Brian O'Neal Biggs

Current office and 2026 campaign

Brian O'Neal Biggs is a Republican member of the North Carolina House of Representatives for District 70, a Randolph County district, and serves as House Deputy Majority Whip for the 2025-2026 session ¹. The General Assembly's member record lists his occupation as Realtor and records him as having served two terms in the House ¹. He filed on December 1, 2025 and appears on the November 3, 2026 general-election ballot; no primary was held for the seat in the March 3, 2026 primary, and his general-election opponent is Democrat William (Bill) McCaskill of Asheboro ². Biggs's address of record on the filing is in Trinity ².

Career

Biggs's campaign biography states that he was first elected to the North Carolina House in November 2022 and that before that he served on the Randolph County Board of Education from 2014 to 2022, four of those years as vice chair ³. A profile published by the North Carolina Leadership Forum at Duke University describes him as "a seasoned Realtor/Broker" with "a real estate career that spans 22 years" and lists his leadership roles as "President of the Realtors Commercial Alliance, the High Point Realtors Commercial Alliance, Vice-Chairman on the Randolph County Board of Education from 2014-2022, the Archdale-Trinity Tax Council, and currently the YMCA Board of Directors" ⁴. That profile dates his board service to the same 2014-2022 window but describes the vice-chairmanship as covering it, rather than four years within it.

Office history

Biggs won District 70 in the November 2022 general election, defeating Democrat Susan Lee (Susie) Scott 22,160 votes to 5,887 ⁵. He was re-elected in 2024 in a rematch against Scott, 33,617 to 10,520 ⁶.

Legislative record and accomplishments

For the 2025-2026 session Biggs is Chairman of the Appropriations, Education committee and of Education - K-12; Vice Chairman of Appropriations; and a member of Agriculture and Environment, Health, Transportation, the House Select Committee on Property Tax Reduction and Reform, and the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee ⁷.

Four bills on which he is a primary sponsor have been enacted this session: HB 87, the Educational Choice for Children Act (Session Law 2026-6); HB 920, the Virtual Currency Kiosk Consumer Protection Act (Session Law 2026-45); HB 959, Various Education Changes (Session Law 2025-38); and HB 975, EMS Personnel Provisions (Session Law 2025-42) ⁸.

HB 87 became law over a veto. Gov. Josh Stein vetoed the bill on August 6, 2025; the House overrode the veto 73-46 on May 20, 2026 and the Senate followed 30-19 on June 3, 2026, enacting it as Session Law 2026-6 ⁹. In a statement the same day, Stein said: "I vetoed House Bill 87 because at the time we were awaiting sound guidance from the federal government before opting in. Despite not receiving that guidance yet, the General Assembly decided to opt the state into the program" ¹⁰.

Biggs is the first-listed primary sponsor of HB 31 "Make Election Day A State Holiday," HB 60 "Modernize Medicaid Dental Rates," HB 161 "Restore Down-Zoning Auth./Randolph Co.," HB 186 "The Stars and Stripes Commitment Act," HB 498 "Military to Teacher Ret. Incentive," HB 773 "School Performance Grade Changes," HB 774 "School Breakfast for All," HB 775 "Criminal History Checks for School Positions," HB 781 "Unauthorized Public Camping & Sleeping," HB 782 "Civic Club Registration Plate Clarification" and HJR 1030 "US Department of Edu." ⁸.

Documented disputes and controversies

Biggs is the first-listed primary sponsor of House Bill 781, "Unauthorized Public Camping & Sleeping," which the House passed 69-42 in May 2025 ¹¹¹². NC Newsline reported that critics contended the legislation "will criminalize homelessness." Introducing the bill on the floor, Biggs pushed back: "This bill does not criminalize homelessness. It addresses unauthorized public property camping and sleeping without prohibiting homelessness itself." He said the bill grew out of conversations with municipal leaders who asked for guidance on the state's growing homeless population, adding: "Some people want to kick it down the road two years, five years, but how long are we going to wait until we deal with our homeless population in our own house" ¹². Rep. Laura Budd, D-Mecklenburg, said the bill "falls short in a lot of ways, but it took an act of courage to actually put it out there," while voting against it as an unfunded mandate; Rep. Jordan Lopez, D-Mecklenburg, said it "basically requires local governments to push away or outright hide unhoused people" ¹². The General Assembly's record shows HB 781's last action as referral to the Senate Rules committee on May 8, 2025 ¹¹.

Similar provisions advanced in 2026 as House Bill 437, "Drug-Free Zones/Unauthorized Public Camping," on which Biggs is one of four listed primary sponsors and which NC Newsline identified him as sponsoring ¹³¹⁴. NC Newsline described H437 as "a controversial bill requiring local governments to regulate and police homeless camps and make homeless shelters drug-free zones"; the House gave it final approval 73-40 and the Senate passed it 26-16 ¹⁴¹⁵. Arguing for the bill, Biggs said it "seeks to increase public safety, sanitation, public health, protect public spaces and be compassionate with assistance to people that are experiencing homelessness" ¹⁴. Rep. Marcia Morey, D-Durham, responded that "this bill doesn't give you one new housing unit for a homeless family. It doesn't give you any treatment for someone with addiction problems. It doesn't give you mental health counselors. It doesn't help anyone pay rent" ¹⁴.

Gov. Stein vetoed H437 on July 8, 2026, calling it a "poorly constructed bill" that places a "significant" and "unfunded" burden on local governments and that "fundamentally misunderstands" recovery from drug addiction ¹⁵. Biggs replied that Stein would have signed the legislation if he were "serious" about helping homeless people, saying "The Governor's refusal to address homelessness only allows more people to sink deeper into addiction and mental illness while making our communities less safe" ¹⁵. A spokesperson for House Speaker Destin Hall said the House would move to override the veto, and House Democratic Leader Robert Reives said his caucus would vote to sustain it ¹⁵. As of July 30, 2026 the veto stands and the General Assembly's bill record shows H437 placed on the House calendar for August 4, 2026 ¹³.

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