Kirk's Story

My path in life has not been easy and has had many ups and downs. I am blessed because I had an incredible mother who taught me that with hard work and dedication, I could change my outcome in life. My early memories are of a single mother who worked two and three jobs to get by and provide a life for her two boys. I watched my mother move back in with her parents to provide a stable and safe home for her young boys. And I recall how I gained a new appreciation for my mom later in my childhood, when she married my stepfather and decided then she was creating a stronger future to ensure my brother and I would have a better path in life than the one she had. Witnessing my mother’s hard work and sacrifice established the foundation of my character and my values that would guide me throughout life.

Our new family took me to a little town in Florida called Chipley, where I would grow up on a dirt road in a single wide trailer that didn’t have air conditioning. My mom and stepfather worked hard every day and many times nights to take care of me and my brother. From that experience, I learned the value of true hard work and commitment. I didn’t have a college fund waiting for me, but I knew a college education would provide me the stepping stone I desperately wanted for a better way of life. I worked my way through college and joined the military to help pay for it. I served for 10 years in the US Army, in multiple leadership positions, before choosing to leave my military service for a new opportunity. As I look back now, I realize I would not have had the opportunities in my life if not for my college education, my time in the military and the grace of God.

The path of opportunity brought me to Fayetteville, North Carolina in 2000 to work with one of my former Army bosses and mentors, Clarence Briggs, who was the owner and President of AIT, Inc. in Downtown Fayetteville. Over the last 20+ years, I have lived in Fayetteville, I have helped others grow their businesses and started my own businesses. I have created jobs for others and I have learned valuable business lessons from men and women I have worked with closely. Today, I own and operate 219 Group, a full-service marketing, advertising and PR firm that I opened in 2010.

The second biggest blessing in my life was meeting and marrying my wife, Jenny Beaver deViere, in 2012, and being a part of the birth of our son, Greyson, in December 2016. One of my greatest disappointments is that my mom never got to meet my beautiful baby boy. She passed away in November 2015 from cancer, but I am reminded daily of a mother’s love for a son as I watch Jenny with Grey.

My fraternity, Kappa Sigma, and the Army instilled in me a sense of service. My wife likes to say “it is in my DNA”. Fayetteville and Cumberland County are my home, and I have rolled up my sleeves and worked as a volunteer in our community. While serving as Chair of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, I led the creation of a defense incubator that created jobs and generated investment back into our community; I helped create a young professionals organization to help keep our young people in Fayetteville; I worked side by side with hundreds of volunteers packing care packages for our military overseas, and have helped host the Boots & Booties Baby Showers for thousands of military mothers; I served as a Trustee at Fayetteville State University, connecting the university and it’s graduates to Fayetteville and the region.

In November of 2015, I was elected to serve as a district representative for Fayetteville City Council. This district contains some of the poorest and wealthiest streets in the city. I have been committed to providing a voice to many who hadn’t had a voice. Ironically, it was during this time that I found my voice and a bigger purpose. It was during the months leading up to the election in 2015, as my mother lay sick, that she reminded me “with hard work you can change outcomes”, and how proud of me she was because I had changed my outcome in life. It was then that I knew we had to work together as a community to change the outcome for our children and create pathways to help each other lead better lives, regardless of the zip code we were born into.

I was part of a team that accomplished many great things on City Council, including the citizen passage of a $35M Parks and Recreation Bond as well as the deal that bought us the Houston Astros and the building of Segra Stadium. During this time though it is the work that we began with the Pathways For Prosperity project that changed outcomes for our community. Pathways For Prosperity created a shared vision and unity of action across Cumberland County to reduce generational poverty. In simple terms, we seeked to ensure that all of us have an opportunity to achieve prosperity and a chance for a better life than our parents. Isn’t that what we all want for our children? Rich or poor. Boy or girl. White, brown or black.

My work with Pathways For Prosperity was very “eye-opening” experience for me because I witnessed first-hand how our community continues to leave people behind. We are not building a future for our next generation, we are actually making it harder for many to achieve the American Dream. We must stand up and fight to ensure that everyone has equal access to the opportunities and basic rights they deserve.

I was honored and humbled to be elected over a 4-term incumbent as your State Senator in November of 2018 and sworn into office on January 3, 2019.  I was re-elected to the State Senate in November of 2020 to a second term. When elected, I said I would always represent you in Raleigh. I vowed to put people first and politics second. It was important to me that Cumberland County was relevant at the state level – that we had a strong voice. I am proud of the relationships, both at home and in Raleigh, that allowed me to be in the middle of hard conversations that moved our state forward.

These conversations included reopening our schools after the COVID pandemic began to subside and a vaccine was available. I took a hard stand, one that was against many in my party, including the governor. Through bipartisan discussions, we created a compromise the governor and general assembly supported which allowed schools to reopen and put children back into the classroom.  We also had conversations around justice reform which led to bipartisan bills improving policing and expanding expungement programs; bipartisan COVID relief bills; and state hurricane recovery funding.

The state budget was another test of “people over politics” after Medicaid expansion was taken off the table as part of the discussion and negotiations had stalled with the governor and republican leadership. I worked with both republicans and democrats to find a compromise for a state budget for the first time in 4 years.  The $25.9B budget included an increase in education funding; an increase in pay for teachers and state employees; the largest investment in PFAS protection and research; significant broadband investments; tax cuts for working families; and investments in childcare, early childhood education, and mental health. I am proud of my work in this budget to have championed eliminating the state income tax on military pensions and to have lowered tuition to $500 a semester at FSU through NC Promise.

I worked diligently to ensure Cumberland County was not left behind. I helped bring back close to $500M to our community, including funding for construction at FSU, FTCC and Cape Fear Valley; direct support for CFRT, Civil War & Reconstruction Center, and MLK Jr. Park; investments in local governments including funding homeless centers, affordable housing, and pedestrian crosswalks and sidewalks, and stormwater protection; investment in our rape crisis center, community health centers and substance abuse programs; funding for sexual assault nurse examiners training; support for our fire departments; and millions of dollars to support minority businesses.

I left the State Senate in December of 2022 after losing my primary election in May of 2022 to a candidate recruited and funded by the sitting governor and his political machine  as well as outside funding from a “dark money” group.

After leaving the State Senate, I continued my service and fight to support veterans, active duty military and their families as an appointed commissioner on the North Carolina Military Affairs Commission.  Additionally, I am part of a statewide leadership team fighting for clean water and to hold polluters accountable.  

In every elected office, I have fought hard for the best interest of the citizens of Cumberland County and our state while putting principles over politics.  I have established myself as someone who is respected on both sides of the aisle, a reasonable voice, and one that upholds our democratic values.