Barry Chalmers

NS Nation Name: Helowi
Character Name: Barry Chalmers
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 55
Character Height: 6’2”
Character Weight: 178 Pounds
Character Position/Role/Job: Governor of North Carolina
Appearance: [spoiler][img]http://www.senate.mn/graphics/03Bakk.jpg[/img][/spoiler]
Character State of Origin: Tennessee
Character State of Residence: North Carolina
Character Party Affiliation: Republican
Main Strengths: Very popular with Tea Party Conservatives, amazing fundraiser, experience as lawyer has helped him
Main Weaknesses: He is the polar opposite of a nonpartisan, was a democrat up until 2013, not very charismatic.
Biography: (Minimum 2-3 paragraphs) Born on May 18th, 1961 to an upper middle class family in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Barry’s family moved when he was three to Greensboro, North Carolina. He was the eldest child of his father, a practicing defense lawyer, and his mother, a stay at home mom, along with two younger sisters. When he was a teenager, he got into politics, becoming president of his student body for his junior and senior year and was a key member of the debate team.
Barry graduated from high school with flying colors and eventually went to UNC and got a bachelors in Criminal Justice. He then went to Harvard Law School in order to get his law degree. He graduated law school in 1986 and moved back to Greensboro, where he was eventually accepted to the bar as a defense attorney, much like his dad. As a defense attorney, he was known for casting doubt on evidence, sometimes through extremely controversial ways.
After practicing law for 8 years, Chalmers ran for a city council spot in 1994 and eventually mayor of Greensboro under the Democratic Party in 2001, he narrowly won the primary and defeated his republican opponent by 5%, and then eventually re-elected with 9%. As mayor, he was famous for being a more Conservative Democrat and had several tough on crime positions, cracking down on drug abuse. He also was known for expanding the economy of Greensboro, winning a bid for General Electric to build a factory in Greensboro. He was also known for his more moderate tone on same sex marriage, saying in an interview “I believe it should be up to the states to decide the matter, while I personally do disagree with homosexuality, I believe that if the states see it as alright, it should be alright.”
After 2 terms as mayor, he stepped down in order to run for the House of Representatives. Chalmers was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives for North Carolina’s 13th Congressional district in 2008. Around this time, his views began shifting, he believed that marriage should be classified as between a man and a woman, saying in an interview that “as you know, I was quite moderate on the tone at first, but then I realized that religious freedom needs to be defended, and that we shall no longer tolerate things that infringe on religious freedom.” He also supported more funding for charter schools and was one of the few democrats to have an A rating from the NRA. He served 2 terms as a representative until 2012, when he ran for Attorney General of North Carolina as a Democrat, winning the primary by less than a percent and eventually went on to win the election with a margin of 3%.
Less than a year into his career as Attorney General, Chalmers switched parties to the republicans. Saying in an interview with CNN “The Democratic Party has abandoned the people of North Carolina and have gotten out of touch with the people.” As attorney general, he defended the state of North Carolina in a case against North Carolina’s Congressional Districts which have been called gerrymandered. He ran for Governor of North Carolina at the end of his term as Attorney General, winning in a landslide in the primary and by 13% in the General Election. As Governor, he has supported charter school funding and gun rights as well as defending North Carolina’s congressional map, saying “It has been over exaggerated of how this map favors a party. Overall, there is no issue with our congressional map.”
Other Info: Presbyterian Christian. Married to Jane Anderson Chalmers and has 4 children (Dan, Penny, Sarah, and Gary.)