A Note from the Board

The End of an Era

By Ed Wilson

As they laid the foundation of the N.C. Center for Voter Education in 2000, the Board of Directors knew that it would take an exceptional executive director to lead this fledgling organization charged with improving elections in North Carolina.

The executive director would need to be intimately familiar with North Carolina politics, exhibit a tireless work ethic and have a passion for making North Carolina’s democratic process more responsive to the people of our state.

Our board found such a prospect in Chris Heagarty. In his time at the helm of this organization, Chris has built the Center into a state leader in working to reduce the influence of special-interest money in North Carolina’s elections while empowering voters with more facts on the candidates courting their vote.

Under Chris’ leadership, the Center played an integral part in the creation of the state’s innovative system of public financing for its Supreme Court and Court of Appeals races. And again this year, Chris guided the Center as it successfully advocated for the Voter-Owned Elections pilot project, offering public financing for three Council of State races.

These are two lasting and monumental accomplishments among a long list of successes enjoyed by the Center during Chris’ tenure, which includes giving far more attention to the often-overlooked state judicial elections than any other source.

For more than seven years, Chris has been the heart and soul of the N.C. Center for Voter Education.

And so it is with profound gratitude that we bid Chris all the best as he concludes his remarkable tenure as the Center’s executive director in order to pursue a law degree. Chris will remain with us in a part-time capacity as a Robert Morgan Research Fellow, a position fittingly named after former U.S. Sen. Robert Morgan, a founder of the Center and, like Chris, a champion of positive reform in our state.

One of the best decisions our board has made was one of the very first -- seeking out Chris to lead the Center. He will be hard to replace.