NC State Auditor Jessica Holmes

In her new position, Holmes became the first woman of color to ever serve on the Council of State, the ten-member board of elected officials who oversee and implement NC’s laws and regulations.

At a recent appearance in Asheville, Holmes discussed her childhood in Pender County, a rural area of eastern NC just north of Wilmington. She attended local schools throughout her primary, elementary, and high school years. Her grandmother, who had not had the opportunity to finish high school, constantly fed her things to read and study, especially when, as a child, Jessica said she didn’t have any homework to do. That early emphasis on reading and learning established a solid basis for her future.

Teachers Helped Shape Her Future

Another memory Jessica shared of her high school years was of her drama teacher—whose hair was dyed pink on one side and left natural on the other—lifting Jessica’s chin up high and urging her to speak with self-confidence and strength. That experience helped shape her into the self-assured and accomplished woman she was to become.

After graduation, she earned her Bachelor of Arts at UNC Chapel Hill and her law degree (Juris Doctor) from the UNC Chapel Hill School of Law, where, respectively, she has been named a Distinguished Young Alumni and Outstanding Recent Graduate. Following law school, Ms. Holmes became an active member of the Young Democrats of North Carolina and served on the Board of Directors of the Wake County Young Democrats.

Legal and Nonprofit Service

As a practicing attorney, Holmes spent the majority of her legal career focusing on labor and employment law and workers’ rights, and she has served as an adjunct professor at the NC State University Department of Social Work in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Among other positions Jessica Holmes has held, she has served on the Boards of Directors of the NC Foundation for Public School Children, Wake County SmartStart, Helping Hand, Inc., and the NC Association of County Commissioners. She has earned numerous distinctions, including being among the Triangle Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” and an Outstanding Leadership Award from the Raleigh-Apex Branch of the NAACP.

First Elected Office

In November 2014, Jessica Holmes became the youngest person ever elected to Wake County’s Board of Commissioners, where she helped oversee an annual budget of $1.1 billion. Subsequently, she was twice chosen unanimously by her Raleigh-based colleagues to serve as Chair of the Commission—the youngest person ever to lead the Commission.

In August 2021, in light of her legal experience and public service, Gov. Roy Cooper appointed Holmes as a Deputy Commissioner on the NC Industrial Commission, where she fairly administered the Workers’ Compensation Act and Tort Claims Act for the state. Then, in December 2023, after state auditor Beth Woods resigned following an indictment for misusing her state-provided car, the governor asked Jessica Holmes to fill out Woods’s final year in office.

Holmes is now the 2024 Democratic nominee for the State Auditor position, hoping to be elected to a full four-year term this November.

For more details, visit www.jessicafornc.com.