Candidate Questionnaire: Jay Chaudhuri
Cary, NC – We are now putting out our questionnaires from candidates in the 2018 elections in Cary and Morrisville. This questionnaire comes from Jay Chaudhuri, who is running for North Carolina Senate District 15 as the Democratic Party nominee.
We will be publishing more questionnaires leading up to the elections. These are in the candidates’ own words and we do not edit or alter the content in their responses aside from formatting.
Why are you running?
I’m running to make sure all North Carolinians have an opportunity to achieve the American Dream, just like my immigrant parents did who came to this country more than fifty years ago.
What are the top three priorities and how will you accomplish them?
First, we must invest more in public education. Second, we must grow and attract more middle-class jobs. Third, we must protect women’s reproductive rights. During my first term, I worked hard on all these issues.
During my first term in the North Carolina State Senate, I’ve addressed all these issues. First, I led a year-long fight — in partnership with the Wake County PTA and Save Our Schools – to fund lower class sizes from kindergarten to third grade after the Republican-controlled State Senate refused to do so. As a father of two children in Wake County public schools, I directly heard from teachers impacted by the so-called class-size chaos. Second, I played the lead role in recruiting a global information technology company to establish an Innovation Hub that will create 2,000 new jobs and pay $72,000 a year, above the Wake County median salary. That recruitment means one of the largest job announcements in the state this past decade. Finally, I served as the primary sponsor of the Whole Women’s Health Act, a bill that would bring our state into compliance with the United States Supreme Court’s legal standard by repealing state laws that impede access to abortion and make it illegal to enforce new restrictions on women’s reproductive rights. For these reasons, I’ve been endorsed by the North Carolina Association of Educators, Planned Parenthood, and NARAL-North Carolina.
Give us a brief bio and tell us about your relevant experience.
I’ve devoted my entire career to public service, having worked at the highest levels of all three branches of government in North Carolina. As General Counsel & Senior Policy Advisor to State Treasurer Janet Cowell, I helped recover almost $100 million back to the pension and unclaimed property funds. I also led the effort to establish the first-ever Innovation Fund, a $230 million fund dedicated to supporting and investing in businesses with significant operations in North Carolina. As Special Counsel to Attorney General Roy Cooper, I developed a school safety kit that helps every school in our state prepare for schools shootings. More than a decade later, the safety kit still remains only one of three recommended practices in school emergency responses cited by the U.S. Department of Education.
Website: jayfornc.com
Facebook: JayForNC
Twitter: @jay_chaudhuri
Read more in the Candidate 2018 series.
