WILSON, N.C. (AP) - A retired educator and county Democratic Party chairwoman will serve out the term of former North Carolina state Rep. Jean Farmer-Butterfield and seek her own two-year term in the fall.
Democratic activists in Wilson County meeting on Saturday selected Linda Cooper-Suggs to fill the vacancy created when Farmer-Butterfield resigned from her 24th House District seat, The Wilson Times reported.
Farmer-Butterfield stepped down last week after the legislature confirmed her as Gov. Roy Cooper’s nominee to join the North Carolina Employment Security Board of Review. The governor is now obligated by law to formally appoint Cooper-Suggs.
Nine candidates were initially seeking the seat. Local party officials ultimately voted from a list of six hopefuls.
Cooper-Suggs, the Wilson Democratic Party leader since 2017, also was picked as the candidate to take on Republican Mick Rankin in November. Farmer-Butterfield, a House member since 2003, had already won the Democratic primary in March.
“I thank everyone for putting their trust in me and for their vote,” Cooper-Suggs said Saturday. “I thank everyone for their hard work. We are in this together.”
In light of social distancing due to COVID-19, Saturday’s meeting was a combination of video conferencing and motorists sitting in their cars in a church parking lot.
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