Allen Kwabena Buansi

Allen Buansi is the incumbent Democratic member of the North Carolina House of Representatives for District 56, seeking re‑election in the November 3, 2026 general election. The district covers parts of Orange County, including Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and its representative serves a two‑year term with no term limits, earning a salary of $13,951 per year plus a $104 per‑day per‑diem ². To qualify, a candidate must be a qualified voter, have resided in the district for at least one year before the election, and be at least 21 years old ².

Buansi was born and raised in Chapel Hill. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College in 2009 and a Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 2015 ¹⁶. After law school he worked as a civil‑rights attorney, including a stint as deputy director at the UNC Center for Civil Rights, and later joined the law firm Poyner Spruill ¹⁹.

His first elected office was a seat on the Chapel Hill Town Council, where he served from 2017 to 2021. On the council he helped launch a criminal‑justice debt program, a poet‑laureate initiative, affordable‑housing projects, and a community‑safety re‑imagining effort ¹⁴⁹. In 2022 he won the Democratic primary for the open House seat vacated by retiring Rep. Verla Insko, and after Insko’s resignation was appointed by the governor to fill the remainder of her term, taking office on June 1, 2022 ¹⁶⁷. He was subsequently elected in his own right in 2022 and re‑elected in 2024 with 86.3 % of the vote ¹¹⁵²⁰.

In the General Assembly Buansi has been assigned to several key committees, including Appropriations, Appropriations – Health and Human Services, Education – Universities, Election Law and Campaign Finance Reform, and Health ¹. He co‑chairs the House Democratic Freshman Caucus ¹⁸ and has sponsored or helped sponsor more than 15 bills. Notable legislative achievements include the passage of a “Home of the Venus Flytrap” specialty license‑plate bill, legislation expanding Medicaid in North Carolina, and the Freedom‑to‑Vote Act, a voter‑protection package backed by every House Democrat ¹⁶¹⁹¹⁸. He has also been recognized as a “Rising Star” by the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters ¹⁶.

Buansi’s platform emphasizes public‑education funding, environmental justice, affordable health care, and climate‑change mitigation. He advocates for higher teacher pay, school‑nurse placements, expanded broadband, and renewable‑energy investments ¹⁸²⁰. His stated vision is an “affordable, accessible and inclusive North Carolina” ¹³¹⁸.

If elected to another term, Buansi will continue to serve the district’s roughly 87,000 residents, meeting the constitutional residency and voter‑qualification requirements while drawing the statutory salary and per‑diem for legislative service ².

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