Former state Sen. Tom Apodaca might have filled a coming vacancy on the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, but he took himself out of the running, he said this week.
"I don't think lobbyists should be on the Board of Governors," he said.
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Apodaca, a Henderson Republican and a key part of Senate leadership before he left the chamber in 2016, started his own lobbying firm shortly after he left the General Assembly. He and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger spoke about the Board of Governors within the last few days.
Apodaca said Berger, R-Rockingham, didn't offer the seat, but "I didn't let him."
"We were talking about it in general, and I said, 'Boss, I am not interested,'" Apodaca said Wednesday.
The 24-member board already has four current lobbyists on it and two former ones. The slate also includes two former state senators, and all of these positions are appointed by the General Assembly.
A seat will come open when Harry Smith, a Senate appointee, leaves the board in February, as he said Monday he plans to. His unfilled term stretches into 2021.
Berger spokesman Pat Ryan confirmed that Apodaca and Berger discussed the vacancy.
"Senator Berger and former Senator Apodaca both agreed that a lobbyist should not be appointed to fill the existing vacancy, although Senator Berger said former Senator Apodaca would make an excellent member," Ryan said in an email.
Apodaca resigned from the Western Carolina University Board of Trustees last week after less than five months, but he said that timing was coincidental. He said he couldn't commit enough time to either board and noted that he recused himself on a Board of Trustees vote even during his short time on the board.
Apodaca represents beer and wine wholesalers, and he recused himself from a vote in July to offer beer and wine in a portion of the university's football stadium.