Sen. Benton Sawrey Announces Campaign For Re-Election

JOHNSTON COUNTY – Senator Benton Sawrey announced today (Monday) that he will file for re-election to North Carolina Senate District 10, which serves all of Johnston County. Sawrey, a lifelong Johnston County resident and local attorney, said that he is running to continue delivering results for the families, small businesses, and farmers who are driving one of the most dynamic communities in North Carolina.

“Serving in the North Carolina Senate and representing my home county has been one of the honors of my life,” Sawrey said. “Johnston County sent me to Raleigh to work hard and together we’ve made real progress on keeping North Carolina a great place to live, work, and raise a family.”

Sawrey’s first two terms have been marked by significant legislative accomplishments.

He was named a chairman of four different committees – Senate Health Care Committee, Senate Health and Human Services Appropriation Committee, Legislative Ethics Committee, and the Joint-Legislative Oversight Committee on Medicaid – and serves on the influential Senate Rules Committee, Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Appropriations Committee. He was also selected by the Senate to co-chair the North Carolina General Assembly’s bi-partisan Life Sciences Caucus.

In the most recent legislative session, Sawrey led Senate members by having twelve bills that he authored to pass the chamber before the crossover deadline. Several of those bills ultimately became law after the conference process or passed both the House and Senate, including the SCRIPT Act, which reformed current law on pharmacy benefit managers, the Parents Protection Act, and laws reforming outdated regulatory burdens on water transfers within the Neuse River. Sawrey also took aim at reducing regulatory burdens on businesses in North Carolina by passing a repeal of North Carolina’s certificate of need law through the Senate and being a lead primary sponsor on the REINS Act, which requires legislative approval for proposed regulations that have a substantial impact on commerce in the state.

Sawrey has made reducing costs on taxpayers and businesses, as well as farmland preservation, central priorities. Last session he co-sponsored legislation to invest $250 million in the North Carolina Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund for conservation easements and grants. This session he backed additional protections for land located in voluntary agricultural districts. He introduced three bills to expand property-tax relief for disabled veterans and elderly homeowners, and he filed legislation enabling Johnston County and its municipalities to accelerate transportation projects to ease congestion on secondary roads. Fulfilling a major campaign promise from 2022, Sawrey has worked to responsibly reduce the state’s personal income tax, by voting to lower it from 4.5% to 2.49% by fiscal year 2032 pending certain revenue targets. Sawrey also sponsored legislation to repeal North Carolina’s privilege tax on working families, which was successfully included in last year’s budget.

The North Carolina Senate focused on health care costs this session and Sawrey was a lead primary sponsor on Senate Bill 315 and Senate Bill 316, which proposed reforms to prior authorizations by insurance companies, mandated pricing transparency, and banned facility fees and surprise billings by hospitals.  The bill also proposed a ban on use of artificial intelligence in authorization determinations by insurers, which has been the subject of significant controversy as a result of errors and abuse around the country.

Sawrey has also championed first responders and firefighters across the state. Last biennium he sponsored Senate Bill 319, which made the Fire Fighters’ Health Benefits pilot program permanent and strengthened support for firefighters diagnosed with occupational cancers. The expanded program that became effective earlier this year now ensures long-term benefits for both active and retired firefighters. Sawrey supported the bipartisan Back the Blue Pay Act, which is a $200 million investment in first responders that unanimously passed the Senate and provides raises, step-pay adjustments, and bonuses to law-enforcement officers along with changes to line-of- duty death benefits.  The bill includes long-overdue increases in the Firefighters’ and Rescue Squad Workers’ Pension Fund and the National Guard Pension Fund.  

Sawrey has championed several local measures benefiting Johnston County. This session he passed an innovative law allowing Johnston County and Johnston Community College to partner on building projects, which is expected to shorten construction timelines and save the college millions in taxpayer funds. He also worked with stakeholders over the last two sessions to modernize local electoral district laws, allowing county commissioners to draw districts with equal populations and shifting the school board to a residency-based district system that guarantees geographic diversity on the board.

Johnston County has secured record state appropriations over the last two sessions. In the 2023 budget alone, the county received nearly $200 million for infrastructure, first responders, and community organizations. Sawrey partnered with Representatives Strickland, White, and Penny to obtain funding for dozens of projects around the county, which included a new Highway Patrol Special Operations Division facility at the Johnston County Airport, additional mental health beds at UNC Johnston Health, renovations to the Clayton Public Library, and construction of the Advanced Manufacturing Training Center in Four Oaks.

“Experienced leadership and hard work have paid off for Johnston County and we’re seeing results already,” Sawrey said. “There’s more work to be done and I’m ready to keep the momentum going for our community.

Sawrey lives in Clayton with his wife and two children.  Prior to his time in the Senate, he served on the board of trustees at Johnston Community College and was on the board of directors for the Partnership for Children of Johnston County and the Downtown Smithfield Development Corporation. When he’s not spending time with his family or working, you can probably find him in Raleigh pulling for NC State’s football and basketball teams, playing golf, or bird hunting.