Democratic Party, Orange County official charged with DWI for 2nd time in 2 years

A Hillsborough town official and member of the Democratic National Committee was charged Tuesday morning with driving while impaired in Chapel Hill after an officer saw his car weaving on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Hillsborough Town Board member Matt Hughes, 34, was charged Tuesday with misdemeanor driving while impaired and failure to maintain lane control, according to court documents.

It’s the second time that Hughes has been charged with driving while impaired in the last two years. He has been on the town board since 2019 and also is the former chair of the Orange County Democratic Party.

In 2022, he mounted an unsuccessful campaign for the N.C. House District 50 seat, and in September, he was one of 131 North Carolina delegates who voted at the Democratic National Convention to support Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

In December 2022, Hughes was charged with driving while impaired after a Chapel Hill police officer found him asleep in his car on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near Weaver Dairy Road.

Hughes pleaded guilty in that case and was ordered to serve probation, complete 24 hours of community service, and submit to substance and alcohol abuse assessments, court documents show.

On Tuesday, a police officer reported seeing Hughes drive his car off the street and onto the sidewalk around 3 a.m. near the Interstate 40 interchange in Chapel Hill. Hughes then crossed into oncoming traffic, the officer reported.

After stopping the car, the officer If she was noted that Hughes “had red glassy eyes, smelled of alcohol and appear very tired.”

Hughes refused to submit to a Breathalyzer test to detect his alcohol level, and his driver’s license was revoked for at least 30 days, court documents showed.

He was held at the Orange County Detention Center until sober and released on a written promise to appear in court.

Hughes told The News & Observer following his 2022 arrest that he was sorry for deciding to drive drunk and had turned to alcohol during the pandemic to cope with stress and and because a loved one had been hospitalized.

Hughes referred questions about his arrest to his attorney Sam Coleman in Hillsborough.