryon. Incumbent Rep. McHenry was born October 22, 1975, in Gastonia; he lives in Denver, NC, and as a six-term representative he obviously meets the residency requirement.

In District 11, candidate Rick Bryson is challenging incumbent Rep. Mark Meadows. Bryson was born in Franklin, NC, in 1943, and grew up in Bryson City (named for his ancestor Thaddeus Bryson), and where he currently serves as an alderman. Meadows was born July 28, 1959, in Verdun France (to American parents) and grew up in Florida, but came to WNC in 1987.

What about North Carolina?

To place these personal qualifications in context, North Carolina now has around 10 million residents. According to U.S. Census data, the racial distribution stands at roughly 71.2% White American, 22.1% African American, 9.1% Hispanic or Latino (of any race), 2.8% Asian, and 1.6% American Indian. The largest influx of U.S. migration comes from the northeast states, Florida, and California.

In 2014, some 52.5% of the 120 members of the NC House of Representatives were born in this state, while 62% of the 50-member NC Senate were native North Carolinians. Each NC House member, according to the Constitution, must be a qualified voter of the state and a resident in the district for one year. A state Senator must be at least 25 years old, a qualified voter of the state, a state citizen for two years, and a resident of the district for one year.

GO VOTE!

Mail-in ballots are available from Buncombe County Election Services. Early Voting begins on October 20 (see schedule elsewhere in this edition). Election Day is Tuesday, November 8. If you have questions, or want to check your voting status, you may call Election Services, 828-250-4200.

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Nelda Holder is the author of The Thirteenth Juror – Ferguson: A Personal Look at the Grand Jury Transcripts.