# Wiley Nickel

George Wilmarth "Wiley" Nickel III (born November 23, 1975) is an American attorney and Democratic politician who served as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 13th congressional district from 2023 to 2025.
Nickel served as a member of the North Carolina Senate from the 16th district from 2019 to 2023. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2022. On December 16, 2023, Nickel decided not to seek re-election after his seat was redrawn to heavily favor the Republican Party.

## Early life and education

Nickel was born in Fresno, California, on November 23, 1975. After graduating from Francis W. Parker School in Chicago, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and government from Tulane University and a Juris Doctor from Pepperdine University School of Law.

## Career
### Politics

Nickel worked for Vice President Al Gore from 1996 to 2001 as a member of his national advance staff. He is also a member of Gore's Climate Reality Leadership Corps.
Nickel later worked on Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign and served on the White House national advance staff from 2008 until 2012. He is a member of the Obama Alumni Association and was part of Obama's first wave of political endorsements in 2018. Obama endorsed six candidates in North Carolina, including Nickel, in August 2018.

#### 2006 state senate election

Nickel ran in California's 12th State Senate district in 2006 against incumbent Republican Jeff Denham. He was called "a moderate Democrat" and the race was seen as potentially competitive. During the primary election, he spent $250,000 on advertisements, mainly funded by personal loans. The ads, which mainly ran in the Sacramento media market, did not mention what district he was running in or his party affiliation. He lost the general election to Denham, receiving 40.2% of the vote to Denham's 59.8%.

### Law

Nickel was a criminal defense attorney, having opened his law practice in Cary in 2011.

## North Carolina Senate
### Elections
#### 2018

Nickel was first elected to represent the 16th senate district with over 65% of the vote on November 6, 2018. His seat was one of six seats Democrats picked up to break the Republican supermajority in the North Carolina General Assembly.

#### 2020

Nickel ran for reelection in 2020. He was unopposed in the Democratic primary and defeated Republican nominee Will Marsh with 65.6% of the vote. He was endorsed by The News & Observer.

### Tenure
#### 2019–20 session

Nickel was appointed to the Agriculture/Environment/Natural Resources Committee, the Pensions/Retirement/Aging Committee and the Education/Higher Education Appropriations Committee on January 18, 2019. He co-sponsored a bill to restore master's degree and doctoral degree pay for teachers in North Carolina.
Nickel co-sponsored Senate Bill 209, which would increase the scope and punishment of hate crimes and require the SBI to maintain and create a hate crimes statistics database. He spoke about SB 209 during a candlelight vigil at the Islamic Center of Cary to remember the New Zealand terror attack victims.

#### 2021–22 session

Nickel served on the Redistricting and Elections Committee, the Judiciary Committee, the Pensions/Retirement/Aging Committee, and the Appropriations on General Government/Information Technology Committee in the state senate.

## U.S. House of Representatives
### Elections
#### 2022

Nickel ran for Congress in North Carolina's newly drawn 13th congressional district. The district covers southern Wake County, all of Johnston County, and parts of Wayne and Harnett Counties. Nickel won the Democratic nomination.
The Carolina Journal wrote that Nickel ran "as a moderate despite a fairly left-wing voting record".
Nickel was endorsed by The Network for Public Education Fund, the North Carolina Association of Educators, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Communication Workers of America, the North Carolina State AFL-CIO, the National Association of Social Workers, Human Rights Campaign, Everytown for Gun Safety, the League of Conservation Voters, the Voter Protection Project, the Sierra Club, Equality North Carolina, the North Carolina Alliance for Retired Americans, North Carolina Asian Americans Together in Action, and Professional Fire Fighters and Paramedics of North Carolina.
Nickel defeated Bo Hines, the Republican nominee, in the November 8 general election.

### Caucus memberships

* Blue Dog Coalition
* New Democrat Coalition
* Problem Solvers Caucus

### Committee assignments

* House Committee on Financial Services

## Political positions

Nickel supports abortion rights and codifying Roe v. Wade into federal law.
Nickel voted against a resolution to condemn attacks against crisis pregnancy centers, anti-abortion individuals, and churches.

## Electoral history
### 2006

2006 California State Senate election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Jeff Denham (incumbent) | 92,879 | 59.8 |
| | Democratic | Wiley Nickel | 62,539 | 40.2 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 155,418 | 100.0 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### 2018

2018 North Carolina Senate, District 16 Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Wiley Nickel | 8,585 | 55.48% |
| | Democratic | Luis Toledo | 6,890 | 44.52% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 15,445 | 100.00% |
2018 North Carolina Senate, District 16 general election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Wiley Nickel | 63,335 | 65.28% |
| | Republican | Paul Smith | 30,308 | 31.24% |
| | Libertarian | Brian Irving | 3,382 | 3.49% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 97,025 | 100.00% |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### 2020

2020 North Carolina Senate, District 16 general election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Wiley Nickel | 80,530 | 65.65% |
| | Republican | Paul Smith | 42,144 | 34.35% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 122,674 | 100.00% |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### 2022

2022 Democratic primary in North Carolina's 13th congressional district :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Wiley Nickel | 22,974 | 51.68% |
| | Democratic | Sam Searcy | 10,210 | 22.97% |
| | Democratic | Jamie Campbell Bowles | 4,175 | 9.39% |
| | Democratic | Nathan Click | 3,813 | 8.58% |
| | Democratic | Denton Lee | 3,285 | 7.39% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 44,457 | 100.00% |
2022 North Carolina's 13th congressional district election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Wiley Nickel | 143,090 | 51.06% |
| | Republican | Bo Hines | 134,256 | 48.04% |
| | Write-in | Write-in | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | | 100.00% |
| | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican |

## Personal life

Born in California, Nickel moved to North Carolina in 2009. He lives in Cary with his wife, Caroline, and their two children. Nickel is a second cousin of conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.