Former Wake elections chair is now general counsel to Department of Administration

Brian Ratledge had headed the three-member Wake County Board of Elections. He will now serve as the top lawyer for the Department of Administration.

Posted 1:40 a.m. Jul 21, 2016 — Updated 2:16 a.m. Jul 21, 2016

Mark Binker

RALEIGH, N.C. — The former chairman of the three-member Wake County Board of Elections is now general counsel for the state Department of Administration.

Brian Ratledge resigned from the volunteer panel on Sunday and began work as the top lawyer for the department on Monday. The department is a catch-all agency that oversees things such as purchasing, construction and disposing of surplus property.

Ratledge said in an email that it was "not feasible to tackle that role and also remain on the Wake County Board of Elections."

He leaves as the board is enmeshed in a court battle over how to handle elections for county commissioner and school board seats this year. Among Ratledge's last actions was to vote to ask the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to set aside the ruling of a three-judge panel and rehear the case "en banc," which would mean all 15 judges on the appeals court would have a say. The court has not yet ruled on that request.

His replacement on the county board will be named by the State Board of Elections, which will pick from candidates recommended by the state Republican Party. The state board was set to fill the vacancy earlier this week, but because most top GOP officials are in Cleveland for their party's national convention, they did not file any recommendations to the state board.

Ratledge replaces Bill Peaslee at the Department of Administration, who is now the chief deputy commissioner for the North Carolina Industrial Commission.

Suggest A Correction