Paul Robert Newton (born June 2, 1960) is an American politician and Republican member of the

North Carolina State 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 ...

, formerly representing the 36th district.

Political career

Newton was an executive at the utility company

Duke Energy Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Overview Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Duke Energy owns 58,200 megawatts of base-load and peak generation in ...

before retiring.Gary D. Robertson
Experts: 1 pipeline each for NC natural gas, fuel a concern
Associated Press (May 18, 2021). As a member of the state Senate's energy committee, Newton opposed natural gas production limitations in North Carolina. In 2021, amid nationwide Republican efforts to

Republican efforts to restrict voting following the 2020 presidential election Following the 2020 United States presidential election and the unsuccessful attempts by Donald Trump and various other Republican officials to overturn it, Republican lawmakers initiated a sweeping effort to make voting laws more restrictive ...

, Newton proposed legislation that would prevent counties from counting valid mail-in absentee ballots postmarked before or on election day unless they were received by the polling places by 5 p.m. on election day. Newton argued that it was "suspicious" for valid absentee ballots to be counted after election day. In the 2020 elections, 11,000 ballots arrived in the three-day grace period after election day and were counted; under Newton's proposal, they would have been thrown out. In 2021, as co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Newton sponsored a proposal to reduce the state income tax rate from 5.25% to 4.99%. In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in North Carolina, Newton was one of five Republican state senators asked 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 ...

to allow the Coca-Cola 600, a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

race, to be run at

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...

, although without a crowd of fans. The following year, Newton sponsored a "liability shield" bill to provide a limited form of immunity to businesses, government agency or nonprofit against lawsuits arising from COVID-19 transmission on their premises. In November 2022, Newton was elected by his colleagues to become Senate Majority Leader for the 2023–2024 session.

Electoral history

2022

2020

2018

2016

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Newton, Paul 1960 births 21st-century American politicians Living people Republican Party North Carolina state senators University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Duke Energy people