I didn't see any mention of what party this individual belongs to. Maybe such information is well known in NC, but those of us reading on the internet want to know.
I asked the Mod to change the title.
The first district is 77% Democrat and 48% black. Only Democrat can win that seat. Ballance himself is a Democrat turned Republican turned Democrat. His first switch happened in 1969 after being beaten in a Democratic primary he backed Richard Nixon. Nixon put Ballance in charge of the ill fated "Soul City" people in North Carolina will remember this as a government financed business enterprise for black people in Warren county. It failed miserably and even then there were rumors of Ballance embezzling money but nothing was ever proved. In 1972 he ran as a Republican for the legislature but lost, Jim Holdshauser was elected Governor as a moderate Republican that year on he appointed Ballance as head of the elections board. In 1976 Ballance backed Gerald Ford's candidacy and would have been a GOP delegate to the national convention, but Reagan won the NC primary and Sen Helms selected the delegates needless to say Ballance was not one. In 1978 Ballance backed Helms Democratic opponent and he returned to the Democrats in 1979. He was elected to the state house in 1980, the Senate in 1988 and the US House in 2002. As a state Senator was when he was funneling money from a charity which he was a member of the board. The investigation for this was the bargaining of he downfall, but rumors of such activity have existed for some 25 years.