Harold J. Brubaker is a Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly

North Carolina General Assembly

The North Carolina General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The General Assembly drafts and legislates the state laws of North Carolina, also known as the General Statutes...

 representing the state's seventy-eighth House district, including constituents in Randolph

Randolph County, North Carolina

-Notable people:*Naomi Wise, murder victim*Richard Petty - Nascar driver.*Lee Petty - Nascar pioneer. Richard Petty's father.*Kyle Petty - Nascar driver. Son of Richard Petty*Adam Petty - Nascar driver. Kyle Petty's son...

 County. He was born and grew up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Lancaster County, known as the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county located in the southeastern part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of 2010 the population was 519,445. Lancaster County forms the Lancaster Metropolitan Statistical Area, the...

.

Brubaker was Speaker of the House

Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives

The Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives is the presiding officer of one of the houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The Speaker is elected by the members of the house when they convene for their regular session in January of each odd-numbered year...

 for two terms (1995–1998). He was the only Republican Speaker in North Carolina in the twentieth century, the first Republican Speaker since Zeb V. Walser

Zeb V. Walser

Zeb Vance Walser was an attorney and North Carolina politician. Named for Governor Zebulon B. Vance, Walser nevertheless became active in the Republican Party rather than Vance's Democrats....

 and the first non-Democrat to be Speaker since Populist

Populist Party (United States)

The People's Party, also known as the "Populists", was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1891. It was most important in 1892-96, then rapidly faded away...

 A.F. Hileman.

A real estate appraiser and cattle breeder from Asheboro, North Carolina

Asheboro, North Carolina

Asheboro is a city in Randolph County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 21,672 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Randolph County, and is the home of the state-owned North Carolina Zoo.-Geography:...

, Brubaker was first elected to the House in 1976 and in 2011 became chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and the longest-serving sitting member of either chamber of the legislature.

Controversies

In 1989, the New York Times reported that Mr. Brubaker was paid $10,000 to assist developers in Durham, North Carolina

Durham, North Carolina

Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...

, regarding a real estate

Real estate

In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...

project that drew scrutiny from authorities. The project involved converting a hosiery mill into homes for the elderly, and caused concern when subordinates had reportedly been against the project, but funds were appropriated nevertheless.