Wallace West

Wallace West, a native Wilmington resident and New Hanover High School graduate, earned his degree in Mathematics from UNC-Chapel Hill. He and his wife Gail, a Durham native, raised their family in the Triangle area before returning to Wilmington in 2000 to be closer to their roots. With deep ties to both communities, Wallace understands the unique needs and values of the people in District 18.

As a small business owner and a strong advocate for limited government and private property rights, Wallace has spent his career championing the principles of personal freedom, responsibility, and self-reliance. The business he began in 2006, Carolina Streetscapes LLC, is a testament to his commitment to community, providing local amenities and supporting neighborhood development in North and South Carolina.  Wallace’s leadership in the family-run enterprise highlights his dedication to both his faith and his community.

Throughout his life, Wallace has remained steadfast in his commitment to preserving the principles and freedoms foundational to our country. Wallace’s experience in both the private and nonprofit sectors has equipped him with the practical wisdom and expertise necessary to represent District 18 effectively. Now, as a write-in candidate for the North Carolina House, he seeks to protect these values and serve the community he loves, ensuring that every voice is heard and every citizen is represented. Wallace is dedicated to building a future that honors the past while looking ahead to the opportunities of tomorrow.

Foundations for Strong Families

Strong families are the foundation of thriving communities. Wallace West believes, much like a three-legged stool, that families need three key pillars to succeed: a vibrant economy, quality education, and public safety. A healthy economy provides stability, education equips future generations, and safety ensures secure neighborhoods. Wallace is committed to strengthening these areas to ensure families and communities prosper. His campaign is dedicated to enhancing economic opportunities, improving educational resources, and ensuring public safety to build a secure and thriving future for District 18.

PROTECT

Wallace West is committed to representing District 18 with integrity and dedication, guided by the following core values:

Principles: Uphold the foundational principles and values outlined in our nation and state’s founding documents; prioritize collaboration to find solutions that benefit the common good.

Respect: Show respect and civility toward colleagues and constituents; value diverse opinions and actively listen to others.

Openness: Commit to transparency in actions and decisions; foster open communication and honesty in all government dealings.

Tradition: Acknowledge and honor the historical traditions that have shaped our community and nation; use these traditions as a guide for future decisions.

Experience: Leverage practical experience and expertise to seek common-sense solutions; use long-term, data-driven analysis to assess the impact of legislative decisions.

Collaboration: Engage in meaningful collaboration across the aisle; work with others to achieve shared goals and address community needs.

Trust: Build trust by keeping promises, following through on commitments, and delivering reliable, effective results.

ISSUES

Education

As a businessman, I am keenly aware of the need for an educated work force and the importance of having high performing schools. I am an advocate of school choice and support funding for opportunity scholarships. I support parental rights, full transparency of curricula and school policies, a return to a vetted classical school curriculum, and a performance-based compensation plan for teachers and administrators.

    1. Increase funding for existing school-choice programs to ensure that all eligible applicants can receive scholarship awards.

    2. Pass an open-enrollment law to give students more educational options within the public school system.

    3. Eliminate charter school funding disparities that result from district schools being able to restrict funds from accounts whose monies must, by law, be shared with charter schools.

    1. Provide public-school students opportunities to pursue vocational or advanced training in preparation for a career after graduation.

    2. Ensure that community colleges and universities continue to invest scarce resources in professional training and degree programs that correspond to the needs of North Carolina’s workforce.

    3. Expand access to work-based programs.

    1. Narrow NC Pre-K eligibility requirements to focus resources on education and services for low-income children or those who are academically at risk.

    2. Make the cost of child care and prekindergarten programs more affordable by reducing or eliminating Preschool regulations.

    3. Reduce the cost of childcare and prekindergarten programs by eliminating unnecessary and/or duplicitous regulations.

  • Support legislation to:

    1. Replace outdated methodology of complicated funding formulas currently used to determine how North Carolina funds education with simpler process based on Education Productivity data (see item #2).

    2. Create an Education Productivity Index using a dashboard of inputs and outcomes for each school district and charter school.

    3. Publicize research on education spending and outcomes.

    4. Require school districts and charter schools to post budgets, contracts, check registers, and other financial documents online.

    1. Support creation of a commission charged with raising the quality and rigor of state standards, curricula, and assessments.

    2. Reject federal sex education grants.

    3. Support legislation that enhances curriculum transparency requirements.

Public Safety

As a husband, father and grandfather, living in a community where it is safe for my family to live and enjoy the freedom to move about without fear is important to me. I support enhancing local police resources so that they can ensure our communities are safe for all. Whether the issue is high levels of crime, gangs, drug enforcement or the curse of human trafficking, I will work with and for law enforcement to provide access to the tools necessary to keep their communities safe.

  • Support legislation that facilitates strengthening and enhancement of local law enforcement and enables them to more effectively serve and protect the public.

  • Establish a bipartisan Study Commission to review the current criminal code for the purpose of:

    1. Identifying and streamlining those codes that may result in overcriminalization (i.e. those laws and regulations deeming conduct illegal that ultimately have a detrimental effect on society)

    2. Identifying those codes that either need to be reclassified or modified to prevent overcriminalization in the future

    3. Providing recommendations for stronger safeguards and oversight in order to prevent overcriminalization in the future

  • Support legislative efforts to identify and deploy resources for enhancing and strengthening law enforcement capabilities to address the drug crisis.  Said efforts should include exploring the availability and use of cutting-edge technology and interagency and multi-tiered government resources.

  • Support legislative efforts to identify and deploy resources for enhancing and strengthening law enforcement capabilities to address the scourge of human trafficking.  Said efforts should include exploring the availability and use of cutting-edge technology and interagency and multi-tiered government resources.

Economy

The 1 million small businesses in North Carolina, equaling 99.6% of all businesses in the state employ over 45% of the North Carolina workforce. Small businesses are overburdened with cost burdening regulations and a tax structure that penalizes owners. I am a proponent of economic policies and legislation that encourage entrepreneurship, responsible tax reform and deregulation.

    1. Encourage private sector entrepreneurship by supporting repeal of economic development policies that grant special favors to particular businesses or industries.

    2. Support continuation of responsible pro-growth tax reform by eliminating tax biases against investment and entrepreneurship.

    3. Support continuation of the pursuit of regulatory reform by looking for ways to reduce outdated or ineffective regulations for which the benefits do not outweigh the costs.

    4. Support elimination of or make changes to occupational licensing laws that tend to block entrepreneurship.

  • Support tax reform efforts that focus on:

    1. Excluding savings from the tax base.

    2. Indexing the “zero tax bracket” to inflation.

    3. Eliminating the capital gains tax and franchise tax.

    4. Allowing businesses to deduct all purchases of capital equipment and land in the year they are incurred.

Supporting Families

Strong families are the foundation of a strong community. As such, I am an advocate for creating policies that support family values, enhance education, provide economic opportunities, and in so doing ensure a thriving and secure environment for all families.

  • I believe in the sanctity of life, and that family is foundational to the stability of civilization. I am a strong advocate for private property rights, limited government, less regulation, and, without exception, transparency and accountability at all levels of government to include public education. Refer to my issues drop downs for more detail on how I advocate for family values.

  • I am an advocate of school choice and support funding for opportunity scholarships. I support parental rights, full transparency of curricula and school policies, a return to a vetted classical school curriculum, and a performance-based compensation plan for teachers and administrators. Refer to the education drop down for more information.

  • I am a proponent of economic policies and legislation that encourage entrepreneurship, responsible tax reform and deregulation. Refer to the economy drop down for more information.

  • I support enhancing local police resources so that they can ensure our communities are safe for all. Whether the issue is high levels of crime, gangs, drug enforcement or the curse of human trafficking, I will work with and for law enforcement to provide access to the tools necessary to keep their communities. Refer to the public safety drop down for more information.

PODCAST

Wallace West was featured on the New Hanover GOP podcast, where he discussed his vision for strengthening families through the pillars of a strong economy, education, and public safety. These foundational elements support his commitment to building thriving communities and securing a prosperous future for District 18. Listen to Wallace’s insights on how these priorities shape his approach to leadership.

Why Write-In?

Due to the recent redistricting, Wallace West was placed in District 18 too late to appear on the ballot, leaving the current candidate running unopposed. Determined to offer the community a choice, Wallace is running as a write-in candidate to ensure the values of District 18 are represented. He is committed to upholding our faith, supporting families, and strengthening our community.

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