Lorene Thomason Coates served as a Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 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 U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 state

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

's seventy-seventh House district, including constituents in Rowan

Rowan County, North Carolina

-Demographics and economics:As of the census of 2010, there were 138,428 people, 53,140 households, and 37,058 families residing in the county. The population density was 270.7 people per square mile . There were 60,211 housing units at an average density of 117.7 per square mile...

 county from 2001-2011.

A retiree from Salisbury, North Carolina

Salisbury, North Carolina

Salisbury is a city in Rowan County in North Carolina, a state of the United States of America. The population was 33,663 in the 2010 Census . It is the county seat of Rowan County...

, she worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She has hosted a weekly radio show and for twenty years wrote a newspaper column in the Salisbury Post

Salisbury Post

The Salisbury Post is a daily newspaper, founded in 1905, in Salisbury, North Carolina that serves the city and other municipalities in Rowan County, as well as the county itself. The Post was founded in 1905. The publisher of the Post is Greg Anderson and its editor is Elizabeth G...

.

On March 30, 2006, she gained distinction by being the first Democratic member of the House to publicly call for House Speaker

Speaker (politics)

The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...

, and fellow Democrat, Jim Black

James B. Black

Dr. James "Jim" Boyce Black is a member of the North Carolina Democratic Party, and a former Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly who represented the state's 100th House district, including constituents in Mecklenburg County...

 to step down from his post as Speaker following investigations of his misconduct. Black later resigned from the House and pleaded guilty to a felony

Felony

A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...

 charge of public corruption.

In 2007 she announced her support for John Edwards

John Edwards

Johnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...

 for President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

.

Electoral History

Most recent election shown below. For a complete list see: Electoral history of Lorene T. Coates

Electoral history of Lorene T. Coates

Electoral History of Lorene T. Coates, former North Carolina State House Representative for parts of Rowan County, North Carolina. First elected to the 35th North Carolina House District, upon the redistricting done in 2002, the district was renamed to the 77th North Carolina House District.*After...

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