Cyril Jefferson, 34, has been mayor of High Point since 2023 after serving one term on the city council. He has a bachelor’s degree from N.C. A&T State University. He founded Change Often, a social innovation firm that was acquired by Stratagon, where he works as industry practice director. He lives in High Point with his wife and two sons.
Candidate Q&A
What do you see as the biggest financial and administrative challenge to implementing the work requirements for Medicaid that were included in the One Big Beautiful Bill?
Jefferson said his biggest concern is that Medicaid changes like work requirements “are creating just an expensive bureaucracy.” States have to modify their eligibility systems and train employees. “The danger in all that is that people who are actually eligible … they lose coverage because they miss paperwork or can’t navigate the system.”
“If Congress wants more people working, then let’s address the things that keep people from working,” such as child care and transportation, for example.
What would be your plan for ensuring the future security/strength of Social Security and Medicare?
“Social Security and Medicare, those are promises made to the American People that folks have paid into throughout their careers. I don’t support solving their financial challenges by breaking that promise. That said, we can’t pretend the math isn’t a real problem at this point.”
He said higher earners should be asked to contribute more to Social Security. Congress needs to “look seriously at raising that cap.” For Medicare, he said long-term solvency also means attacking underlying costs of health care such as prescription costs.
What would you support in Congress as a plan to help control health care/ pharmaceutical costs?
“Health care affordability isn’t one problem, it’s several things — premiums, deductibles, prescription drugs, whether providers are available and getting there (transportation).” Congress needs to protect and strengthen the Affordable Care Act, preserve Medicaid coverage, expand the federal government’s ability to negotiate prescription drug prices and crack down on anticompetitive practices.
“What we need more of is transparency. Patients should know what something costs, and policy makers ought to know where the money’s going.”
What steps would you take to improve access to health care in rural areas? How do we make the Rural Health Transformation Program successful in North Carolina?
Opportunities to invest in the entire health care ecosystem will help rural areas, he said. Investing in programs such as community health centers, mobile health units, telehealth and community paramedicine can help address the needs in rural areas, he said. Also, incentives to help recruit and train health professionals to those areas.
For the Rural Health Transformation Program, it will take more than the $213 million awarded to the state, he said. The key, he said, is “can we establish proof of concept, measure results, then scale solutions.”
The rollout of AI is moving fast, including in health care, and leaders in that space are calling for things to slow down. What federal moves should be taken to regulate it, if at all?
“I am of the firm belief that we don’t have to assume that there are these two opposing paths — stopping the innovation of AI altogether or let AI go without guardrails. Yes, embrace innovation, but also embrace good governance around that so this thing doesn’t get out of hand.”
AI could benefit health care by helping doctors identify disease earlier and by providing access to everyday people to expertise and research, he said. It could also help ease some of the burdens on health care staff. But the federal government should have a role in overseeing AI, he said.
“When you’re dealing with life and death, when you’re dealing with sensitive data, you have to have governance in place. AI that influences diagnosis and treatment still needs a human accountable for that at the end of the day.”
Where do you stand on federal vaccine policy? What should be done to prevent future disease outbreaks?
Above all, vaccine policy has to be grounded in credible evidence, he said.
“People should absolutely ask questions,” he said. “It’s important to test these things and make sure they’re good. But these answers should come from people who know the science.”
The U.S. needs to maintain disease tracking, fund public health, fund health research and make sure vaccines are accessible.
“Public health works best when people trust. And we’ve got to rebuild and maintain that trust.”
We’ve had some high-profile food contamination outbreaks, yet the federal government is pulling back on regulation of food, air and water. What level of federal regulation do you support and why?
“Part of government’s role is to fill gaps that everyday people can’t fill, that the private sector can’t and shouldn’t fill,” he said.
But regulation should not be pushed down to only the state level, he said. It should be a partnership.
“Standards are set at the state and federal level. Now is not the time to be rolling that back.”
But it is good to have conversations about regulations and to evaluate them, he said.
PFAS contamination is a nationwide issue; how do you address it while balancing public safety and business interests?
“This is a prime example of why the conversation shouldn’t be framed as public health versus business. Families need to have confidence that the water coming out of the faucet is safe. These chemicals persist in our environment, so we have to do prevention. I don’t think that’s negotiable at this point.”
Congress needs to support the science, continue to monitor, conduct research and hold parties responsible. Businesses need clear and predictable standards, and the federal government needs to ensure that local governments have the ability to comply and force unfunded mandates on them.
The building and placement of data centers have become a big issue, particularly in many rural communities. What should be the federal government’s role, if any, in how these are developed?
“I don’t think Washington should decide from some desk somewhere far away exactly where every data center in America gets built,” he said. That should be a local decision.
However, the federal government has a responsibility to regulate the effect data centers will have on the electric grid, water supply and national security.
“I’d like to see national standards around it, appropriate environmental reviews, and safeguards to protect ratepayers.”
Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know?
“I don’t see health care as just some abstract ideological topic for debate,” he said.
Health care is about everyday issues: finding the right doctor, being able to afford prescriptions, figuring out if you can afford to retire, getting care in a rural community.
“I don’t believe the way to make health care more affordable is to make it harder for people to get coverage,” he said.
As mayor, he said he has looked at what produces the most good for the most people and what gives taxpayers the greatest impact to cost.
“That’s the same approach that I’ll take to Washington.”
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