Shelly Willingham (born November 27, 1943) is a
Democratic member of the
North Carolina House of Representatives. He has represented the 23rd district (which includes all of
Martin and
Edgecombe counties) since 2015.[1] He previously served in the House from 2002 to 2003.
Political career
Willingham was first appointed to the 70th district of the
North Carolina House of Representatives in 2002 to succeed
Toby Fitch, who stepped down to become a judge. Willingham ran for a full term in the new 24th district (the geographic successor to the 70th district[2][3]) in 2002, but lost the primary to
Jean Farmer-Butterfield who went on to win the general election. Willingham unsuccessfully challenged state senator
Clark Jenkins in the 2004, 2006, and 2008 primaries. Willingham then served 2 terms on the
Edgecombe County School Board.[4] Willingham returned to the NC House in 2015, after being elected in
2014 to the 23rd district. Since his initial election in 2014, Willingham has been re-elected to the NC House a total of 4 times, most recently in
2022.
Electoral history
2020
North Carolina House of Representatives 23rd district general election, 2020[5]