Deborah Armfield "Deb" Butler is an American politician and attorney serving as a member of the

North Carolina House of Representatives The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North Ca ...

, where she has served since 2017. She represents the 18th House District, covering a portion of

New Hanover County New Hanover County is one of 100 counties located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 225,702. Though the second-smallest NC county in land area, it is one of the most populous, as its county seat, Wilm ...

, as a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

North Carolina General Assembly

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Butler unsuccessfully challenged Republican Thom Goolsby for a seat in the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The term of office for e ...

, losing by an 8 point margin. Butler was appointed to the

in 2017 to succeed

Susi Hamilton Susi Hamilton was a Democratic member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017. Hamilton also owns the consulting firm, Hamilton Planning, which specializes in city planning and downtown economic development. In 2017, Gov ...

, after Hamilton was appointed to head the

North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is a cabinet-level department within the state government of North Carolina dedicated to overseeing projects in the arts, culture, and history within the borders of the state. The cur ...

by Governor

Roy Cooper Roy Asberry Cooper III (born June 13, 1957) is an American attorney and politician, serving as the 75th governor of North Carolina since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th attorney general of North Carolina from 20 ...

."New NC House member is second openly LGBT legislator"
''

The News & Observer ''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the '' Charlotte Observer''). The paper has be ...

'', February 2, 2017. She has been re-elected to the seat twice, most recently in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Personal life

Butler identifies as

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

. She is one of four openly LGBT officeholders currently serving in the North Carolina state legislature, alongside caucus colleagues

Marcia Morey Marcia Helen Morey (born August 14, 1955) is an American politician, former judge and former competition swimmer who represented the United States at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. She competed in the preliminary heats of the women's 100 ...

Allison Dahle Allison Anne Dahle (born March 25, 1964) is a Democratic member of the North Carolina House of Representatives. Dahle has represented the 11th district (including parts of Wake County) since 2019. Personal life Dahle was born at the old Rex Hosp ...

and

Cecil Brockman Cecil Antonio Brockman (born September 18, 1984) is an American politician from North Carolina. He was first elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 2014. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic party, he has ...

. Butler works as a lawyer in

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the ...

. She married Anni Parra in 2015.

Electoral history

2020

2018

2012

Committee assignments

2021-2022 Session

*Banking *Commerce *Finance *Judiciary III *Transportation

2019-2020 Session

*Banking *Commerce *Finance *Transportation *Redistricting

2017-2018 Session

*Aging *Finance *Judiciary IV *State and Local Government I *State Personnel

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Deb Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Wilmington, North Carolina Politicians from Wilmington, North Carolina University of Tennessee alumni Wake Forest University alumni 21st-century American politicians Democratic Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives LGBT state legislators in North Carolina Women state legislators in North Carolina Lesbian politicians 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century LGBT people