For more than 45 years, I have also been a small-business owner who has signed both sides of a paycheck. I know what it takes to meet a budget, support a team, and deliver results.

Elect Tim Merrick

Democratic candidate Tim Merrick, a retired chiropractor and executive leadership consultant, is running for one of three seats on the New Hanover County Board of Education. In the primary election, Merrick is running against three other Democrats — Jerry Jones Jr., former school board member Judy Justice, and Cynthia Munoz.

New Hanover County primaries 2024: Tim Merrick runs for board of education seat

Tim Merrick is a retired chiropractor and executive leadership consultant. He has also been a small-business owner.

Crowded field emerges for 2026 NHC school board race: 9 ...

Merrick plans to officially file for the District 20 House seat on Wednesday, Dec. 17, at Noon. The democrat from Wilmington is currently serving his first term on the school board after winning the seat on that board in 2024.

NHC Board of Education member Tim Merrick to file for NC House seat

Tim currently serves his first term on the school board after winning the seat in 2024.

2026 North Carolina General Election

What We Stand For

01

A THRIVING, AFFORDABLE NORTH CAROLINA — Rising costs are squeezing families. We will fight to raise wages, support local businesses, reduce healthcare costs, and build communities where working families can prosper.

02

BALANCED, RESPONSIBLE GROWTH — We deserve development that protects our neighborhoods, our environment, and our quality of life—not unchecked expansion that benefits only a few.

Calls for raising wages, supporting local businesses, and reducing healthcare costs.

- Calls for raising wages, supporting local businesses, and reducing healthcare costs.

Economy

What We Stand For

01

A THRIVING, AFFORDABLE NORTH CAROLINA — Rising costs are squeezing families. We will fight to raise wages, support local businesses, reduce healthcare costs, and build communities where working families can prosper.

02

BALANCED, RESPONSIBLE GROWTH — We deserve development that protects our neighborhoods, our environment, and our quality of life—not unchecked expansion that benefits only a few.

03

OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL — Strong working families are the backbone of every thriving community.

Calls for development that protects neighborhoods, the environment, and quality of life.

- Calls for development that protects neighborhoods, the environment, and quality of life.

Energy & the Environment

Meet Tim Merrick

Tim has spent his career standing up for families, fairness, and the belief that everyone deserves a real chance to succeed. His vision is simple: a North Carolina where our children have more opportunities than we did—and where the American Dream is possible again.

CHAMPION

for strong public schools and educators

ADVOCATE

for affordable, accessible healthcare

DEFENDER

of clean water and responsible development

BELIEVER

in small business investment and community growth

Advocates for affordable, accessible healthcare.

- Advocates for affordable, accessible healthcare.

Healthcare

As of January 5, 2026, Tim Merrick’s website did not contain information on this issue.

Voting & Elections

Public Safety

Public education is the biggest part of our state budgets, it’s the great American dream and something that has made America great. Lawmakers are giving our tax dollars to the wealthy to educate their children in private schools. Taking money away from public schools is to give up on the American dream. Something I’m not willing to do.

PCD: Do you think the district is adequately staffed? What positions would you like to see prioritized and/or deprioritized, especially in light of the district having to make significant cuts to next year’s budget? What should the board do to create a better working environment for its employees?

TM: As I said before our budget needs to be spent on student-facing staff. Teachers have repeatedly stressed the need for more aides, counselors and psychologists to deal with the mental health issues they are seeing.

Creating magnet schools to promote voluntary integration has had limited success, despite overwhelming evidence that diversity in schools helps improve test scores as well as preparing students for life outside of their neighborhood. If we are to keep neighborhood schools, we must provide far more teacher’s aides, and mental health professionals to offset the impact of adverse childhood experiences, or ACES (which include abuse, neglect, divorce, exposure to alcohol and drug abuse, or imprisoned family members, etc.) which are more prevalent in schools of lower income families.

2024 elections: Tim Merrick runs for NHC school board seat

TM: Let’s look at the book-banning episode. It is a good way to understand what parent’s rights are and what they aren’t. I believe in parents having a say in their children’s education. The parent in question was granted the right to have her child receive alternate materials to study. I am saddened by her fears about the book in question, but I support her right. What I object to is that one parent’s right to decide what hundreds or thousands of other students can read.

TM: I wish there was a good metric to show if we are meeting every child’s needs. Short of that, we need structures like Title IX that protect against gender discrimination. We need an office of diversity that is empowered to ensure equal treatment and opportunities, with fidelity.

Part of treating teachers as professions is prioritizing and valuing their experiential knowledge and feedback of what is happening in our schools. We must create bottom-up communication channels, not just top-down regulation from people who are not in our schools daily. I’d like to see an educators’ advisory panel that attends board meetings to offer immediate feedback on the impact and practical implementation of decisions that affect our classrooms.

Supports a bond measure to address school capital needs.

It’s important to note that the county’s per pupil expenditure is about half the national average for local funding. We do need to help the commissioners expand their role in our schools’ success. While the county enjoys a $350-million fund from the hospital sale, it is impractical to think we can address the capital needs of our schools without a bond.

Opposes diverting public-school funding to private-school education.

Supports prioritizing school funding for student-facing staff, including aides, counselors, and psychologists.

Supports parents choosing alternate materials for their children but opposes one parent determining what other students may read.

Calls for a diversity office with the authority to ensure equal treatment and opportunities.

Proposes an educators' advisory panel to provide feedback on board decisions affecting classrooms.

- Opposes diverting public-school funding to private-school education.
- Supports prioritizing school funding for student-facing staff, including aides, counselors, and psychologists.
- Supports parents choosing alternate materials for their children but opposes one parent determining what other students may read.
- Calls for a diversity office with the authority to ensure equal treatment and opportunities.
- Proposes an educators' advisory panel to provide feedback on board decisions affecting classrooms.

Education

Foreign Policy and Immigration

Facebook

Instagram

Tim Merrick

Twitter

Tim is a certified executive coach. He also serves on nonprofit boards. 

Tim is currently a member of the New Hanover County Board of Education.

Supports raising wages, supporting local businesses, reducing healthcare costs, and building communities for working families.

Supports affordable healthcare and safeguarding essential programs for families, seniors, and children.

Supports advocating for increased funding for public education, holding county commissioners accountable, and reducing administrative costs to better support teachers and students. Opposes the diversion of public funds to private schools through tax vouchers.

Said, "The board’s focus needs to shift to securing resources that put more adults in our school buildings, and treating educators as professionals. I’d like to see a more robust district-wide volunteer recruitment and training program to place volunteers where they are most needed. This could be facilitated through a universal PTA program that also shares resources across the district."

For Candidate Tim Merrick on Issue education: Supports increasing funding for public schools to ensure student and teacher safety, addressing larger class sizes caused by inadequate funding.

Said, "The politics behind changes in policies 3200 and 7300 that limit what can be displayed in classrooms likewise have no benefit for our children’s education and are unnecessarily restrictive to teachers as there is an inherent threat of reprisal."

Opposes prioritizing vouchers for private schools over providing adequate mental health counselors in schools.

For Candidate Tim Merrick on Issue education: Supports addressing teacher morale and pay, literacy gaps, and opposes banning books and other educational materials.

Isaac Brickman

Buket Urgen

Dane Scalise

- Your State Representative participates in the legislative process at the state level. They are one of 129 members of the North Carolina House of Representatives. The North Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the North Carolina General Assembly (the state's lawmaking body).
- Your State Representative drafts laws, approves budgets, has oversight of the state executive branch, and debates and votes on proposed laws.
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- State Representatives are elected to a 2-year term. There is no term limit.

Your representative and state lawmaker in North Carolina House of Representatives.