The five new appointees to the NC State Board of Elections were sworn in to four-year terms Wednesday (today). The new board immediately elected Francis X. De Luca of Wilmington as chairman. Member Stacy “Four” Eggers IV was then elected as secretary.
“It’s a great honor to be selected as chair of the North Carolina State Board of Elections,” De Luca said. “I look forward to engaging with my colleagues as we take on the administration of State Board business and operations. My focus as chairman will be to build and maintain the public’s confidence in elections. We want to follow the law, and make it easy to vote and hard to cheat.”
The State Board then appointed Sam Hayes as the state agency’s executive director, beginning May 15. Currently, Hayes is the general counsel for N.C. House Speaker Destin Hall.
Hayes replaces Karen Brinson Bell, who was first appointed in 2019 and reappointed by the Board in 2021 and 2023. Hayes becomes the fifth State Board executive director in state history.
[Watch a recording of the State Board meeting.]
Recently, State Auditor Dave Boliek appointed the five Board members who were sworn in Wednesday.
The Republican members, nominated by the chair of the North Carolina Republican Party, are:
• De Luca of Wilmington, former president of the Civitas Institute. De Luca served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 30 years and retired with the rank of colonel. He is a former member of the State Ethics Commission.
• Robert Rucho of Catawba County, a retired dentist and former state senator of nearly 17 years.
• Stacy “Four” Eggers IV of Boone, managing partner of the Eggers Law Firm, who became a Board member in 2018 and was reappointed in October 2020 and May 2023. He formerly served on the Watauga County Board of Elections.
The Democratic members, nominated by the chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, are:
• Jeff Carmon of Snow Hill, a licensed attorney who has served on the State Board since 2019.
• Siobhan O’Duffy Millen of Raleigh, a retired lawyer who served as a chief judge in a Raleigh precinct for 13 years. She has served on the State Board since 2023.
