The Speaker of the North Carolina

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...

 House of Representatives

North Carolina House of Representatives

The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the state senate....

 is the presiding officer of one of the houses 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...

. The Speaker is elected by the members of the house when they convene for their regular session in January of each odd-numbered year. Perhaps the most important duty of the Speaker is to appoint members and chairs of the various standing committees of the House.

The office evolved from the office of Speaker of the lower house of the legislature in the Province of Carolina

Province of Carolina

The Province of Carolina, originally chartered in 1629, was an English and later British colony of North America. Because the original Heath charter was unrealized and was ruled invalid, a new charter was issued to a group of eight English noblemen, the Lords Proprietors, in 1663...

, called the House of Burgesses. Since the House was the only elected body in the colony, the Speaker was often seen as the leading voice of the people. In 1776, North Carolina established its first constitution

North Carolina Constitution

The Constitution of the State of North Carolina governs the structure and function of the state government of North Carolina, United States; it is the highest legal document for the state and subjugates North Carolina law...

, which created a Senate and a House of Commons, both of which were elected. In 1868, the name of the house was changed to "House of Representatives."

For most of the twentieth century, the office's power was limited, because Speakers usually only served for a single legislative session. This changed with Speakers Carl J. Stewart, Jr.

Carl J. Stewart, Jr.

Carl J. Stewart, Jr. is a North Carolina politician who served as Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives for two terms between 1977 and 1980. He broke tradition by seeking a second term as Speaker, and since then, it has been customary for speakers to serve multiple terms.Stewart...

 (1977-1980), Liston B. Ramsey (1981-1988) and James B. 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...

 (1999-2006).

Democrats held the speaker's chair continuously from 1899 until 1994, when Republicans gained a majority and elected Harold J. Brubaker

Harold J. Brubaker

Harold J. Brubaker is a Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state's seventy-eighth House district, including constituents in Randolph County. He was born and grew up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania....

 in January 1995.

In the 2003-2004 session

North Carolina General Assembly of 2003-2004

Members of the North Carolina General Assembly, 2003–2004 session were elected in November 2002. The 2002 legislative elections were conducted under an interim redistricting map following the 2000 census; a more permanent redistricting map was passed in November 2003 for use through 2010.-State...

, a unique power-sharing arrangement was created by Democrats and a handful of Republicans. This resulted in the first election of two speakers simultaneously, 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...

 (Democrat) and Richard T. Morgan

Richard T. Morgan

Richard Timothy Morgan was a Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state's fifty-second House district, including constituents in Moore County, for eight terms. Morgan is an insurance broker and cattle farmer from Pinehurst, North Carolina.In 2003, the House...

 (Republican). The two held roughly equal power and took turns presiding over the House. After Democrats won a majority in the 2004 election, this arrangement was ended, but Morgan again supported Black and was named Speaker Pro Tempore

Pro tempore

Pro tempore , abbreviated pro tem or p.t., is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a locum tenens in the absence of a superior, such as the President pro tempore of the United States Senate.Legislative...

.

Speakers of the House of Burgesses

Note that some sources refer to the lower House as the House of Commons before the Revolution as well as afterward.

• George Catchmaid 1666
• Valentine Bird 1672-73
• Thomas Eastchurch 1675
• Thomas Cullen 1677
• George Durant
  George Durant
  George Durant was an attorney, Attorney General and Speaker of the House of Burgesses in the Province of Carolina. He is sometimes credited as being the "father of North Carolina"....
  
   1679
• John Nixon 1689
• John Porter 1697-98
• William Wilkison 1703
• Thomas Boyd 1707
• Edward Moseley
  Edward Moseley
  Edward Moseley , was the Surveyor General of North Carolina from about 1710 and the first colonial Treasurer of North Carolina starting in 1715. He was responsible for surveying the boundary between North Carolina and Virginia in 1728...
  
   1708
• Richard Sanderson 1709
• William Swann 1711
• Thomas Snoden 1711-12
• Edward Moseley
  Edward Moseley
  Edward Moseley , was the Surveyor General of North Carolina from about 1710 and the first colonial Treasurer of North Carolina starting in 1715. He was responsible for surveying the boundary between North Carolina and Virginia in 1728...
  
   1715-23
• Maurice Moore 1725
• John Baptista Ashe 1726
• Thomas Swann 1729
• Edward Moseley
  Edward Moseley
  Edward Moseley , was the Surveyor General of North Carolina from about 1710 and the first colonial Treasurer of North Carolina starting in 1715. He was responsible for surveying the boundary between North Carolina and Virginia in 1728...
  
   1731-34
• William Downing 1735-39
• John Hodgson 1739-41
• Samuel Swann 1742-54
• John Campbell 1754-c. 1760
• Samuel Swann c. 1760-62
• John Ashe
  John Ashe
  John Ashe may refer to:*John Ashe *John Ashe , American Revolutionary War figure*John Baptista Ashe , North Carolina delegate to the Continental Congress...
  
   1762-65
• John Harvey
  John Harvey (NC politician)
  John Harvey was a legislative leader in the colonial Province of North Carolina and subsequently a leader in the creation of the revolutionary movement in the province....
  
   1766-69
• Richard Caswell
  Richard Caswell
  Richard Caswell was the first and fifth governor of the U.S. State of North Carolina, serving from 1776 to 1780 and from 1784 to 1787....
  
   1770-71
• John Harvey
  John Harvey (NC politician)
  John Harvey was a legislative leader in the colonial Province of North Carolina and subsequently a leader in the creation of the revolutionary movement in the province....
  
   1773-75

Speakers of the House of Commons

• Abner Nash
  Abner Nash
  Abner Nash was the second Governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina between 1781 and 1782, and represented North Carolina in the Continental Congress from 1782 to 1786....
  
   1777
• John Williams
  John Williams (delegate)
  John Williams was a signer of the United States' Articles of Confederation. He was one of the founders of the University of North Carolina. During the American Revolutionary War, Williams was a colonel in the North Carolina militia. In 1777 and 1778, he was a member of the North Carolina House of...
  
   1778
• Thomas Benbury 1778-82
• Edward Starkey 1783
• Thomas Benbury 1784 (April)
• William Blount
  William Blount
  William Blount, was a United States statesman. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention for North Carolina, the first and only governor of the Southwest Territory, and Democratic-Republican Senator from Tennessee . He played a major role in establishing the state of Tennessee. He was the...
  
   1784 (October)
• Richard Dobbs Spaight
  Richard Dobbs Spaight
  Richard Dobbs Spaight was the eighth Governor of the American State of North Carolina from 1792 to 1795.-Early life:Spaight was born in New Bern, North Carolina, the son of the Secretary of the Crown in the colony...
  
   1785
• John Baptista Ashe
  John Baptista Ashe (delegate)
  John Baptista Ashe was an American planter, soldier, and statesman from North Carolina. He was born in Rocky Point township of Pender County, North Carolina in 1748, the son of Samuel Ashe. During the American Revolutionary War, he served in the North Carolina Line of the Continental Army, rising...
  
   1786-87
• John Sitgreaves
  John Sitgreaves
  John Sitgreaves was a British-born American lawyer and jurist from New Bern, North Carolina. He was a delegate for North Carolina to the Continental Congress in 1785...
  
   1787-88
• Stephen Cabarrus
  Stephen Cabarrus
  Stephen Cabarrus held the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in North Carolina from 1789 to 1793 and from 1800 to 1805....
  
   1789-93
• John Leigh 1793-94
• Timothy Bloodworth
  Timothy Bloodworth
  Timothy Bloodworth was an American teacher and statesman from North Carolina.He was born in North Carolina in 1736 and spent most of his life before the American Revolutionary War as a teacher. In 1776, he began making arms including muskets and bayonets for the Continental Army. In 1778 and...
  
   1794-95
• John Leigh 1795-96
• Musendine Matthews 1797-99
• Stephen Cabarrus 1800-05
• John Moore 1806
• Joshua Grainger Wright 1807-08
• William Gaston
  William Gaston
  William J. Gaston was a jurist and United States Representative from North Carolina. Gaston was born in New Bern, North Carolina, the son of Dr. Alexander Gaston and Margaret Gaston. He entered Georgetown College in Washington, D.C., at the age of thirteen, becoming its first student...
  
   1808
• Thomas Davis 1809
• William Hawkins 1810-11
• William Miller 1812-14
• John Craig 1815
• Thomas Ruffin
  Thomas Ruffin
  Thomas Ruffin was an American jurist and Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court from 1829 to 1852 and again from 1858 to 1859. He was Chief Justice of that Court from 1833 to 1852.-Biography:...
  
   1816
• James Iredell, Jr.
  James Iredell, Jr.
  James Iredell, Jr. was the 23rd Governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina between 1827 and 1828.-Early life:...
  
   1816-18
• Romulus M. Saunders 1819-20
• James Mebane 1821
• John D. Jones 1822
• Alfred Moore 1823-25
• John Stanly
  John Stanly
  John Stanly was a Federalist U.S. Congressman from North Carolina between 1801 and 1803 and again between 1809 and 1811. He was the father of Edward Stanly....
  
   1825-27
• James Iredell, Jr.
  James Iredell, Jr.
  James Iredell, Jr. was the 23rd Governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina between 1827 and 1828.-Early life:...
  
   1827-28
• Thomas Settle
  Thomas Settle (politician)
  Thomas Settle was a Congressional Representative from North Carolina from 1817 to 1821.Settle was born near Reidsville, North Carolina, March 9, 1789; educated by private tutors; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1812 and commenced practice in Wentworth, North Carolina...
  
   1828-29
• William J. Alexander 1829-30
• Charles Fisher 1830-32
• Louis D. Henry 1832-33
• William J. Alexander 1833-35
• William H. Haywood, Jr. 1835-37
• William A. Graham
  William A. Graham
  William A. Graham may refer to:*William Alexander Graham , American politician; Whig from North Carolina; U.S. Senator, Governor, Secretary of the Navy, Winfield Scott's running mate in 1852 presidential election*William A...
  
   1838-41
• Robert B. Gilliam
  Robert B. Gilliam
  Robert Ballard Gilliam was a North Carolina politician and judge. He was born, lived and died in Granville County. He was the son of Leslie Gilliam, the long-time sheriff of Granville....
  
   1840-41
• Clavin Graves 1842-43
• Edward Stanly
  Edward Stanly
  Edward W. Stanly was a North Carolina politician and orator who represented the southeastern portion of the State in the U.S. House for five terms. In 1857, Stanly ran for Governor of California but lost to John B. Weller. Politicians of the mid-nineteenth century remarked that Stanly bore a...
  
   1844-47
• Robert B. Gilliam
  Robert B. Gilliam
  Robert Ballard Gilliam was a North Carolina politician and judge. He was born, lived and died in Granville County. He was the son of Leslie Gilliam, the long-time sheriff of Granville....
  
   1846-49
• James C. Dobbin
  James C. Dobbin
  James Cochran Dobbin was a nineteenth century politician and lawyer who served as United States Secretary of the Navy from 1853 to 1857....
  
   1850-51
• John Baxter 1852
• Samuel P. Hill 1854-55
• Jesse G. Shepherd 1856-57
• Thomas Settle, Jr.
  Thomas Settle (judge)
  Thomas Settle was an American judge and politician in North Carolina.Born in Rockingham County, North Carolina, Settle received a A.B. from the University of North Carolina in 1850 and read law to enter the bar in 1854. He was a private secretary to North Carolina Governor David S...
  
   1858-59
• William T. Dortch
  William Theophilus Dortch
  William Theophilus Dortch was a prominent North Carolina and Confederate States of America politician and lawyer.Dortch was born near Rocky Mount, North Carolina...
  
   1860-61
• Nathan N. Fleming 1861
• Robert B. Gilliam
  Robert B. Gilliam
  Robert Ballard Gilliam was a North Carolina politician and judge. He was born, lived and died in Granville County. He was the son of Leslie Gilliam, the long-time sheriff of Granville....
  
   1862-63
• Richard Spaight Donnell
  Richard Spaight Donnell
  Richard Spaight Donnell was a Congressional Representative from North Carolina; born in New Bern, North Carolina; was the grandson of Richard Dobbs Spaight; attended New Bern Academy and Yale College; was graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1839; studied law; was...
  
   1863
• Marmaduke S. Robbins 1862-64 (?)
• Richard Spaight Donnell
  Richard Spaight Donnell
  Richard Spaight Donnell was a Congressional Representative from North Carolina; born in New Bern, North Carolina; was the grandson of Richard Dobbs Spaight; attended New Bern Academy and Yale College; was graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1839; studied law; was...
  
   1864-65
• Samuel F. Phillips
  Samuel F. Phillips
  Samuel Field Phillips was a civil rights pioneer, lawyer, politician, and U.S. Solicitor General . He took part in the landmark civil rights case, Plessy v. Ferguson.- Early life :...
  
   1865-66
• Rufus Y. McAden 1866-67

Speakers of the House of Representatives

• Joseph W. Holden
  Joseph W. Holden
  Joseph W. Holden was a North Carolina politician in the nineteenth century. He was the son of William Woods Holden.During the American Civil War, Holden served in the Confederate States Army and was captured by Union forces at Roanoke Island...
  
   1868-70 ¹
• W. A. Moore 1870 ¹
• Thomas J. Jarvis 1870-72
• James L. Robinson
  James L. Robinson
  James Lowry Robinson was a Democratic politician from the U.S. state of North Carolina; he served as lieutenant governor of the state for four years and as acting Governor of North Carolina for one month in 1883....
  
   1872-75
• Charles Price 1876-77
• John M. Moring 1879
• Charles M. Cooke 1881
• George M. Rose 1883
• Thomas Michael Holt
  Thomas Michael Holt
  Col. Thomas Michael Holt was a prominent North Carolina industrialist who served as the 47th Governor of North Carolina from 1891 to 1893...
  
   1885
• John R. Webster 1887
• Augustus Leazar 1889
• Rufus A. Doughton
  Rufus A. Doughton
  Rufus A. Doughton was a member of the North Carolina General Assembly from Alleghany County, North Carolina and Speaker of the state House of Representatives for one term ....
  
   1891
• Lee S. Overman 1893
• 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....
  
   1895
• A.F. Hileman 1897
• Henry G. Connor
  Henry G. Connor
  Henry Groves Connor was a North Carolina politician and jurist, and a United States federal judge.Born in Wilmington, North Carolina, Connor read law to enter the bar in 1871. Connor was born in Wilmington, North Carolina. He read law . He was in private practice in Wilson, North Carolina from...
  
   1899-1900
• Walter E. Moore 1901
• S. M. Gattis 1903
• Owen H. Guion 1905
• E. J. Justice 1907
• A. W. Graham 1909
• W. C. Dowd 1911
• George Whitfield Connor 1913 ²
• Walter Murphy 1913
• Emmett R. Wooten 1915
• Walter Murphy 1917
• Dennis G. Brummitt l919
• Harry P. Grier 1921
• John G. Dawson 1923-24
• Edgar W. Pharr 1925
• Richard T. Fountain
  Richard T. Fountain
  Richard Tillman Fountain was a North Carolina politician who served as Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1927 and as Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina from 1929 to 1933....
  
   1927
• A. H. Graham 1929
• Willis Smith
  Willis Smith
  Willis Smith was a Democratic U.S. senator from the state of North Carolina between 1950 and 1953.-Early life and education:Born in Virginia, he moved to North Carolina before age 2...
  
   1931
• R. L. Harris 1933
• Robert Johnson 1935-36
• R. Gregg Cherry
  R. Gregg Cherry
  Robert Gregg Cherry was the 61st Governor of the state of North Carolina from 1945 to 1949.-Biography:Born in South Carolina, Cherry grew up in Gastonia, North Carolina with relatives after the death of his parents. He earned bachelor's and law degrees at Trinity College...
  
   1937
• D. L. Ward 1939
• O. M. Mull 1941
• John Kerr, Jr. 1943
• Oscar L. Richardson 1945
• Thomas J. Pearsall 1947
• Kerr Craig Ramsay 1949
• W. Frank Taylor 1951
• Eugene T. Bost, Jr. 1953
• Larry I. Moore, Jr. 1955-56
• James K. Doughton 1957
• Addison Hewlett
  Addison Hewlett
  George Addison Hewlett Jr. was a North Carolina politician and attorney.He was educated at Wake Forest College and graduated from Wake Forest's law school in 1934, the same year he was admitted to the bar and entered legal practice in Wilmington, North Carolina. Hewlett joined the U.S...
  
   1959
• Joseph M. Hunt, Jr. 1961
• H. Clifton Blue 1963
• Hoyt Patrick Taylor, Jr.
  Hoyt Patrick Taylor, Jr.
  Hoyt Patrick "Pat" Taylor, Jr. is a North Carolina politician and attorney who served as Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives and as Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina....
  
   1965-66
• David M. Britt
  David M. Britt
  David Maxwell Britt was a North Carolina politician and jurist who served as Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, as one of the original judges of the North Carolina Court of Appeals, and finally as a justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court...
  
   1967
• Earl W. Vaughn 1969
• Philip P. Godwin 1971
• James E. Ramsey 1973-74
• James C. Green
  James C. Green
  James Collins "Jimmy" Green was a North Carolina politician who served as Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives and as Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina .-Political career:...
  
   1975-76
• Carl J. Stewart, Jr.
  Carl J. Stewart, Jr.
  Carl J. Stewart, Jr. is a North Carolina politician who served as Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives for two terms between 1977 and 1980. He broke tradition by seeking a second term as Speaker, and since then, it has been customary for speakers to serve multiple terms.Stewart...
  
   1977-80
• Liston B. Ramsey 1981-88
• Josephus L. Mavretic
  Josephus L. Mavretic
  Josephus "Joe" Mavretic is a former Democratic public official and military veteran from North Carolina. Born in Currituck County, he made his career as a Marine, graduating from the Naval War College and becoming a Marine fighter pilot, retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.He retired from...
  
   1989-90
• Daniel T. Blue, Jr.
  Daniel T. Blue, Jr.
  Daniel Terry 'Dan' Blue, Jr. is a Democratic member of the North Carolina Senate, representing the state's 14th Senate district since his appointment in 2009. He previously served in the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1981 through 2002 and from 2006 through his 2009 Senate appointment...
  
   1991-94
• Harold J. Brubaker
  Harold J. Brubaker
  Harold J. Brubaker is a Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state's seventy-eighth House district, including constituents in Randolph County. He was born and grew up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania....
  
   1995-98
• James B. 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...
  
   1999-2002
• James B. 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...
  
   2003-2004 (Co-Speaker or "Democratic Speaker")
• Richard T. Morgan
  Richard T. Morgan
  Richard Timothy Morgan was a Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state's fifty-second House district, including constituents in Moore County, for eight terms. Morgan is an insurance broker and cattle farmer from Pinehurst, North Carolina.In 2003, the House...
  
   2003-2004 (Co-Speaker or "Republican Speaker")
• James B. 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...
  
   2005-2006
• Joe Hackney
  Joe Hackney
  Joe Hackney is a Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state's fifty-fourth House district, including constituents in Chatham, Orange, and Moore counties. A farmer and attorney from Chapel Hill, Hackney is currently serving in his sixteenth term in the state...
  
   2007-2010
• Thom Tillis
  Thom Tillis
  Thomas Roland "Thom" Tillis is a Republican member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from Mecklenburg County and Speaker of the House....
  
  2011-present