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For immediate release.
Aug. 14, 2007
Contact: Bryan Warner, N.C. Center for Voter Education, 919.839.1200

Heagarty to Conclude Tenure as Director of N.C. Center for Voter Education

RALEIGH - After more than seven years at the helm of the N.C. Center for Voter Education, Chris Heagarty will soon end his highly successful tenure as the organization’s first executive director.

Heagarty will remain with the Center in a part-time capacity as a Robert Morgan Research Fellow, and will assist the Center until a successor is chosen by its board of directors. Heagarty’s departure will enable him to pursue stronger academic and professional credentials through a law degree.

Under Heagarty’s leadership, the Center played an integral part in the creation of North Carolina’s innovative system of public financing for its Supreme Court and Court of Appeals elections. The Center was also a chief member of a coalition that successfully advocated for last month’s passage of a pilot program of public campaign financing for some 2008 Council of State races.

"Chris Heagarty has been the heart and soul of the North Carolina Center for Voter Education. His passion for better government, his understanding of the inner workings of the legislature and his work ethic have made him the perfect executive director,” said Ed Wilson, chairman of the board for the Center.  “The board sought out Chris to lead this organization at the beginning and he will be hard to replace."

During his time as executive director, Heagarty hosted the Center’s radio show and wrote the organization’s syndicated opinion column, which has been published in newspapers across the state. He has been a frequent source for journalists covering North Carolina politics and has appeared on numerous national panels on the subject of political reform and the judiciary.

Heagarty was specifically concerned with the lack of attention given to state judicial candidates and the Center provided more television and radio airtime to these candidates in 2006 than any other source in previous elections. Heagarty has published two professional journal articles on judicial reform and served as faculty for symposia and continuing legal education courses on that subject.

A seasoned lobbyist and political consultant, Heagarty joined the N.C. Center for Voter Education at its launch in 2000 shortly after being named one of the top 20 lobbyists in the state. He was also a fellow and long-time board member of the N.C. Institute of Political Leadership.

The N.C. Center for Voter Education is a Raleigh-based nonprofit and nonpartisan organization, dedicated to improving elections in North Carolina.  The Center was created through a special initiative of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.

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Click here to download a high-resolution photo of Chris Heagarty.