Source: Lucille Sherman, NEWS & OBSERVER UNDER THE DOME, 12/11/20


We made it to Friday. Since North Carolina’s legislative leadership has been our theme for the past few weeks, I’d like to introduce you to someone else you should know.

Rep. Robert Reives is a Democrat from Goldston, father of two, attorney and now, the North Carolina House minority leader. His election means Democrats in both the House and Senate will be led by Black men for at least the next two years.
Reives is highly regarded and well-liked on both sides of the aisle, having served in the House since 2014 and as deputy minority leader the past four years.

Congratulations to ⁦@electreives⁩.
A well respected and affable gentleman.

Democrat Rep Robert Reives elected NC House minority leader | Raleigh News & Observer https://t.co/p2XMHKjDbn
— Senator Jim Perry (@JamesPerryNC) December 4, 2020
. @electreives is a class act and always treated me with respect when I worked at the legislature, even as a junior staffer for a member of the opposite party. Well deserved recognition by his colleagues of his public service. #ncpol #ncga

— Stephen Wiley (@StephenBWiley) December 3, 2020

From 2016 to 2018, GOP House Caucus Director Stephen Wiley’s office was a “windowless closet” some 10 feet from Reives’s office.

Wiley said he has a reputation for “pissing off the Democratic House leaders on Twitter,” but that didn’t stop Reives from treating him with respect. Reives and Wiley often walked to House finance committee meetings together, Wiley said, and Reives was always thoughtful.

“It’s not just me he treats like that,” Wiley said. “It’s really everyone in the building.”

Reives is also known by both Republicans and Democrats for being exceptionally well-spoken. Rep. Zack Hawkins, a Democrat from Durham, told me last week that Reives’s arguments “move people.”

“He’s someone that is so expressive on the floor and carries our message so well,” Hawkins said. “Not only in opposition to what Republicans are talking about, or even in support of our ideas, but sometimes about North Carolina values and basic human values and respect for each other and good versus evil — in addition to supporting what Democrats are trying to get across.”

Rep. Donny Lambeth, a Forsyth County Republican, said Reives is a good listener who will represent Democrats well, but added he expects him to “drive a hard bargain.”

“He will be an aggressive or tough negotiator on many issues,” Lambeth said.

As minority leader, Reives said his role is to guide discussion and drive conversation about particular issues forward.

“It’s not always about whether you can win votes,” Reives told me Wednesday. “You’re helping to orchestrate those discussions. I don’t control anybody in the caucus, but what I should be trying to do is talking to all members of the caucus and making sure the issues we care about as a whole get brought forward. If we don’t talk about those issues, they never come up.”

But Reives said he picks his battles.

“I tend to lead by thinking, 'Here are my overall goals, how does this particular, discussion, debate, deal help further those goals,” he said.

Ultimately, Reives said he got into politics because he believes everyone has a voice, and everyone should have opportunity.

“When I say everybody, I mean everybody,” Reives said. “If you’re an African American in the cities and in an urban area you should be heard. I feel like if you’re a rural white person living in an area where the plants have closed down, and you’re trying to figure out how you’re going to feed your family … I feel like you should have a voice. That’s really been my guiding principle.”