Guilford NC House contest marred by controversy, but race still on

The House Democratic Caucus and the Guilford County Democratic Party may have pulled their support, but Democratic House candidate Shelly Headen is still running to represent northwest Guilford County.

A series of Headen’s past social media comments emerged in September, leading to widespread condemnation. Headen faces Rep. John Blust, R-Guilford, in what was originally a highly targeted pickup opportunity for Democrats. House District 62 is classified as a Republican-leaning district this election cycle. 

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By the time her past posts came out, it was too late to replace Headen on the ballot. Election winners may decline to accept their seat upon winning, which would allow her to be replaced another way. But Headen isn’t planning on that. 

“I had originally decided that I would recuse the seat if elected, but I’ve had just an outpouring of support,” Headen told Carolina Public Press. “And I’ve worked so hard. So, I feel like North Carolina needs me.” 

The posts 

The day Kamala Harris accepted the presidential nomination in 2024, Headen responded to a post on X about the news. 

“I’m so excited! Ready for the MAGAs to die off!!” she wrote. 

In 2025, she wrote on Facebook, “I think our only hope is an attack on US soil… preferably Alabama , Louisiana… where the stupid people live” in response to a post that said, “You know things have gone to hell when you start rooting for other countries to put yours in its place on the global stage.” 

In another Facebook comment, she said, “I think America is beyond peaceful protest!”

Carolina Public Press was unable to independently verify other posts attributed to Headen. Some of her accounts have been deleted, and some alleged comments may have been deleted as well. 

The Assembly, which first reported on Headen’s posts, mentioned a few others, including a LinkedIn post that allegedly said, “the damage (Trump) has done is getting close to surpassing Hilter (sic). In addition, I think his MAGA cult may be more destructive and evil than the Nazis.” 

In a Facebook comment responding to a post asking, “Why is it that some of us can see what is going on in the world and others can’t?” she allegedly wrote, “Maybe they need to experience sexual assault so they can experience what Trump’s victims feel.” 

In a September candidate forum, Headen called herself a “victim of fake, generated AI.” In an interview with CPP, she did not say which posts she thought were artificial intelligence. 

“To be honest, to protect my mental health, I’m really not focusing on that,” she said. “I’m focusing on moving forward. I have apologized, and I am moving forward.” 

That may be difficult to do. Neither the county party nor the House Democratic Caucus are any longer giving Headen money or other support to fend off Blust, who’s won his fair share of elections. 

Blust’s record

A US Army veteran and attorney who has served more than 11 terms in the legislature, Blust hasn’t faced serious competition for this Guilford County district in a long time. 

But this cycle, Democrats eyed his district as a potential battleground on their path to flipping the state House. Currently, House Democrats hold 49 of 120 seats. They need to flip 11 seats to earn a majority, and Blust’s was one of the options. Now, he may have a smoother ride to reelection. 

This session, Blust has made it his mission to address rising property reevaluations in Guilford County. 

Due to population growth, increased housing demand and rising construction costs driven by inflation, 2026 property reappraisal values in Guilford County skyrocketed by 40 to 45% from the last appraisal. Property owners were concerned that the higher reappraisal would lead to a higher tax bill. 

Property taxes are calculated by multiplying the appraised value of a property by the county or municipality’s established tax rate. Local governments can opt for a “revenue-neutral” rate that allows them to bring in about the same amount of property tax revenue as the previous year, adjusted for the changing tax base. They may also go above revenue neutral to pay for expanded services or other needs.

Guilford County commissioners originally recommended taxing residents at 61.90 cents per $100 in assessed value, 8.64 cents above the revenue neutral rate, 53.26 cents. The revenue would go toward K-12 education, the Guilford Technical Community College and county operations. 

Blust was not happy. In a June floor debate, he spoke about going to packed commissioner meetings after the reevaluations came out and advising the county to go the revenue-neutral route. 

“At least in Guilford, both the city and the county have been trying to market this year’s budget as some kind of tax decrease,” he said. “Because with the higher values they do get to lower their rates — not anywhere near the revenue neutral rate, but they will lower it, and then they crow that we lowered people’s taxes.” 

He supported a one-year moratorium on using 2026 reappraisal values for property tax bills in a handful of counties, including Guilford. He also approves of a constitutional amendment to set a property tax levy limit on local governments, but he noted that it might not go far enough in an April legislative meeting. 

He would consider setting an overall cap on the property tax rate, instead of just limiting by how much the rate can increase each year. 

“The counties and municipalities, they run the gamut,” he said. “There are some very well run, very efficient. There are others that, including my home county, it’s almost gotten out of control, and so a one-size-fits-all might not be appropriate, but a cap keeps it from getting even worse.” 

He wants local governments in Guilford County and elsewhere to focus more on “core functions.” 

“We don’t need you doing all these other things; we need you doing these core functions and doing these core functions well, doing them efficiently,” he said. 

He also supports exempting the first $100,000 of a home’s property value from taxation, according to his campaign website. 

Thanks to the moratorium, the county opted for a higher tax rate, at 78.95 cents per $100 assessed value. In Guilford County, Greensboro set their rate at 79.85 cents. 

Blust also pushed a series of other bills this session. One would amend the state Constitution to require legislative bills to cover only one subject, as opposed to the recent trend of lengthy bills including provisions with little connection to each other. Another proposed constitutional amendment would limit the governor’s emergency powers.

One would require state agencies to use a zero-based budgeting standard by 2031, meaning that they would have to justify each appropriation anew every budget cycle. Another would extend the statute of limitations for gender transition malpractice suits to ten years after a person turns 18.

Finally, he proposed a bill that would require ads made using artificial intelligence to include certain disclaimers. 

None of these made it across the finish line. 

Blust made a controversial statement of his own this session. During a floor debate about a diversity, equity and inclusion bill, he recounted what he’d read in a book about slavery. He said that considering the total number of slaves across world history, comparably few came to North America or the British colonies. 

“So we are not the big problem with slavery,” he said. “Slavery existed in the world and we helped establish those ideals and principles that led to, I’d like to say, its extinction.” 

“… We’re not gonna force a curriculum that emphasizes the wrong thing about our history,” he continued.

CPP was unable to conduct an interview with Blust. 

Headen running on public schools, corporate income tax

Headen, a CPA, told Carolina Public Press in a June interview that her main motivation for running was to fund public schools. 

The daughter of a high school teacher and principal, she spent her life around public education. 

“My parents never had their summers off,” she said. “My dad worked year round, and my mom would always take on a summer job because they don’t make enough money to live on their base salaries.” 

If elected, she wants to add “guardrails” to the Opportunity Scholarship program, which gives parents a voucher to pay for private school tuition based on household income. Headen said the only time someone should get a voucher is if they have a learning disability and cannot afford private school. 

“We should not be paying for millionaires to go to private schools,” she said. 

Headen also cited increasing access to affordable healthcare and loosening building regulations as her other top goals if elected. 

As an accountant and small-business owner, she said her fiscal responsibility would help in the 2027 budget process. 

“I want to look at what we’re spending, get rid of the waste,” she said. “I see that there’s a lot of grants going out to things that I don’t think are necessary, and there’s a lot of room to cut costs. I also think there’s a lot of room to build new revenue streams.”

One of those revenue streams is corporate income tax revenue. While North Carolina is scheduled to eliminate the corporate income tax by 2030, Headen thinks corporations should contribute more. She thinks that could ease some of the pressure coming from other taxes, like the property tax. 

Mostly, she wants to leave her past behind her and instead, focus on the state’s future. 

“I’m giving it all I have to give, and I just want North Carolina to be the wonderful state that it used to be,” she said. “And I’d love for us all to get along and work together to make our state wonderful and great.” 

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