Che'Z L Adams

Current office and 2026 campaign

Che'Z L Adams — who also goes by "Shea" — is the Democratic candidate for the Gaston County Board of Education's Gastonia Township seat in the November 3, 2026 general election ¹². Her campaign priorities include teacher pay, school facilities, and instructional resources; she has said higher salaries are needed to keep teachers from leaving for higher-paying counties and has called for improved facilities to boost staff morale ³. She has also emphasized support for low-income schools, preserving arts programming, student mental-health services, and safe sports facilities, and has opposed removing library materials from schools ²³.

Background and education

Adams is originally from Tallahassee, Florida, and moved to Gastonia in 1990 ². She holds a bachelor's degree in health care management from Florida A&M University ¹².

Career

Adams works as an exceptional-children's teacher specializing in children's mental health ¹³. She has also worked as a foster care case manager, substitute teacher, and behavioral therapist, and one candidate profile lists prior work as a financial manager for political campaigns ¹².

Office history

This is not Adams's first run for the seat. Candidate-guide profiles describe an earlier, unsuccessful candidacy around 2020 and a second unsuccessful run in the November 2024 general election, when she appeared on the ballot as a nonpartisan candidate for the same Gastonia Township seat ¹². For the 2026 cycle she entered the Democratic primary; one source lists Leroy "Lee" Dedmon as her primary opponent ⁴.

Family

Adams is the mother of one son ².

Sources