(The Center Square) – Dan Bishop is coming home to North Carolina, tapped again for a key position by second-term Republican President Donald Trump.
The former member of the U.S. House of Representatives will as interim U.S. attorney in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, potentially working in courtrooms in Durham, Winston-Salem and Greensboro. Bishop, after defeat to Democrat Jeff Jackson in the state attorney general race last year, has been serving as the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.
The position he inherits was held by Sandra Hairston during the Biden administration, ending in January with her resignation. Clifton Barrett was in the role as an interim, unable to win confirmation from the Senate, and had to exit due to time limits on interim positions.
Bishop was confirmed to his deputy position 53-45 on March 26.
Bishop won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in a 2019 election do-over, was reelected in 2020 and 2022, and this past November lost to Jackson in the quest to be attorney general in North Carolina. The difference was just 159,549 votes of more than 5.5 million cast, with Bishop winning 76 of 100 counties and Jackson holding an upper hand in urban areas.
Bishop was in the state House of Representatives after winning in the 2014 midterms. In 2016, he won a seat in the state Senate and in 2018 was reelected.
When the 9th Congressional District ballot harvesting scandal caused a redo the following fall, Bishop opted to make a run for Congress.
