Reverend Toby Hedgepeth is a political newcomer, running for an at-large seat on the Guilford County Board of Commissioners. She will face Amy Kemp and fellow Reverend Greg Drumwright in the Democratic primary, and has been endorsed by District 4 Commissioner Mary Beth Murphy and the Guilford County Association of Educators.
Early voting for the primary starts February 12 and runs through February 28. The primary is on March 3 and the general election November 3.
Hedgepeth has hosted events across the county in the run-up to the primary election, including listening sessions her campaign calls the “Decades Tour.” People can sign up for meetups where they’ll be in conversation with peers.
“What I realized is that sometimes certain age groups would drown out the voices of others,” Hedgepeth said, “The concerns that I have, you know, in my age group are not the same as someone who’s fresh out of college.”
Hedgepeth attended multiple Guilford County schools, her family moving around a lot between her earliest days at Sternberger Elementary to her graduation from Dudley High School. She remembers receiving free school lunch when she was a kid, and feeling ashamed because her family, unlike many of her friends’, couldn’t afford to pay.
She remembered this feeling the day her son helped out one of his friends. When children go through the lunch line, Hedgepeth said, some are reminded to tell their parents to pay their lunch debt.
“The child was embarrassed to go through the lunch line because of the lunch debt,” she said.
So her son used his own lunch money to pay for the student’s meal.
“I know how it feels to not be sure where your next meal is coming from,” said Hedgepeth. “I know how it feels to worry about where your next house is going to be. All of those things are my lived experiences, but I wouldn’t trade them because it has helped me to be able to connect and hear more.”
Both of Hedgepeth’s professions— as divisional human resources director for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and associate pastor at Union Chapel United Church of Christ in Burlington—have something in common.
“It’s all about people, and that is something I’ve grounded my life’s hope on, that wherever I am that I make the impact I need to make,” she said.
Hedgepeth didn’t attend church regularly. But when she was 12 years old, she met a friend who took her in as part of her family. Her friend’s father was a minister in the United Church of Christ, and ultimately ordained her in the church. Hedgepeth received her master’s in divinity from Chicago Theological Seminary in 2023 and is currently pursuing her doctorate from Duke Divinity School.
“I credit this family with many of the things I’ve been able to accomplish in my life,” Hedgepeth said.
Hedgepeth got involved in local politics through her time in seminary and decided to follow Rev. Donna Vanhook, who ran for soil and water district supervisor in Alamance County.
“That’s what really got me involved,” she said. That experience followed her even after the campaign ended and Vanhook secured her seat. “Seeing things myself in Guilford County, how things were working or not working for the people, is what really inspired me to run.”
As commissioner, Hedgepeth said she would work to ensure that county resources are distributed fairly across rural, suburban, and urban areas, and invest in affordable housing, healthcare, mental health, and addiction recovery services.
In addition to food security for residents, Hedgepeth is prioritizing equitable funding in schools, investing in afterschool and mentorship programs, as well as championing job training to prepare young people for college and careers.
She’s also pushing for justice, equity, and community investment. “A county budget is a moral document,” Hedgepeth’s campaign website states, “It shows what, and who, we value.”
With a long voting history, Hedgepeth has cast ballots in Guilford County’s primary and general elections every other year since 2004.
“Voting is a priority to me because I understand that my vote does count,” she said. “Even as a part of this campaign, that is one of the things that I hope to do because I want more people to really understand and really take hold of the fact that the power belongs to us only if we exercise it.”
“I think people do a very good job of convincing us that our votes don’t matter,” Hedgepeth said.
“I realized that I have a shared responsibility in my vote of caring for the community and our neighbors.”
