Elections Board Chairman Stepping Down | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's note: The author of this post is Barry Smith, who is an associate editor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

Attorney Josh Howard cites time required for job, health as reasons for leaving early


 RALEIGH — Josh Howard, the chairman of the State Board of Elections, has announced that he will step down effective Jan. 1, 2016. He made the announcement Tuesday during a board meeting.

"We are bipartisan 99 percent of the time, and that sets a tone not just for our staff and the folks watching here in Raleigh, but across the state," Howard said in a statement released by the state board. "I regret that I need to step aside now, but I am thrilled and proud of what we have done here."

 Howard told Carolina Journal he was stepping down because the job was taking about 20 hours weekly, and he wanted to manage his health better, saying his cholesterol levels had been rising to uncomfortable levels.

 Gov. Pat McCrory appointed Howard to the board. Both are Republicans. State law directs McCrory to appoint Howard's replacement from a list of three people that will be submitted to the governor by state GOP Chairman Hasan Harnett.

 The successor will serve the remainder of Howard's term on the board, which expires in May 2016.

 Howard's service on the board drew praise from the board's top staff member, and from one of the Democratic members of the board, according to the board's news release.

"Howard's measured leadership has supported our agency during a critical time for elections in this state," said Kim Westbrook Strach, the board's executive director. "From investigations to wide-ranging reforms and litigation, Howard preserved the state board's independence and built bipartisan consensus."

"Throughout my service in the military and in state government over the past 12 years, I have worked with few individuals who have so thoughtfully served their constituents — in this case, the voters of North Carolina," said Joshua Malcom, a Democrat. "I have found Josh Howard is a man of deepest integrity. Though appointed through a partisan process, our board under Howard's leadership has carried out its responsibilities in a manner beyond reproach."

 Howard is a founding partner at the Raleigh law form of Gammon, Howard and Zeszotarski. Before that, he led the white collar crime section at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina. He also served in Washington, D.C., at the U.S. Office of the Independent Counsel and the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy.

 Howard is the second Republican member to leave the State Board of Elections to leave this year. Earlier, Paul Foley left the board after McCrory asked for Foley's resignation following reports that Foley had asked the board's staff about a campaign finance investigation involving a client of Foley's law firm.
Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




UNC Board Concedes Lacking Knowledge of Transparency Laws Carolina Journal, Editorials, Op-Ed & Politics In Troubled Times, Some Important Advances to Protect Student Rights


HbAD0

Latest Op-Ed & Politics

Be careful what you wish for, you may get it
America needs to wake up and get its priorities right
Former President Donald Trump suggested this week that if he becomes president again, he might allow Prince Harry to be deported.
It's a New Year, which means it's time to make resolutions — even for prominent evangelical leaders. The Babylon Bee asked the following well-known figures in the faith what they hope to accomplish in 2024:
Vice President Kamala Harris will visit a Minnesota Planned Parenthood clinic, reportedly the first time a president or vice president has visited an abortion facility.
An eight-mile stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville has been temporarily closed due to a string of “human and bear interactions,” the National Parks Service announced.
University of Wisconsin tried to punish conservatives for the fact that liberals regularly commit crimes to silence opposition
most voters think EU officials not doing a good job on illegal immigration
Come from behind by GOP candidate is a blueprint to 2024

HbAD1

Biden spending and energy policies to blame
Tuberculosis carried by illegal invaders has already infected Texas cattle
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said this week that the only campaign promise President Joe Biden has delivered on as president is the complete dismantling of the U.S. southern border.
Hamas is reeling after losing two of their most cherished leaders on the same day: military commander Saleh al-Arouri, and Harvard President Claudine Gay.
President Joe Biden’s brother told the Internal Revenue Service that Hunter Biden told him he was in business with a “protege of President Xi,” referring to the leader of China, according to notes by an IRS investigator that were divulged during a congressional interview of Jim Biden.
Gov. Roy Cooper seeks a temporary restraining order to block a law changing the composition of the State Board of Elections.
X owner Elon Musk mocked a news segment from ABC News this week that promoted President Joe Biden’s talking points about the Democrat-led Senate’s failed border bill, which critics and many experts have said would make the situation on the border worse.
That’s the question Marguerite Roza of Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab sought to answer in a recent webinar on the topic.

HbAD2

 
Back to Top