Jay Chaudhuri Fights for North Carolina Children and Families
The son of Indian immigrants who settled in Fayetteville, Jay has spent three decades working at the highest levels of all three branches of state government fighting for North Carolina children and families. Political analyst Tim Boyum calls him “one of the leading voices for Democrats on Jones Street.”
Jay’s father cared for veterans at the VA hospital and never turned away a patient in private practice — even without insurance. His parents instilled in him a lifelong devotion to service and country.
Fighting for Our Kids
In 2016, Republican lawmakers slipped an unfunded K-3 class size mandate into a state budget bill with no money to hire new teachers and no plan to pay for it. The result was chaos. Districts faced an impossible choice: lay off thousands of art, music, and PE teachers or pack older students into overcrowded classrooms. In Wake County alone, the mandate required the equivalent of 14 new elementary schools worth of classroom space. Standing on the Senate floor, he declared: “This body set fire to our public schools and now we are the firefighters.” He filed legislation, rallied parents and teachers, visited elementary schools, and demanded action. Under mounting pressure, lawmakers were ultimately forced to phase in the mandate over four years with $61 million annually to keep art, music, and PE teachers in classrooms. As Jay said: “It’s our children who have been caught in the middle. And it needs to stop now.“
Fighting for Women’s Reproductive Rights
In 2023, Republicans introduced the most restrictive abortion bill in the state’s history, via legislation they drafted in secret over five months, released the 46-page bill to the public on a late Tuesday night, and pushed it through a committee the very next morning. The entire bill — banning most abortions after 12 weeks, mandating multiple in-person visits, requiring forced ultrasounds, and imposing new licensing requirements on clinics — was rammed through both chambers in less than 48 hours with no input from doctors, women, or the public. In committee, Jay publicly called it what it truly was: “the single best example of government overreach and red tape designed to make it as difficult as possible for a woman to get an abortion.” Jay then helped lead the longest Senate floor debate in modern state history — six hours of debate and twenty speeches — employing procedural motions to derail the bill. The Charlotte Observer Editorial Board cited Jay’s fight in its own condemnation of the bill. The 19th News covered his remarks in its national reporting. Though Democrats lost the vote, Jay made clear the fight was far from over: “Today, you will vote to take away our women’s rights, but whether it’s next year, this decade, or even with another generation — my daughter’s generation — we will organize, and we will fight with every fiber in our body to reclaim a woman’s fundamental constitutional right.”
Fighting Against Gun Violence
Jay didn’t just fight from the Senate floor — he showed up in the schools. When nearly 2,000 students walked out of Green Hope High School after Parkland, Jay was on the football field telling the crowd: “We don’t need more voices of adults like me in the General Assembly. We need the voices of students.” He showed up at Sanderson High School town halls. He sat with Wake County students and asked them directly: “In school, do you feel safe?” Their answer: “Absolutely not.” Jay introduced a comprehensive gun safety package — praised by Giffords, the organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords — that would implement Extreme Risk Protection Orders, extend background checks to all firearms, raise the minimum age for assault weapon purchases to 21, ban bump stocks, and dramatically expand school counselors and psychologists statewide. As Jay said: “Controversy should not be confused for common-sense gun reform measures.”
Working Across the Aisle
Jay doesn’t just fight. He also works across the aisle to get things done. He co-chairs four bipartisan and bicameral caucuses — the Early Childhood Caucus, the Arts Caucus, the Life Science Caucus, and the Foreign Trade and Economic Development Caucus — bringing together Democrats and Republicans to tackle the issues that matter most to North Carolinians.
Championing Financial Literacy
Too many North Carolina students were graduating high school without knowing how to balance a checkbook, manage a credit card, or plan for retirement. Jay partnered with Republican Senators Jerry Tillman and Deanna Ballard to change that — co-sponsoring legislation requiring every high school student to take a standalone personal finance course before graduation. The Greensboro News & Record Editorial Board called the push “not only reasonable but critical.” It worked. North Carolina is now one of only nine states in the entire country requiring a standalone personal finance class for graduation — ensuring students learn the basics of budgeting, credit scores, managing debt, and planning for retirement before they ever walk across a stage.
Fighting for Child Abuse Survivors
For too long, survivors of childhood sexual abuse were told they had waited too long to seek justice. Jay helped change that. Working alongside Republican colleague Senator Danny Britt and Attorney General Josh Stein, Jay sponsored the landmark SAFE Child Act — extending the statute of limitations for civil suits from age 21 to age 28, adding a two-year window for victims of any age to sue after a perpetrator’s felony conviction, and giving prosecutors powerful new tools to investigate abuse. It passed both chambers unanimously. As Attorney General Stein said: “Today is a good day for North Carolina’s children. Keeping them safe from abuse and violence is job one for parents and for the state.”
Protecting Kids from Cell Phone Addiction
Jay teamed up with Republican Senator Jim Burgin to introduce legislation restricting cell phone use in North Carolina public schools. As Jay said: “Our schools need to be sanctuaries of learning. We know that not using cell phones during the day can result in happier students and students that are less anxious.” The bill passed with near-unanimous bipartisan support. The results came quickly — a report from Governor Josh Stein’s Advisory Council for Student Safety and Well-Being found schools were already seeing better academic performance, increased social interaction, and fewer discipline issues. North Carolina is now among 31 states with similar legislation — and Jay helped lead the way.
Returning Veteran Teachers to the Classroom
Jay partnered with Republican Senator Rick Horner and Senate leader Phil Berger to pass legislation allowing retired teachers to return to work in high-needs schools without financial penalty. Under the new law, veteran educators can earn up to $41,000 a year while continuing to collect their state pensions — if they return to teach at a Title I school or one that has received a performance grade of “D” or “F.” Teachers returning to teach STEM and special education courses receive even higher compensation.
A Career of Public Service
Before representing Raleigh in the Senate, Jay served as General Counsel & Senior Policy Advisor to State Treasurer Janet Cowell, where he recovered nearly $100 million for North Carolina’s pension fund and launched a $230 million Innovation Fund to invest in start-up North Carolina businesses.
Before that, Jay served as Special Counsel to Attorney General Roy Cooper, where he helped lead a landmark 50-state investigation that forced Facebook and MySpace to better protect children from online predators — one of the first major efforts to hold social media companies accountable. For his efforts, the National Association of Attorneys General honored him with the Marvin Award, given to an individual who furthers the association’s goals.
Jay also led the School Safety Task Force after the Columbine High School shooting and the Campus Safety Task Force after the Virginia Tech Shooting, bringing together law enforcement, educators, and community leaders to develop real solutions to keep students safe.
During his time in the Senate, Jay helped recruit two global companies to the region.
His Senate Democratic colleagues have elected him Minority Whip, the second-highest position in the Senate Democratic caucus, for the last three terms.
Jay lives in the Village District with his wife, two kids, Leeya and Neel, and their golden retriever Lincoln. He’s a product of Cumberland County public schools, and his children are products of Wake County public schools.
He’s ready to keep fighting. Are you with him?
