Senate names six to UNC system board

A former senator and a former Raleigh mayor were among six men the state Senate elected Wednesday to four-year terms on the University of North Carolina Board of Governors.

Posted 9:39 p.m. Mar 29, 2017 — Updated 9:39 p.m. Mar 29, 2017

Matthew Burns

RALEIGH, N.C. — A former senator and a former Raleigh mayor were among six men the state Senate elected Wednesday to four-year terms on the University of North Carolina Board of Governors.

Lawmakers last month voted to trim the size of the Board of Governors from 32 to 24 members, meaning the Senate and the House each have fewer slots to fill this year.

The following people were elected by the Senate:

Bob Rucho, a Matthews dentist who retired last year after 16 years in the Senate
Tom Fetzer, a lobbyist who was mayor of Raleigh from 1993 to 1999 and led the North Carolina Republican Party from 2009 to 2011
Marty Kotis, a Guilford County commercial real estate investor and restaurateur and incumbent board member
Steven Long, a tax attorney with Parker, Poe, Adams & Bernstein in Raleigh and incumbent board member
Randall Ramsey, founder of Jarrett Bay Boatworks in Beaufort
Harry Smith, a Greenville business executive and incumbent board member

Scott Lampe, a current board member, was among four nominees who didn't win enough support in the Senate. The others were Laura Staton, the only woman up for a vote, and the two Democratic nominees, Nigel Alston and Frankie Jones.

Earlier this month, the Senate elected school choice advocate Darrell Allison of Morrisville to fill a vacant seat on the Board of Governors with a term expiring in 2019.

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