Republican NC elections board member resigns over prohibited campaign donations
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- Republican Bob Rucho resigned from the NC State Board of Elections days after the primary.
- State Auditor named Angela Hawkins to replace Rucho and an emergency swearing-in is set.
- Departure comes amid a close race that could determine Senate leader Phil Berger’s fate.
Bob Rucho, a Republican member of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, announced his resignation on Thursday, after making what appear to be prohibited campaign contributions to two political candidates running for election this year.
While serving as a member of the board, Rucho donated roughly $1,200 to the reelection campaigns of Catawba County Sheriff Don Brown and Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell.
State law prohibits election board members from donating to political candidates.
A spokesperson for State Auditor Dave Boliek, who on Thursday appointed Rucho’s replacement, confirmed to The News & Observer that the resignation was related to the contributions.
Rucho’s resignation also came just one day after a conservative activist called for his removal for past comments he made about Senate leader Phil Berger’s reelection campaign.
Berger, who faced a tough Republican primary election against Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, is currently fighting to keep his seat after election night results showed him just two votes behind his challenger.
Rucho is a former state senator who Berger appointed to lead influential Senate committees.
Boliek appointed Angela Hawkins, the Republican chair of the Wake County Board of Elections, to replace Rucho.
“I’m thankful for Bob Rucho’s service on the State Board of Elections,” Boliek, who appointed Rucho to the board in May, said in a statement. “He led on election integrity and helped make it easy to vote and hard to cheat in North Carolina’s elections. This office has high standards for its board members, and Angela Hawkins will continue the good work being done by the State Board. She brings valuable experience, having served as chair of the elections board of North Carolina’s largest county.”
The State Board of Elections held an emergency meeting Thursday afternoon to fill Hawkins’ position on the Wake County board.
Francis De Luca, chair of the board, was not present — nor was Rucho.
“I’ll just take a brief moment of privilege to thank Mr. Bob Rucho for his service on this board and also his service to the state,” Republican board member Stacy “Four” Eggers said. “I’ve enjoyed serving with him and wish him the very best in the future.”
Criticism over post about Senate race
Rucho’s resignation comes after Margo Ackiss, a conservative activist who supports Page, posted a screenshot of a post Rucho had made in support of Berger and said he “needs to resign or be removed.”
In the Dec. 30 post, Rucho said that Page’s platform “promotes more state government spending.”
“That is exactly what tax and spend democrats promise,” he continued.
Rucho was appointed to the board less than a year ago after Republican lawmakers stripped Democratic Gov. Josh Stein of his control over the board and transferred it to Boliek.
Berger, who has led the Senate since 2011, championed the controversial legislation, which flipped all of the state’s election boards to GOP control by giving Boliek, a Republican, the power to appoint a majority of his own party.
Boliek has also expressed his support for Berger in the primary, appearing alongside him during early voting in Rockingham County last month.
When pressed about publicly supporting a candidate while having a role in elections, Boliek told NC Newsline he’d done nothing wrong and noted that former Gov. Roy Cooper had campaigned for other candidates when he had appointment power over election boards.
Ballots being counted in Berger-Page race
County election officials are now working to count outstanding provisional and absentee ballots in Berger’s race by a Friday deadline.
The race could drag out far longer than that, though.
The losing candidate could request a recount in the race and both men could attempt to challenge ballots that they argue were cast by ineligible voters.
These processes are handled first at the county level, but are likely to come before the State Board of Elections at some point.
This story was originally published March 5, 2026 at 12:15 PM.
