Linda Coleman, Lt. Governor Candidate, to Attend WNC Rallies in Marion and Sylva, NC
By Ben Utley
Franklin, NC – Linda Coleman, the Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor, will visit Western North Carolina Saturday, August 11, where she will be joined by the four women who sit on North Carolina’s Council of State.
The five women – Coleman; Elaine Marshall, Secretary of State; Beth Wood, State Auditor; Janet Cowell, State Treasurer; and June Atkinson, State Superintendent of Schools – plan to attend several rallies at which they will share their vision for North Carolina’s future.
The McDowell County Courthouse in Marion will be the first stop on the candidates’ swing through the mountains, beginning at 10:30 a.m. Then they will travel to Sylva, where rally activities start at 3:30 p.m. in the Community Room of the historic Jackson County Courthouse.
Coleman is a Greenville, North Carolina native. She earned her baccalaureate degree from N.C. A&T State University and later received a Master in Public Administration from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.
Her professional career began with many years as a public school teacher. She then became human resources director for NC’s departments of Agriculture and Administration, and later served as personnel director for the Department of Community Colleges.
Coleman was elected to the Wake County Board of Commissioners, where her fellow commissioners elected her chairman in 2002. In that role she led the board to support a $500 million school bond referendum, which the public passed overwhelmingly.
In 2004 Coleman was elected to the first of her three terms as a Democratic representative in the General Assembly, and was chosen by her peers as Chair of the Freshman Democratic Caucus. During her last term she chaired the House Committee on State Personnel; that work brought her to the attention of Governor Bev Perdue, who appointed her to the cabinet-level post of Director of the Office of State Personnel.
As a state-wide department leader Coleman oversaw 93,000 employees in state agencies, institutions, and universities and was charged with recruiting and retaining top talent.
Coleman is a deacon of her church and has served on the boards of the YMCA, Smart Start, and the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. She also serves as a member of the Wake Technical Community College’s Board of Trustees.
With what she calls an “unyielding commitment” to education, she is an advocate for equal rights for women and for equality and civil unions. According to her campaign spokesperson, Coleman “believes in research and innovation as a driver of economic growth; supports a simplified tax system; believes a strong healthcare system, particularly in more rural communities, is vital to our state’s future.” And she believes in a sound transportation policy that is tied to comprehensive energy reform.
The public is invited to meet Coleman and the other NC leaders during the August 11 rally at the historic Jackson County Courthouse in Sylva at 3:30 p.m. Parking will be available at the ball field parking lot just behind the Courthouse.
