Welcome to this edition of Better Know a Legislator – the first in what we hope will be an ongoing series of exclusive interviews with those who represent us in the General Assembly.

State Senator Terry Van Duyn is a Democrat who represents the 49th district. First appointed to the legislature following the death of Martin Nesbitt, she was elected to her first full term in 2014 and also serves as Minority Whip.

1. Tell us a little about the 49th district.
District 49 is made up of all but the southern tip of Buncombe County, which lies right in the middle of our beautiful Western North Carolina mountains. There are mountain views even in downtown Asheville, but if you travel a little further in any direction the tree-covered hills are truly spectacular.

Culturally, we are an area of contrasts. Years ago, I went to see Porgy and Bess at the Thomas Wolfe Theatre. At the adjacent Civic Center auditorium, the Tough Man Competition was underway. To see well-dressed middle-aged women milling around at intermission with young men in their muscle T’s is emblematic of the mashups that occur all the time! I once attended a bluegrass festival and turned a corner onto Goombay, a festival that celebrates African American heritage. We have a vibrant arts and crafts community and world class healthcare and high tech facilities, a thriving branch of the state university, UNC-Asheville, which is also home to the OLLI, the Osher Life Long Learning Institute, which caters to retirees. Something for everyone!

We do, of course, have our challenges. Although unemployment tends to be lower than most North Carolina counties, so are average wages. Affordable housing, on the other hand, is very limited. There is a strong ethic of collaboration, though, and the county government works with municipal governments and our robust non-profit sector to stretch limited resources as far as possible to address the needs of our citizens. Creative and collaborative is how I would characterize District 49.

2. Where are you from originally, what brought you to Buncombe County, and what did you do before being elected?
I was born and raised in Chicago, but moved around a lot as an adult pursuing opportunities in electronic data processing. For 20 years I worked as a computer programmer and systems analyst on large mainframe computers. In 1993, my husband and I moved to Asheville. We fell in love with the mountains on a visit and thought it would be a great place to raise our children.

North Carolina exceeded our expectations. When we moved here, my son was in 3rd grade. He had had some learning problems early on and after extensive evaluations with specialists in Houston, was diagnosed with ADD, primarily, I think, because he responded to Ritalin. I enrolled him at my local public school, where it was so obvious to his teacher what his problem was, she thought I was keeping it a secret. Eventually she approached me and asked me if I’d ever had him evaluated for autism.

At that time, North Carolina was on the forefront of awareness about autism because a group of parents lobbied the legislature about the need to address the growing population of children with autism. They created Division TEACCH, which trained teachers how to identify and work with children with autism. Needless to say, that changed our lives. He’s is in his 30’s and living an independent and happy life.

3. There’s a perception in the media that legislative Republicans aren’t big fans of Asheville. Do you agree with this perception, and if so what’s the reason for this animosity?

I would say that legislative Republicans aren’t big fans of cities in general. What the Republicans are doing is cynically pitting our urban and rural communities against each other. It’s classic divide and conquer and is all about power, not good government.

To a certain extent, I think this is an unfortunate byproduct of partisan redistricting. When they gerrymandered North Carolina districts to neutralize Democratic votes, they also neutralized city votes. Cities just tend to vote more Democratic.

Last year, for example, we saw Republicans try to pass sales tax legislation that would have kept Wake County from joining Orange and Durham counties with a light rail system that would connect Research Triangle Park. Prior to that, they took Charlotte’s airport away from them. This year, they are working at shifting sales tax revenues away from urban centers. None of this creates a single job.

Economically, our rural and urban communities are interconnected, and we need to be working together for the good of ALL of North Carolina.

4. Do you think there’s a “war on women”? Explain.
I wouldn’t call it a war as much as an inappropriate need to control by a few legislators that unfortunately exert too much influence in Raleigh. Most people agree that women should be paid the same as men for doing the same work and that women should be free to make healthcare decisions without interference from the government, but there still lingers a paternalistic mindset that is standing in the way of true equality for women.

5. What are your views on marijuana legalization?
As a mother, I have real concern about the permanent effect marijuana has on the adolescent brain, so I don’t support legalization. But I would like to learn more about the impact legalization has had in states where the laws have been changed.

Would it make sense, for example to consider medical marijuana? Should penalties for marijuana use be reduced and replaced with fines in some instances? Does it make sense to put so many people in jail for non-violent marijuana use? Do we need more drug treatment centers?

6. In the legislature, which personal accomplishment are you most proud of?
I was elected as minority whip, which means it is occasionally my job to influence the other Democrats in the Senate to come together on an issue. We’re a pretty independent group!

The Republicans introduced yet another anti-abortion bill this session, that made it harder for women to get the care they need. Now I know that deciding to have an abortion is one of the most deeply personal and difficult decisions a woman will ever have to make, and that for some of my colleagues abortion is fundamentally wrong, but limiting access doesn’t make it a less common, it just makes it a more dangerous for the woman. We can decrease abortion rates significantly by making contraception more available.

We may disagree about a lot of things, but at our core Democrats are a compassionate group. I think that’s why I was able to hold us together on that issue. It felt like a good days work.

7. Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, or other?
I’m a proud Hillary supporter. She’s smart, competent, experienced and compassionate. The anti-Clinton forces will say anything, spend anything, do anything to malign the front-running Democrat, and that’s unfortunate because it takes us off of the debates we really need to be having around issues like the income gap.

I do appreciate the tone of Bernie’s campaign, though. Unlike the Republicans, he’s addressing the issues head on, not mudslinging at his opponents.

I will enthusiastically support whichever Democrat the voters choose.

We want to thank Sen. Van Duyn for taking the time to respond. For legislative updates, follow her on Twitter at @terryvanduynnc.