Wiley Nickel

George Wiley Nickel III[1] (born November 23, 1975) is an American attorney and Democratic politician serving as a member of the North Carolina Senate from the 16th district.[2]

Wiley Nickel
Member of the North Carolina Senate
from the 16th district
Assumed office
January 1, 2019
Preceded byConstituency established
Personal details
Born
George Wiley Nickel III

(1975-11-23) November 23, 1975
San Joaquin Valley, California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Caroline Nickel
EducationTulane University (BA)
Pepperdine University (JD)

He is running in the 2022 Democratic primary for the U.S. House of Representatives in North Carolina's 13th congressional district.

Early life and education

Nickel was born and raised in the San Joaquin Valley.[3] He is the great-great-great-grandson of Henry Miller, who was one of the largest landowners in the 19th century and established a farming empire in the Central Valley of California.[1] After graduating from the Francis W. Parker School in Chicago, Nickel earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and government from Tulane University and a Juris Doctor from the Pepperdine University School of Law.[4]

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 Al Gore's Climate Reality Leadership Corps.

Nickel later worked for Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign and served on the White House national advance staff from 2008 until 2012. Wiley is a member of the Obama Alumni Association and was part of President Obama's first wave of political endorsements in 2018. President Obama endorsed six candidates in North Carolina, including Nickel, in August 2018.[5][6]

2006 State Senate election

Nickel ran in California's 12th State Senate district in 2006 against incumbent Republican Jeff Denham. He was described as "a moderate Democrat" and the race was seen as potentially competitive.[1] He spent $250,000 on advertisements, mainly funded by personal loans, with many airing in the Sacramento media market despite the district being in the Modesto region.[3] He lost the general election to Denham approximately 60-40%

Law

Nickel is also a criminal defense attorney, having opened his law practice in Cary[7] in 2011.

North Carolina Senate

2018

Nickel was first elected to represent the 16th senate district with over 65% of the vote on November 6, 2018.[8] His seat was one of the six seats Democrats picked up to break the Republican super majority in the North Carolina General Assembly.[9][10][11]

2020

Nickel ran for re-election in 2020. He was unopposed in the Democratic Primary[8] and defeated his Republican challenger, Will Marsh with 65.6% of the vote.[12] He was endorsed by the News & Observer.[13]Nickel was also one of only two 2020 North Carolina state legislators to be endorsed by Senator Elizabeth Warren.[14]

2022

Nickel has announced his candidacy for North Carolina's newly-drawn 13th Congressional District. This district now covers southern Wake County, as well as all of Johnston County and parts of both Wayne and Harnett Counties. Nickel filed to run on February 24, 2022.

2019-2020 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.[15] He co-sponsored a bill to restore Master's Pay for teachers in North Carolina.[16]

Nickel was a co-sponsor of 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.[17]

2021-2022 session

Nickel serves 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 NC State Senate.[18]

Electoral history

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

2018
2018 North Carolina Senate, District 16 Democratic primary[19]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Wiley Nickel 8,585 55.48%
Democratic Luis Toledo 6,890 44.52%
Total votes 15,445 100.00%
2018 North Carolina Senate, District 16 general election[20]
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 97,025 100.00%
Democratic hold

2020
2020 North Carolina Senate, District 16 general election[20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Wiley Nickel 80,530 65.65%
Republican Paul Smith 42,144 34.35%
Total votes 122,674 100.00%
Democratic hold

Personal life

Originally from California, Nickel moved to North Carolina in 2009.[21] He lives in Cary, North Carolina with his wife, Caroline, and their two children.

References
  1. Pollard, Vic (October 13, 2006). "Nickel making name on his own". The Bakersfield Californian. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  2. "Info about NC 16th SD". Ballotpedia.
  3. Goldmacher, Shane (August 10, 2006). "With few hot races, Nickel looks for infusion of party cash". Capitol Weekly. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  4. "Wiley Nickel (JD '05) Elected to North Carolina State Senate | Pepperdine Caruso School of Law". law.pepperdine.edu. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  5. "Obama endorses 81 candidates, 6 in NC for November vote". spectrumlocalnews.com. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  6. "Obama endorses 6 candidates for the North Carolina legislature". The News & Observer. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  7. "Raleigh Defense Lawyer | 919-650-2851 | The Law Offices of Wiley Nickel, PLLC | Raleigh DWI Lawyer | Cary NC Office | NC Expungement Lawyer". Raleigh Criminal Defense Law Firm | 919-585-1486 | Law Offices of Wiley Nickel. Retrieved 2021-11-21.
  8. "Historical Election Results Data | NCSBE". www.ncsbe.gov. Retrieved 2021-11-21.
  9. "Democrats break GOP 'supermajority'". Raleigh News & Observer. November 6, 2018.
  10. "North Carolina Election Results - Election Results 2018 - The New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  11. WRAL (6 November 2018). "Democrats break veto-proof majority in General Assembly". wral.com. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  12. "North Carolina State Senate - District 16 Election Results | USA TODAY". www.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2021-11-21.
  13. The Editorial Board (October 3, 2020). "Here are all the News & Observer's 2020 endorsements". News & Observer.
  14. "2020 Endorsements | Warren Democrats". elizabethwarren.com. Retrieved 2021-11-21.
  15. "NCGA Week in Review- Jan 18, 2019 | Lexology". www.lexology.com. 18 January 2019. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
  16. WRAL (2019-02-07). "Senate bill would restore master's pay for some teachers". WRAL.com. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
  17. "Vigil held in Cary to remember New Zealand terror attack victims". ABC11 Raleigh-Durham. 2019-03-16. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  18. "Committees - North Carolina General Assembly". www.ncleg.gov. Retrieved 2021-11-21.
  19. "NC SBE Contest Results". er.ncsbe.gov. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  20. "NC SBE Contest Results". er.ncsbe.gov. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  21. Newhauser, Daniel (November 18, 2020). "And so the 2022 campaign gets underway". NC Policy Watch. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
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