NEW HANOVER COUNTY — Official filing for county races in the 2020 election begins in less than two weeks, but some candidates are already announcing their intent to run. That includes Democrat Leslie Cohen, who announced this week her campaign for the county board of commissioners.
Cohen ran for House District 20 in 2018, winning a three-way primary against fellow Democrats John Bauer and Gary Shipman. Cohen than ran in the general election against incumbent Republican Holly Grange, who won 18,796 (52.82%) to 16,792 (47.18%). This year, Cohen was chosen to serve on the New Hanover County Board of Education’s new Title IX Committee.
This week, Cohen announced her campaign for the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners. Three seats will be on the ballot, two open and one contested. Commissioners Patricia Kusek and Woody White have announced they will not run for re-election; Chairman Jonathan Barfield will run for another term.
According to Cohen, her first act if elected will be to propose moving board meetings from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. to allow increased public engagement.
“New Hanover County deserves representation that is accessible and transparent. The issues facing our community are so important and we must do everything in our power to involve our citizens in the process,” Cohen said.
Cohen has been a Wilmington resident since 2013 and said her husband’s family has had a relationship with the area since building a summer home in Carolina Beach in 1933. Cohen said she would bring a fresh perspective of small business entrepreneurship to the board; she and her husband owned a successful commercial graphics firm until transitioning to fine art in 2002.
Cohen said the decision to run for New Hanover County Commission was “a simple one rooted in her passion for serving, desire to represent the diverse voices of New Hanover County residents, and her love of this community.”
More information is available at Cohen’s campaign site.
