Senator Margot Callahan understands what it takes to build yourself up from the bottom. Born in Digwell, North Carolina to a farmhand and a factory worker, she knew from childhood that she wanted to spend her life fighting for the rights of working-class people. A full scholarship allowed her the opportunity to attend Duke University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics.

Since college, she’s committed herself to supporting the people of her home state: first as a legislative director for Governor Charlie Reynolds, then as an elected official. After serving several terms in the state Senate, she became North Carolina’s youngest elected senator in more than two centuries.

Senator Callahan has championed life-changing legislation, fighting successfully to pass the Family Protection Act, which guarantees twelve weeks of paid leave, and the Right to Medication Act, which implements an income-based sliding scale for prescription drug costs.

Her greatest joy in life is her twelve-year-old daughter Eleanor.