George Wiley Nickel III (born November 23, 1975) is an American attorney and Democratic politician serving as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

for

North Carolina's 13th congressional district The thirteenth congressional district of North Carolina was re-established in 2002 after the state gained population in the 2000 United States census. Previously, the state had 13 districts from the first election following the 1810 census unti ...

since 2023. Nickel served as a member of 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 ...

from the 16th district from 2019 to 2023. He was elected to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

in 2022.

Early life and education

Nickel was born and raised in the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...

. After graduating from Francis W. Parker School in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and government from

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

and a Juris Doctor from

Pepperdine University School of Law The Pepperdine University Rick J. Caruso School of Law (formerly Pepperdine University School of Law) is the law school of Pepperdine University, a private research university in Los Angeles County, California. The school offers the Juris D ...

Career

Politics

Nickel worked for Vice President

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic no ...

from 1996 to 2001 as a member of his national advance staff. He is also a member of Gore's Climate Reality Leadership Corps. Nickel later worked on Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign and served on the White House national advance staff from 2008 until 2012. He is a member of the Obama Alumni Association and was part of Obama's first wave of political endorsements in 2018. Obama endorsed six candidates in North Carolina, including Nickel, in August 2018.

2006 State Senate election

Nickel ran in California's 12th State Senate district in 2006 against incumbent Republican

Jeff Denham Jeffrey John Denham (born July 29, 1967) is an American politician, United States Air Force veteran, and businessman. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the U.S. representative for from 2013 to 2019. Denham first won election to th ...

. He was called "a moderate Democrat" and the race was seen as potentially competitive. He spent $250,000 on advertisements, mainly funded by personal loans, with many airing in the

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

media market despite the district being in the

Modesto Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton ...

region. 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 in 2011.

North Carolina Senate

Elections

2018

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

2020

Nickel ran for reelection in 2020. He was unopposed in the Democratic primary and defeated Republican nominee Will Marsh with 65.6% of the vote. He was endorsed by ''

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 bee ...

''.

Tenure

2019–20 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. He co-sponsored a bill to restore master's degree and doctoral degree pay for teachers in North Carolina. Nickel co-sponsored 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.

2021–22 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 state senate.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2022

Nickel ran for Congress in North Carolina's newly drawn 13th congressional district. The district covers southern Wake County, all of Johnston County, and parts of Wayne and Harnett Counties. Nickel won the Democratic nomination. Nickel was endorsed by The Network for Public Education Fund, the

North Carolina Association of Educators The North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) is a professional association for public school employees formed in 1970 by the merger of the North Carolina Education Association with the North Carolina Teachers Association. Since North Carolin ...

NARAL Pro-Choice America NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access to ...

Communication Workers of America The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is the largest communications and media labor union in the United States, representing about 700,000 members in both the private and public sectors (also in Canada and Puerto Rico). The union has 27 ...

, the North Carolina State AFL-CIO, the National Association of Social Workers, Human Rights Campaign,

Everytown for Gun Safety Everytown for Gun Safety is an American nonprofit organization which advocates for gun control and against gun violence. Everytown was created in 2013 when Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America joined forc ...

, the

League of Conservation Voters The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) is an American environmental advocacy group. LCV says that it "advocates for sound environmental laws and policies, holds elected officials accountable for their votes and actions, and elects pro-environmen ...

, the Voter Protection Project, the Sierra Club, Equality North Carolina, the North Carolina Alliance for Retired Americans, North Carolina Asian Americans Together in Action, and Professional Fire Fighters and Paramedics of North Carolina. Nickel defeated Bo Hines, the Republican nominee, in the November 8 general election.

Caucus Memberships

Blue Dog Coalition The Blue Dog Coalition (commonly known as the Blue Dogs or Blue Dog Democrats) is a caucus in the United States House of Representatives comprising centrist members from the Democratic Party. The caucus was founded as a group of conservative De ...

New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a caucus in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democrats, primarily centrists, who take a pro-business stance and a moderate-to-conservative approach to fiscal matters. As of ...

Political positions

Nickel supports abortion rights and codifying ''

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and s ...

'' into federal law. He opposes

gerrymandering In representative democracies, gerrymandering (, originally ) is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent to create undue advantage for a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency. The m ...

Electoral history

2006

2018

2020

2022

Personal life

Born in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, Nickel moved to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

in 2009. He lives in

Cary Cary may refer to: Places ;United States * Cary, Illinois, part of the Chicago metropolitan area * Cary, Indiana, part of the Indianapolis metropolitan area * Cary, Miami County, Indiana * Cary, Maine * Cary, Mississippi * Cary, North Carolina ...

with his wife, Caroline, and their two children.

References

External links

Congressman Wiley Nickel
official U.S. House website
Wiley Nickel for Congress
campaign website , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nickel, Wiley 1975 births 21st-century American politicians Living people Democratic Party North Carolina state senators People from Cary, North Carolina Pepperdine University School of Law alumni Tulane University alumni Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign