Heather Hager Rhyne

Current office and 2026 campaign

Heather Hager Rhyne is the Republican member of the North Carolina House of Representatives for District 97, in Lincoln County, and serves as House Majority Freshman Leader for the 2025-2026 session ¹. The General Assembly's member record lists her service as 1.5 terms in the House and her occupation as pharmacist ¹. She filed on December 1, 2025 for re-election; the State Board of Elections candidate list shows her facing Democrat Greg McBryde on the November 3, 2026 general-election ballot, with no primary in either party ².

Office history

Rhyne was elected to the at-large seat on the Lincoln County Board of Education in November 2016, leading a three-candidate field with 17,250 votes, and was re-elected in November 2020 with 22,079 votes, the highest total among four candidates ³⁴. She won the March 5, 2024 Republican primary for the same at-large seat with 10,684 votes to Ann Samuelson's 2,477 ⁵; the at-large seat was filled at the November 2024 general election by a different Republican nominee, Erin Amanda Long ⁶.

On July 23, 2024, WCNC Charlotte reported that Rhyne had been named to fill the District 97 seat after Rep. Jason Saine announced his resignation from the General Assembly, that the appointment was announced by North Carolina GOP House Caucus Director Stephen Wiley, and that Rhyne "currently serves as the chair of the Lincoln County Board of Education"; Saine's resignation became official on August 12, 2024 ⁷. She won the November 5, 2024 general election for District 97 unopposed, with 43,332 votes ⁶.

Legislative record and accomplishments

For the 2025-2026 session Rhyne is Vice Chairman of the Education - K-12 committee and a member of Appropriations; Appropriations, Health and Human Services; Health; Higher Education; Oversight; the House Select Committee on Involuntary Commitment and Public Safety; and the House Select Committee on Redistricting. She also serves on the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee and the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Medicaid ⁸.

The General Assembly's introduced-bills record lists her as a primary sponsor of six bills enacted into law in the 2025-2026 session: HB 517, Modify Nonprofit Corp. Act/Charitable Org. (S.L. 2026-52) and HB 536, Physical Therapy Practice Act Mods (S.L. 2026-16), on both of which she is listed first among the primary sponsors; HB 372, Home-Based Business Fairness Act (S.L. 2026-51); HB 412, Child Care Regulatory Reforms (S.L. 2025-36); HB 546, Medicaid Modernization (S.L. 2025-64); and HB 309, Various Local Provisions VI (S.L. 2025-32) ⁹. She is also listed first among the primary sponsors of HB 163, Pharmacy Benefits Manager Provisions; HB 41, Lincoln/Catawba Common Boundary Line; HB 190, SchCal Mandatory Winter Break/Date Adjustment; HB 611, Increase APs in Public Schools; and HB 1110, Early Intervention School Attendance Pilot ⁹.

Documented disputes and controversies

Rhyne is listed first among the three primary sponsors of House Bill 437, which establishes drug-free homeless service zones with increased drug-offense penalties and bans unauthorized public camping or sleeping on public property ¹⁰.

When the House first passed the bill in April 2025, NC Newsline reported that it did so "over the objection of service providers, 140 of which signed a letter opposing the bill" ¹¹. Rep. Julia Greenfield (D-Mecklenburg) read the providers' letter on the floor, including the passage: "This implication that service providers are the enemy in working to keep those we serve safe instead of a partner in an incredibly challenging effort to provide both welcoming and safe space is incredibly hurtful and disappointing. This work carries enough risk without the threat of a felony conviction and jail time, depending on how someone interprets 'intentionally allows.'" ¹¹ Dr. Latonya Agard, executive director of the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness, said of the bill: "I think this is unconscionable because it places and unfair burden on those facilities to increase security, to figure out what this means, to reestablish relationships that are trustworthy within the community." ¹¹

Rhyne defended the measure in her own words: "By making homeless shelters drug-free zones, we reduce the opportunity for these criminal elements to further victimize the homeless while holding operators of these facilities accountable. Providing a safe and secure environment where treatment is provided and the people can get the help they need to become self-dependent is the focus of the bill." ¹¹ At final passage she told colleagues the bill increases penalties for dealing drugs at homeless shelters "just like we do for schools," and said "Our homeless population is under regular threat of crime from those seeking to sell them controlled substances." ¹²

The House concurred in the Senate version 73-40 on June 30, 2026, on what NC Newsline described as "a mostly party-line vote" ¹⁰¹². Rep. Marcia Morey (D-Durham) said in that debate: "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." ¹² The bill was ratified July 1, 2026, vetoed by Governor Josh Stein on July 8, 2026, and placed on the House calendar for August 4, 2026 ¹⁰.

Sources