Braxton Winston II, the Democratic candidate for commissioner of labor, sits on a panel at the NC State AFL-CIO convention in Raleigh on Sept. 19, 2024. (Photo: Galen Bacharier)
The North Carolina State AFL-CIO will see one of its own on the ballot this November, as the union aims to help deliver wins to a slate of Democratic candidates.
Braxton Winston II, running for labor commissioner, is the first hourly union worker to run for the office in North Carolina. He was joined by other candidates at a panel during the state AFL-CIO’s annual convention in Raleigh on Thursday.
“I know we know this well in this room — labor issues have always been political, right?” Winston said. “But they really shouldn’t be — and they’re not — partisan.”
A union stagehand and grip in the film industry and former Charlotte city council member, Winston is facing Republican Raleigh attorney Luke Farley in the race to head the department .
Josh Dobson, a Republican who has been commissioner since 2020, is not running for re-election.