A former candidate for Charlotte’s city council announced his run for North Carolina’s Senate District 41 after the North Carolina General Assembly recently approved new maps for the 2024 elections. Kenderick Cunningham, who is also openly gay, stated in a press release he planned to file for office once the filing period opens in December.
District 41 is now made up of central and east Charlotte communities, including Uptown Charlotte, NODA, Plaza Midwood and Cotswold. Most of these districts lean toward Democrats, who currently don’t have an incumbent to run for the March 5 primary in 2024.
Cunningham, who graduated from Saint Augustine’s University in 2018 with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Political Science, said he has made connections and worked with Democratic leaders in the area to be able to carry out the duties of a state senator. Currently, Cunningham is working in partnership with the Mecklenburg County Office of Violence Prevention to help find solutions to the increase in gun violence in the greater Mecklenburg community.
“In 2021, Kendrick worked with these neighborhood leaders to garner their support for Goal 3 of the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan – housing access for all,” the Friends of Kendrick Cunningham organization released in a statement after Cunningham announced his candidacy. The state senate hopeful also says he’s prepared to take on the issue of Source of Income Discrimination, in an effort to prevent landlords from refusing to rent to potential tenants utilizing government voucher assistance programs.
The motivation behind Cunningham’s decision is similar to others who’ve decided to run for office: to stop corruption from career politicians who, he argues, continue to act on their own interests and not in the interests of their constituents. Cunningham’s main issue with the General Assembly is their continued attempts to disenfranchise voters across the state.
“Communities of interests should be the prioritized criteria that determines how we draw the boundaries of legislative districts in our state,” Cunningham stated. “This will guide us in making compact districts that will give voters more flexibility in their ability to exercise Democracy and choose politicians that best reflect their communities.”
Candidate filing will begin at noon on Monday, December 4, when Cunningham confirmed he will officially file his campaign.