Cooper names former Wake commissioner Jessica Holmes to replace Beth Wood as NC auditor
Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday appointed former Wake County Commissioner Jessica Holmes to replace State Auditor Beth Wood and serve the remainder of her term, through the end of 2024.
Holmes will assume the job of being the state’s top government watchdog, taking over from Wood, who has served since 2009. Holmes currently serves as a deputy commissioner on the North Carolina Industrial Commission.
The former Wake board chair said she would also run for a full four-year term, adding that she planned to launch her campaign on Monday, when candidate filing for the 2024 election begins.
During a news conference at the Executive Mansion, Holmes thanked Wood for her service, and said she was prepared to begin the job next month when Wood steps down. As the state’s next auditor, Holmes said she would focus on “accountability, eliminating wasteful spending, and ensuring that all money allocated goes where it’s supposed to go.”
When she becomes auditor, Holmes will become the first Black woman to serve on the Council of State.
She was first elected to the Wake County Board of Commissioners in 2014, becoming the youngest person to serve on the body that governs the state’s most populous county. In 2016, she unexpectedly announced her resignation before rescinding that decision the next day. A year later, Holmes was unanimously elected to serve as chair of the board.
Cooper said he and his staff engaged in a thorough search for a new auditor after Wood announced she would resign last month, and said that Holmes fit the position’s requirements that call for a “smart, hard-working person who isn’t afraid to get into the details, and who isn’t afraid to ask the hard questions.”
The auditor, one of 10 statewide elected officials who make up the Council of State, conducts oversight of state agencies and programs.
Wood, who was reelected to a fourth term as auditor in 2020, faced persistent scrutiny this year after news outlets reported in January that she had crashed her state-assigned vehicle into another car after leaving a holiday party last December.
The long-serving auditor pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor hit and run charge, yet initially insisted she would not resign, and would run for reelection. But after a Wake County grand jury indicted her last month for misusing her state-owned vehicle for personal use, Wood announced that she would step down on Dec. 15.
During Thursday’s news conference, Holmes said she won’t accept or receive a state-owned vehicle.
Who is running for auditor?
Several candidates have announced campaigns for auditor, including Democrat Luis Toledo and six Republicans: Jack Clark, a certified public accountant; David Boliek, a member and former chair of the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees; Charles Dingee, former chair of the Wake County Young Republicans; A.J. Daoud, former NCGOP district chairman; Jim Kee, former Greensboro City Council member; and Jeff Tarte, a former state senator and mayor of Cornelius.
Holmes’ appointment means that she will run with a year’s experience as an incumbent, which will likely yield her an advantage compared to if the race remained open.
Holmes said she was chosen to succeed Wood because she has the experience to do so, but said she was aware of the importance of representation in the highest levels of state government.
“I’m here today, not because I’m Black, and not because I’m a woman, but because I’m the person to do the job, and my credentials back that up,” Holmes said. “That said, I learned this when I was a county commissioner, I have a quote, ‘It’s hard to be what you can’t see.’ And when I look at some political offices, it’s hard to imagine myself in those offices.”
State Treasurer Dale Folwell, a Republican, congratulated Holmes on her appointment in a statement and said he looked forward to working with her to “determine what’s right, get it right, and keep it right for our taxpayers, communities and future.”
