WFAE's Duncan McFadyen reports during our 2pm newscast.
An unaffiliated candidate has gathered enough signatures to get her name on the November ballot as a challenger for the state98thDistrict House seat. Jane Campbell of Davidson will face Republican incumbent John Bradford of Cornelius, who is seeking his second term.
Bradford had been unopposed after initial candidate filings in December.
Campbell is a Davidson College graduate and retired Navy captain. It's her first run for public office. She's getting help in her campaign from the state Democratic Party.
She has said she was inspired to run because of Bradford's support for House Bill 2, which she opposes.
State law allows unaffiliated candidates to get on the ballot if they get signatures from at least 4 percent of voters in their districts.
Campbell's campaign collected more than 3,400 signatures from voters in the district, which includes Davidson, Cornelius and parts of Huntersville. Elections officials certified 2,817 as valid. She needed 2,390 to get on the ballot.
Meanwhile, opponents of toll lanes on I-77 also are running a petition drive to get former state Rep. Robert Brawley on the ballot. He wants to challenge incumbent John Fraley, a first-term Republican from the 95th District in Mooresville.
Brawley also ran against Gov. Pat McCrory in the March Republican gubernatorial primary. McCrory won in a landslide statewide, but Brawley won a half-dozen precincts in south Iredell and north Mecklenburg.
Friday is the deadline for unaffiliated candidates to submit signatures.
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