Rep. Brian Turner, a Democrat from Buncombe County, is wrapping up his fourth and final term in the House. He’s calling it quits in part because of the long, unpredictable hours and time away from his young family. He’s developed a reputation as a moderate who’s willing to partner with Republicans to get legislation passed and sometimes even go hunting with them.
This session, he’s been involved in a wide range of bills, from a proposal to require zipper merging on highways to the financial technology “regulatory sandbox” bill to legislation making it easier to properly dispose of prescription drugs.
Age: 48
What are the current and past jobs you’ve held outside of politics? Currently, I am a commercial real-estate broker with NAI Beverly-Hanks. Before running for office, I worked as an assistant vice chancellor at UNC Asheville, I served in the leadership of my family’s manufacturing business, and in my early career I worked as a television producer for MTV.
What lessons from those roles have you applied to your elected position? Bringing people, even those with competing agendas, into the process earlier rather than later will go a long way towards finding common ground and usually better solutions. If nothing else, it gives folks the opportunity to have their voices heard. Even if they don’t like the decision or outcome, they understand how it came about.
If you could enact a single piece of legislation into law today, what would it be? If I could wave a magic wand and make a change, I would make our legislature full-time. It’s something I don’t see happening in the near future, but I think it would go a long way to making NC’s legislature more representative of the people of our state. With a full-time legislature, more folks would have the option to run for office and we would have better competition of thought and new ideas throughout our government.
Where do you most enjoy taking an out-of-town visitor in your district? The Miami restaurant is a great diner out in Candler, one of the more rural parts of the district and an area where my dad grew up. The restaurant is family run, the breakfast sausage is amazing, and you’ll learn what’s going on in the community that you won’t read about in the paper.
What is your favorite hobby outside of work? I enjoy doing just about anything outside. From trail running and mountain biking to duck hunting and fly fishing. The hard part is keeping it going while in Raleigh. I stay near Umstead and Lake Crabtree so chances are you’ll find me there if I have a little down time.
Who do you most admire, and why? I have tremendous admiration for my mother-in-law. Her courage, her persistence, and work ethic. She moved to New York City from Porto Alegre, Brazil, in her late teens not speaking English and without a job. She ended up working for Estee Lauder for decades, getting married, and raising two wonderful children. She made it there, she can make it anywhere, and I know that is worth looking up to.
What’s the best advice you’ve received about how to get legislation passed? I’m paraphrasing but Rep. Rick Glazier once told me “You have to decide if you want to get headlines or get things done, most of the time you can’t have both, especially in the minority.”
