State Representative Tim Longest is asking Wake County voters to send him back to Raleigh for a third term, running on a platform that mixes hemp market regulation, a push to rein in data center costs, and support for bringing a Major League Baseball team to the capital city. The 35-year-old Democrat, a consumer protection lawyer, faces Libertarian challenger Ed George in the November 3 general election for House District 34.
Longest has held the seat since January 2023 and is now serving his second term, according to The News & Observer. He won election to the seat in November 2022 with more than 60 percent of the vote, per Ballotpedia. George, the Libertarian in the race, did not complete the newspaper's candidate questionnaire, the report notes.
Before heading to the General Assembly, Longest clerked for the North Carolina Supreme Court and Court of Appeals and worked in the state Attorney General's office and the state Senate while in law school, the report states. He holds a J.D. with honors from UNC School of Law and a bachelor's degree in philosophy from UNC-Chapel Hill, and has volunteered with the North Carolina Bar Association and the Raleigh Human Relations Commission. In Raleigh, he currently sits on the House Finance, Disaster Recovery and Homeland Security, Education - Universities, and Marine Resources and Aquaculture committees, according to NC House Democrats.
Hemp Regulation Without Killing the Market
Longest told the newspaper he supports laws that keep hemp away from children and strengthen consumer protections, but he opposes eliminating the hemp market outright, warning that doing so would push consumers toward black-market hemp or marijuana and benefit cartels and drug dealers. He also said he supports better regulation of the state's hemp market alongside legalizing marijuana for medical use.
His position lands amid a broader statewide reckoning over hemp products. The Senate passed House Bill 328 last summer, but the House declined to take it up during its August session. The bill would cap consumable hemp products at 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container, require buyers to be at least 21, and create a seed-to-sale tracking system run by the Alcohol Law Enforcement Division, according to the Legislative Reporting Service. That state effort mirrors a federal restriction Congress passed in 2025 setting a nationwide 0.4-milligram total-THC container limit that takes effect December 11, putting North Carolina's estimated $3 billion hemp market at risk of widespread disruption, per Marijuana Moment. Hoodline has reported on cafe closures tied to the looming federal crackdown.
Targeting Data Center Costs and a Property Tax Loophole
Longest told the News & Observer that people across House District 34 and the rest of North Carolina are struggling with rising costs for energy, food, health care, housing and child care. He said he has pursued policies to ease those burdens, including data center regulation, opposing health care consolidation, investing in affordable housing, preventing algorithmic rent-fixing, supporting farmers, a child tax credit, and tax relief for working families.
To address data centers specifically, Longest filed House Bill 1063, which he said would require data centers to pay their fair share instead of shifting costs onto consumers, make them their own rate class before the Utilities Commission, repeal their existing sales tax breaks, and exclude them from incentives — changes he said would generate roughly $50 million a year in revenue currently given away. The bill, formally introduced as the Ratepayer and Resource Protection Act, would eliminate state sales tax exemptions for data centers with peak electricity demand of 40 megawatts or higher and require the Utilities Commission to set distinct rate tariffs so costs aren't shifted onto residential customers, according to WSOC-TV.
Longest also introduced House Bill 1092, aimed at expanding the homestead exemption for senior citizens and people with disabilities while closing what's known as the Blue Ridge loophole, which he said allows for-profit developers to benefit over homeowners. He told the newspaper the General Assembly can deliver local property tax relief regardless of whether a related constitutional amendment passes, but cautioned that any relief should not come at the expense of defunding public services.
The loophole stems from a court decision involving affordable housing tax exemptions and is projected to cost Wake County $12.3 million in lost property tax revenue for fiscal year 2027 by letting for-profit developers claim exemptions through nominal non-profit partnerships, according to Wake County Government figures. County commissioners cited that lost revenue among the pressures behind a $2.28 billion fiscal year 2027 budget adopted in June that raised property tax rates by 2 cents per $100 of valuation — an increase equating to roughly $90 a year for a $450,000 home.
Budget Priorities and Public Safety
Longest said the General Assembly should pass a timely budget that invests in public schools, law enforcement and essential services, and pledged to continue that work for all North Carolinians if reelected. On criminal justice, he said he voted for Iryna's Law, which he believes will help keep repeat violent offenders off the streets and improve community safety, though he noted it failed to fund public safety and mental health systems as much as needed.
Enacted as Session Law 2025-93 and effective December 1, 2025, Iryna's Law established rebuttable presumptions against pretrial release for defendants charged with violent offenses and called for a mental-health study, according to the North Carolina General Assembly. The law was named for Iryna Zarutska, who was killed on Charlotte's light rail in August 2025.
An MLB Pitch With Strings Attached
Longest said he supports bringing a Major League Baseball team to Raleigh, but stressed that government support would be necessary to land one and that any state stadium funding should generate a solid return through economic activity. He said public stadium money should come from a special entertainment district or occupancy taxes rather than general funds.
That position arrives after a $1.7 billion Raleigh MLB stadium financing framework was left out of the state budget deal in June because of House leadership opposition to public stadium funding, despite backing from Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon and investor Marc Lasry, per Carolina Journal. Separately, a $1 billion mixed-use sports and entertainment district around the Lenovo Center received approval on April 15, 2025, and the Centennial Authority agreed to lease land for it.
Longest confirmed to the newspaper that he did not use artificial intelligence to answer its candidate questionnaire. Voters in House District 34 will decide between him and George on November 3.
