Senator Lisa Barnes has very strong name ID with high favorables. She will continue to outperform the generic ballot in SD-11. Her opponent, James Gailliard, begins the race with lower name ID and upside-down favorability with Unaffiliateds.

Undecided voters respond to these positive messages about Barnes:

• Lisa Barnes voted to increase penalties for child abusers and protect children from online predators.
• Lisa Barnes voted to prohibit biological males from participating in girls’ and women’s sports in middle school, high school, and college in North Carolina.
• Lisa Barnes is the Chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee and has fought for our farmers every day in Raleigh. Lisa has championed legislation to protect farmland and provide funding for the agriculture industry during natural disasters.
• Lisa Barnes led the fight to pass legislation increasing access to healthcare in rural areas, cut healthcare costs, and implement Medicaid expansion in North Carolina, providing healthcare coverage to low-income people across the state.
• Lisa Barnes helped families deal with rising prices by cutting state income taxes in half and making the first $25,000 of every family’s income completely tax-free.
• Lisa Barnes is endorsed by the NRA and believes that our Second Amendment rights are sacred and non-negotiable.

James Gailliard has a long voting record in the NC House demonstrating his weak-on-crime policy positions, as does his involvement in Roy Cooper’s Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice. Gailliard also has extensive personal financial issues and a controversial history as pastor of a megachurch:

• James Gailliard is dangerously weak (and woke) on crime:
  • The Task Force he was on pushed for “more services for incarcerated individuals.”
  • Through the Task Force, he also recommended protecting “pregnant people” in jails and prisons.
  • He fought to eliminate the use of “Violent Habitual Felony Status,” resulting in lighter sentences for violent habitual felons.
  • He supported softer penalties for murder of an unborn child, human trafficking, taking indecent liberties with children, and rape.
  • He supported legislation that would make it easier for people who commit murder to be charged with misdemeanors instead of felonies.
  • He voted against a bill that increased penalties for rioting and assaults on emergency personnel.
  • And Gailliard received funding from a radical group committed to defunding the police.
• James Gailliard’s personal finances are a major weakness:
  • Between 1992 and 2024, Gailliard had 10+ liens or judgments for failing to pay for services—including for the care of his elderly father.
  • He has declared bankruptcy and was over $780,000 in debt.
  • He started several failed businesses that were dissolved for not reporting any earnings.
  • He voted for a bill to raise the mileage reimbursement for legislators driving to and from Raleigh.
  • He exploited the murder of a black man in Tennessee, telling his congregation that they couldn’t mourn his death unless they donated to his church.
  • He purchased an 8,500-square-foot mansion from his employer, valued at over $1 million, for just $500.
• James Gailliard supports liberal policies out of step with Senate District 11:
  • James Gailliard supports kicking North Carolinians off their private health care plans and forcing them onto a new government-run, single-payer health insurance system that would triple the size of the state’s budget and require massive tax increases on workers and families to pay for it.