Braxton Winston to seek election to be N.C. Labor Commissioner –
Charlotte City Council member Braxton Winston announced Saturday that he will run in 2024 to be North Carolina’s next commissioner of labor – a statewide office charged by statute with promoting the “health, safety, and general well-being” of the state’s more than 4 million workers.
Winston, first elected to City Council in 2017, made the announcement in a video posted to his campaign page. He also emailed a campaign announcement to prospective donors.
“I’d like for you to hear it from me first: I am running to be North Carolina’s next Commissioner of Labor!” he said in the email.
He continued:
For the past six years I’ve had the honor to serve as a Charlotte City Council member working for a more equitable, accessible, and interconnected city. What I’ve learned during this time is that communities thrive when their workforces thrive. When workers have access to safe and stable jobs, fair wages, secure housing, transportation options, and good education options, our people do well and our state is better off.
If elected, Winston said, he would use his “experience in municipal leadership” and his “experience as a labor leader to build coalitions of our communities to keep North Carolina a place people want to come to live and work.”
Winston came to prominence in Charlotte during street protests following the police killing of Kieth Lamont Scott in 2016. He was elected the next year to an at-large seat and has consistently been among the top vote-getters on City Council.
In the 2022 at-large race, he garnered 45,771 votes, finishing a close second to Dimple Ajmera. He currently serves as mayor pro tem.
Josh Dobson, North Carolina’s current labor commissioner, announced in December that he would not seek another four-year term. Dobson, a Republican, won the office after narrowly defeating Democrat Jessica Holmes in 2020.
Winston, age 40, is a Democrat.