GET TO KNOW SEN. PAUL LOWE.

• Position: NC TREND: Public affairs

The Baptist preacher has represented Forsyth County in the North Carolina Senate since he was appointed to fill a vacancy in 2015. He chairs the Legislative Black Caucus and serves on committees ranging from redistricting to finance to health and human services spending.

Last year, he was one of four Senate Democrats who crossed party lines and voted for the original Senate version of the state budget bill. He also worked with Sen. Jim Perry, a Kinston Republican, to co-sponsor the sports betting bill that passed the Senate as well as the "Derby Act," which would pave the way for Kentucky Derby-style horse racing.

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

* Senior pastor at Shiloh Baptist Church in Winston-Salem since 1991

* Former adjunct professor at Shaw University Divinity School in Raleigh

* Ministry and missions in the Bahamas, Germany, Ghana, Korea, the United Kingdom and South Africa

> What lessons from those roles have you applied to your elected position?

I have learned that everything centers around relationships. You can always learn something from the people you work with. They can be wonderful resources.

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

I would enact automatic voter registration and free community college.

* Where do you most enjoy taking an out-of-town visitor in your...