GET TO KNOW: REP.-ELECT KANIKA BROWN.

• Position: NC TREND: Public affairs

Kanika Brown, 46, surprised some political observers when she won a Forsyth County Democratic House primary over the husband of the longtime lawmaker who currently holds the seat, Rep. Evelyn Terry.

The new version of District 71 includes the southern half of Winston-Salem, and no Republican filed for the seat, so Brown was effectively elected when she won the primary.

What are the current and past jobs you've held outside politics?

I'm the president of Fuzzy Friends Pet Food Pantry, the president of the Morningside & Reynolds Park Road Neighborhood Association, a board member of Experiment in Self Reliance, and an assistant to a client with disabilities. In the past, I have also worked as a substitute teacher and teacher's assistant.

If you could enact a single piece of legislation into law today, what would it be?

I would raise the minimum wage in North Carolina to a livable one that properly honors the labor of our state's working families and provides the wages needed to make ends meet.

Where do you most enjoy taking an out-of-town visitor in your district?

Local restaurants and venues like a/perture cinema...