RALEIGH, N.C. — Josh Howard is stepping down as chairman of the State Board of Elections, effective January 1, 2016. Howard announced his plans during a meeting Tuesday morning.
“We were bipartisan 99% of the time, and that sets a tone not just for our staff and the folks watching here in Raleigh, but across the state,” said Howard. “I regret that I need to step aside now, but I am thrilled and proud of what we have done here.”
Gov. Pat McCrory appointed Howard, who is a Republican, to serve a four-year term on the bipartisan board, which oversees elections administration and enforces campaign finance law. Statute directs that Gov. McCrory may select a replacement board member from a list of three nominees submitted by N.C. Republican Party Chairman Hasan Harnett. The replacement will serve through the remaining term, which ends May 2017.
“Howard’s measured leadership has supported our agency during a critical time for elections in this state,” said Executive Director Kim Westbrook Strach. “From investigations to wide-ranging reforms and litigation, Howard preserved the State Board’s independence and built bipartisan consensus.”
Howard is a founding partner at the Raleigh law firm of Gammon, Howard and Zeszotarski. Prior to his work in the private sector, Howard lead the white collar crime section at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina and served in Washington, DC at the U.S. Office of the Independent Counsel and the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy.
“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 Board Member Joshua Malcolm, 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.”