Lee Storrow brings youth to Chapel Hill Town Council race

Lee Storrow wants to knock on 5,000 doors in Chapel Hill over the next five months.

A recent UNC graduate with nearly a decade of political involvement, Storrow, 21, has decided to run for a seat on the Chapel Hill Town Council.

Council members Jim Ward, Sally Greene, Matt Czajkowski and Donna Bell all have terms that expire this fall but have not announced if they will run for re-election. Augustus Cho is the only announced newcomer.

“I’ve always felt like civic engagement has been in my blood,” said Storrow, who first got involved with politics by helping to create a development plan for his hometown of Asheville.

Penny Rich, a council member who came to know Storrow through his work as president of the University’s chapter of Young Democrats, said she admires his energetic approach to politics.

“I’m glad he put his name in for running for the seat,” she said. “I think that he’s very involved and very in tune with what’s going on politically in Chapel Hill.”

As president of Young Democrats, Storrow worked to advance gay rights with the UNC Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Straight Alliance.

He currently serves on the board of directors for the anti-tobacco American Legacy Foundation and also works full time as the managing director of the North Carolina Alliance for Health.

Storrow said his time at UNC helped him realize the codependent nature of the University and the town.

“I’m really excited to bridge student and University life with town life,” said Storrow, who was involved with the Campus Y, the theatre department and Student Congress. “I think that to be able to be a bridge, you have to have strong foundations in both.”

Allison Norman, co-president of the Campus Y, said she thinks his ability to bring people together is Storrow’s greatest strength.

“He does a great job building coalitions and bringing a diverse group of people to the table,” she said. “I think he would make a really strong candidate in the fall.”

After working with the Rogers Road community, Storrow said he found two key reasons to run for council: a lack of interaction between residents and their government, and the marginalization of certain groups.

“Often the margins of political ideology are the ones that come to town hall meetings and are engaged — the far 10 percent on the left and the far 10 percent on the right,” he said. “We need to focus on getting that middle 80 percent to come and engage.”

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