Political career
In April 2020,during the COVID-19 pandemic in North Carolina,Newton was one of five Republican state senators asked Governor Roy Cooper to allow the Coca-Cola 600,a NASCAR race,to be run at Charlotte Motor Speedway,although without a crowd of fans. [4] The following year,Newton sponsored a "liability shield" bill to provide a limited form of immunity to businesses,government agency or nonprofit against lawsuits arising from COVID-19 transmission on their premises. [5]
In 2021,amid nationwide Republican efforts to Republican efforts to restrict voting following the 2020 presidential election,Newton proposed legislation that would prevent counties from counting valid mail-in absentee ballots postmarked before or on election day unless they were received by the polling places by 5 p.m. on election day. Newton argued that it was "suspicious" for valid absentee ballots to be counted after election day. [6] In the 2020 elections,11,000 ballots arrived in the three-day grace period after election day and were counted;under Newton's proposal,they would have been thrown out. [6]
Newton,a retired Duke Energy executive and member of the state Senate's energy committee,opposed natural gas production limitations in North Carolina. [7] [8]
In 2021,as co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee,Newton sponsored a proposal to reduce the state income tax rate from 5.25% to 4.99%. [9]
In November 2022,Newton was elected by his colleagues to become Senate Majority Leader for the 2023–2024 session. [10] He served in that role until his resignation in 2025,after which he joined the administration at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. [3]
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