Tuesday, October 20, 2026
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Cherryville, NC (WNN) - Donnie Loftis, the incumbent for North Carolina House District 109, came to WNN Studios to speak on his platform and why he is seeking reelection. He is running against Mark Carver for the position. As an incumbent and someone who has previously held other political positions, Loftis had much to speak on during his studio interview.
Loftis has held many important positions both locally as a politician and abroad as a veteran. He served in Operation Iraqi Freedom as a combat engineer and completed 30 years, 5 months, and 11 days of service. In his service, his biggest goal was to ensure everyone came home. Growing up, Loftis was on the move quite often as his father was a pastor. He arrived in Gastonia in 1974, a move that led to the political offices he would eventually hold here. In 1999, he ran against the incumbent for Gaston County Commissioner and won. He was then deployed and returned to run for reelection to the position, serving here until 2012. He began running for House after finishing that term, secured the seat in 2021, and has held it to the present.
Loftis is proud that 15 of the bills he introduced have been signed into law. One such example was after hearing about a man who was a convicted drug dealer who was hired at an overnight daycare with no background check. The bill was meant to ensure background checks were conducted in situations like this, and it was rolled into another bill and ultimately passed, helping to make children safer.
He is also noted for introducing House Bill 162, which addresses parking lots and stormwater control. He worked with the Catawba River Keepers to draft the most comprehensive parking-lot bill in the United States. While it has exemptions for cases where a large amount of parking is occasionally required, this bill ultimately prevents cities, towns, and counties from having a minimum parking lot size requirement, thus reducing the footprint and allowing rainwater to soak into the ground naturally.
Loftis is also 1 of 12 vice chairs on the NC Board of Appropriations.
“I'm a common sense guy. If it don't pass the smell test, I'm not in it. And so I want to eventually be one of those five big chairs, what they call it, in appropriating money across North Carolina. And so the best way to do that is being in the room when those decisions are made, and understanding why and how they are made.” - Donnie Loftis
In his current position, he is happy to have begun learning and hopes to eventually make the decisions. His perspective of making sure he has investigated the why and how also applies when he looks at the state budget. Despite the document's length, if he's voting on it, he makes sure to research it thoroughly to make an informed decision. Everyone is aware that NC didn’t pass a budget in the previous cycle, and Loftis says the hold-up was due to the Democrats wanting to spend $300 million on another hospital, among other things. These “pet projects” tend to be what holds up budgets and bills, despite being for other things in the document, such as an 8% teacher pay raise across the board. He also sees the draw for teachers to move to South Carolina, so he wants to see more raises in order to recruit new teachers and keep them in NC.
He also wants to see more flexibility in how children learn. He believes that the North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship program is a step in the right direction, and sees it as helping families choose programs that better suit their children.
One hot-button issue Loftis spoke on is data centers. He personally believes they are a great opportunity for NC if the correct legislation and zoning are put in place before construction. He recalled visiting Loudoun County, Virginia’s center. There are many rules about power needs, decibel levels, and water usage. This system uses a closed loop, meaning it does not constantly strain the water infrastructure. The facility has enough backup generators to power a city, which it can switch on during a crisis or power failure to ensure the internet keeps running. Despite the size, even standing next to the generators, they peak at 80 decibels, which is fairly quiet and unlikely to disturb neighbors. The area where this facility is located has left the county with more money than it can spend, and, as such, he sees properly regulated facilities as a huge plus wherever they may pop up.
He also spoke on economic development incentives such as the local one with Project Legacy. He also feels these are positive, as they are not “free money,” as some people see them. He noted that these incentives come with many strings attached to protect taxpayers. In one example, he mentioned VinFast, a company now being sued by NC for failing to meet timelines to recoup any and all funds spent here. These sorts of protections are necessary when forming these incentives.
Loftis mentioned that while voter ID laws have been passed at the state level, the current vote is to add it to the constitution. This is in order to prevent future legislative bodies from removing the requirement. There is also language about tax levies in NC. He feels this will also help in cases involving senior voters living on fixed incomes. It will prevent counties and municipalities from making it impossible for those with fixed incomes to live in the area they call home. While some counties may have a general population that can afford runaway taxes, he believes that, in this situation, the elderly are the most vulnerable to changes like this and wants to see them considered. He also noted that every time they have cut personal income tax, it has led to economic growth in NC, with the economy always backfilling the “lost” tax revenue.
“Transparency cleans up a lot of issues. It's like the truth hurts, but you can't tell it.” - Donnie Loftis
He believes that the people have a right to know what is going on in their government. He thinks that with current technology, the process should be more streamlined and shouldn’t take long to fulfill requests such as FOIA requests. Loftis also thinks that more required transparency would lead to stronger decision-making. If citizens could access information in a timely manner, it would be harder to end up in situations like the current distrust of Flock cameras.
Roads and railroads seem especially complicated to install despite active, ongoing efforts. Loftis notes congestion on I-85 and calls for infrastructure improvements in this area. Areas such as Cox Road in Gastonia and the entrances to Cramerton are extremely congested and require coordination to alleviate this issue. He noted that environmental holdups are one reason these sorts of developments take such extended periods. He also noted that very few contractors are allowed to take on state work of this level, which means they are stretched thin across the state.
Gaston County is the last NC county to have both a county sheriff and police department. He brought up the bill that was enacted following a 1957 falling-out between the board of commissioners and the sheriff. He would like to see this bill rescinded. He noted that it has recently been a point of contention over how much safety is needed, especially amid school funding issues.
Loftis was present for the January 6th riots. While he did not expect this when he left with other citizens to voice his concerns about that election, he found himself in the middle of it. He says he has never been to anything in Washington that was so insecure. It lacked scanners and checkpoints. They arrived around 12:30, and Loftis said you could already hear all this stuff happening. Being curious, he headed towards the disruption and noted that the tear gas used affected those present indiscriminately. Loftis did not participate in the mayhem and noted that he and his peers only wanted to voice their concerns, as they are allowed by the First Amendment.
For the full interview, see the video in this article.
To see more about Loftis, head to his website loftisfornc.com. He also encourages citizens to visit ncleg.gov to stay up to date on bills, political races, and other information.
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