Eldon Sharpe "Buck" Newton III (born July 5, 1968) was a Republican state senator in the

North Carolina General Assembly The North Carolina General Assembly is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Government of North Carolina, State government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the North Carolina Senate, Senate and the North Ca ...

(the state's legislature) representing N.C. District 11 (

Wilson Wilson may refer to: People * Wilson (name) ** List of people with given name Wilson ** List of people with surname Wilson * Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender * Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson Ro ...

and Nash counties). Newton won his seat in the 2010 election by defeating the Democratic incumbent, Albin B. Swindell. In

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Newton was the Republican nominee for

North Carolina Attorney General The Attorney General of North Carolina is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The attorney general is a constitutional officer responsible for representing state agencies in legal matters, supplying other state offici ...

losing to Democrat

Josh Stein Joshua Stein (born September 13, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician who serves as the 50th and current Attorney General of North Carolina, a position he has held since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Stein previously served as a ...

by 25,000 votes, a 0.5% margin.

Early life and education

A native of Wilson, North Carolina, Newton graduated from Hunt High School before attending

Appalachian State University Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

. At A.S.U. he received his bachelor's degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. After college, Newton served as an aide to Senator

Jesse Helms Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was an American politician. A leader in the conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ...

on the Foreign Relations Committee in the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

. Newton is also a graduate of the

Campbell University Campbell University is a private Baptist university in Buies Creek, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (Southern Baptist Convention). Southern Baptist ConventionColleges and Universities sbc.net ...

School of Law. He has practiced law for 16 years at his firm, Newton and Lee, in Wilson, and became a state legislator in 2010.

State office

From 2007 to 2011, Newton served as the chairman for the Wilson County Republican Party before taking office in the state capital in early 2011, replacing State Senator Albin B. Swindell. In response to the state's law on LGBT issues Newton, at a conservative rally supporting the North Carolina's House Bill 2 (a.k.a. "HB2"), said “Go home, tell your friends and family who had to work today what this is all about and how hard we must fight to keep our state straight.” In a later interview, Newton said his remarks at the rally were intended to mean “keep men out of the ladies’ room.” Newton has also said that "folks that wave the rainbow flags” need to get used to “the way things have always been in this state.” Newton ran for the state office of attorney general in 2016 as the official Republican Party nominee. But that November, he lost to Josh Stein, the Democratic nominee.

References

External links

North Carolina General Assembly - Senator E. S. (Buck) Newton (Rep)
Republican Party North Carolina state senators Campbell University alumni Appalachian State University alumni People from Wilson, North Carolina Living people 1968 births 21st-century American politicians {{NorthCarolina-politician-stub