House unanimously names another lobbyist to UNC Board of Governors

Holley, a statehouse lobbyist and a former staffer for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, will be the sixth current or former lobbyist on the 24-member board, which sets policy for the 17-campus UNC system.

He was the only applicant to replace new Sen. Rob Bryan, R-Mecklenburg, on the board, House Republicans said. When House Minority Leader Darren Jackson asked Tuesday about the process House Republicans used to pick him, he was told that, while others showed interest, only Holley put in an application.

“Some people are aggressive in their desire to serve, and some aren’t," state Rep. Kelly Hastings, R-Gaston, who chairs the House Education/Universities committee, said at the time.

On the House floor Wednesday Jackson, D-Wake, called that "bupkis." He said Holley told him House Speaker Tim Moore asked him to serve on the board, and he noted persistent rumors that Moore is seeking the UNC president's job, an open position the Board of Governors will eventually decide.

"How does a lobbyist, someone who depends on leadership ... how do they say no when the speaker of the House calls them?" Jackson asked.

Moore, R-Cleveland, has repeatedly denied that he's seeking the system's top job, telling WRAL News in August that hadn't put in for it, isn't angling for it and hadn't asked decision makers for it. He has said several times he plans to run for re-election next year.

He told Jackson on the floor Wednesday that "the gentleman should probably avoid wild rumors and just talk about the bill."

State Rep. Mitch Setzer, R-Catawba, told the chamber House Republicans considered three candidates in caucus and that the speaker supported all three. He said the General Assembly is "worse than a high school for rumors or innuendo."

Jackson also noted that legislative Republicans hired Phil Strach and other attorneys at Ogletree Deakins to defend them in a series of voting lawsuits brought by left-leaning groups, generating millions in legal fees. Strach's wife, Kim Strach, the former director of the State Board of Elections is assisting a search committee to find a new university system president.

Jackson said he was complaining about process Wednesday, not Holley, who was repeatedly lauded from the House floor. The vote to put him on the board was 101-0.

Holley founded The Longmire Group, and he represents a range of interests at the General Assembly, including developers, a school choice group and the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.

The House and the Senate share Board of Governors' appointments, and this seat opened when Bryan was appointed to fill 9th District Congressman Dan Bishop seat in the state Senate. Bishop won a special congressional election last month.

Some question whether professional lobbyists on the board are overly beholden to legislative leadership, since they depend on those relationships at work.

"Of course, there's always been politics (with board appointments), but not like this," Jackson said Tuesday. "We're just putting more lobbyists on the board that rely on the Speaker's Office."

Other current or former lobbyists on the Board of Governors include: