A former director of the North Carolina Republican Party — who resigned amid election fraud and corruption scandals that targeted other Republicans and consumed the state party — is taking on a new role overseeing state and local election officials.
North Carolina state auditor Dave Boliek has appointed Dallas Woodhouse as an election liaison for the state, a newly created role that comes months after North Carolina’s GOP-dominated Legislature transferred authority of the state’s elections from the Democratic governor to the Republican auditor.
Boliek notified some elections officials in the state about the change, outlining Woodhouse’s role coordinating working with the state elections board and county elections boards, according to a copy of the letter obtained by POLITICO on Friday.
Woodhouse will “serve as my eye and ears on the ground,” Boliek said in his letter.
Randy Brechbiel, a spokesperson for Boliek, said Woodhouse’s responsibilities will include working with state and local election officials “to ensure election integrity while encouraging maximum participation in elections.” WRAL first reported Woodhouse’s role.
The hiring could potentially grow the state auditor’s office influence in the state elections. The state’s legislature shifted power to appoint State Board of Elections members from the governor to the state auditor shortly after last year’s election.
The move allowed Boliek, a Republican, to pick the state’s top election administrators instead of Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat. Local boards of election also switched to majority-Republican appointees with the change.
The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled in May that Boliek’s appointments to the State Board of Elections can continue to serve while a lawsuit filed by Stein and his predecessor, Democratic Senate candidate Roy Cooper, awaits appeal.
Woodhouse served as the executive director of the North Carolina Republican Party from 2015 to 2019. He resigned from his position shortly after former party chair Robin Hayes was indicted on federal corruption charges. Hayes subsequently pleaded guilty and was pardoned in 2021 by President Donald Trump. Woodhouse was not implicated in the investigation.
In 2018, Woodhouse served as the face of the state party’s defense of then-congressional candidate Mark Harris amid allegations of election fraud related to a contractor working for Harris filling out voters’ absentee ballots. The election’s results were not certified by the state board, and a new election was held in 2019. Harris won an open seat in 2024.
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