(The Center Square) – Growing up on a small rural farm, Elaine Marshall didn’t expect to play such a role in North Carolina history.
After 28 years as secretary of state, she’s running this year to serve her eighth term. A win would put her in service with a sixth different governor.
“It’s historic, and it’s also astonishing to me because I didn’t grow up dreaming that I would be even a lawyer, let alone running a major office in government,” Marshall told The Center Square in an exclusive interview this week. “I didn’t dream big enough for myself.”
Marshall was the first woman in the state elected to statewide executive office when she won in 1996. Since then, she has prioritized economic and technological development while tackling lobbying and revamping her office to make it more accessible for North Carolinians.
“North Carolina is just a tremendous, attractive, growing place, so the volume of work keeps going up and up, but the resources from the General Assembly are stagnant,” Marshall said. “By embracing technology and training the people to use it, we innovated our way out of a problem.”
Before entering politics, Marshall was very involved in 4-H throughout her youth.
She explained that “4-H was one of the things that changed my mindset about nobody in my family ever going to college. Teachers encouraged my parents to enroll me in college and help me get through that. As I found success in the things that I did, I did allow myself to dream a little bit bigger as I went on.”
Her success in college allowed her to dream bigger about what she wanted her future to look like. After spending a few years teaching and running a small business, Marshall decided to return to school to study law.
Graduating from law school in 1981, she spent the next few years working in a law practice. While there, she focused on issues related to women and children, even helping to start a domestic violence shelter.
With her years of community service, Marshall became well-known enough to be elected a state senator in 1992.
Marshall said that her experiences as a senator, during a time of Democrats’ majority in the chamber, and the advice she received during that time would prepare her for her later role as secretary of state.
“When I served in the state Senate, I was the floor leader on the marital rights bill,” she said. “I really had a passion in my heart for women who just didn’t see any future for themselves other than an abusive situation.”
She added that leading the charge to pass that bill brought her into the public eye of the state.
“That catapulted me into some notoriety,” she said.
And it was there she received the best advice.
“When I went into the General Assembly, there was a female lawyer I admired named Sharon Thompson that represented Durham County,” Marshall said. “She said, ‘Elaine, if you want to benefit from being here at the Legislature, sign up for committees you don’t know anything about. Don’t gravitate to those that are going to be easy for you. Do something where your time is really well invested, and you’ve expanded your knowledge.’”
Marshall did.
“I knew if I didn’t need to be on the committee on women and children, I knew that was going to find me no matter where in the world and building, I could hide,” she said. “I chose to be on the local government committee.”
Although the local government committee was unpopular, it proved to be the perfect committee to prepare her for her duties as secretary of state.
“Local government is the government closest to the people. It provides the most service, and local government is now in my office, the secretary of state’s office,” Marshall said.
Marshall won in 1996 by beating one of the state sports world’s most famous – seven-time NASCAR champion, and 200 wins auto racer Richard Petty. And she lapped him 53.5%-45.1%.
Marshall said everything she learned prepared her to turn the office in a positive direction. Rufus Edminstein, elected in 1989, had resigned and Gov. Jim Hunt appointed Janice Faulkner to finish what remained of the final year of his second term.
“I inherited an office that was really, really in bad shape,” she said. “People who say you can’t turn the ship of state around are wrong. The ship of state here is under 200 people, so we’re not talking about a super large organization. We are all pretty closely associated.”
Building morale was a crucial part of revamping the office, Marshall said.
“And the real key was convincing the people, educating the people in the office, why they did what they did, and who they did it for, and why they did it for the people of North Carolina that were starting new businesses,” Marshall said. “Now, they understand what role they play in getting small businesses off the ground, and they are really quite excited about it.”
Marshall said the secretary of state’s office in North Carolina plays a unique role.
“What most people typically know about the secretary of state is elections, but we don’t deal with elections,” Marshall said.
In contrast, her office deals with everything from regulating different industries to registering trademarks and even fighting counterfeit items like drugs.
“I’m the strongest secretary of state’s office in the country,” Marshall said. “I say that because I have law enforcement authority and administrative authority, and I have my own investigators and prosecutors on my staff, I have an array of remedies for wrongdoings for the subject area laws that we administer.”
This election, the 78-year-old – she turns 79 on Nov. 18 – is running on her record and policies focused on economic development.
“I’m always talking about technology because we have got to try to stay ahead of it,” Marshall said. “The plight of entrepreneurs is something that I take very, very seriously. Economic development is a part of our mandate here, so I’m working very hard to help rural entrepreneurs particularly.”
Marshall’s office began a Rural RISE program two years ago, helping small businesses throughout North Carolina.
“I think it’s astonishing to know the rate of new business filings in North Carolina,” Marshall said. “Since basically 2020, every day that we are open, we are forming between 650 and 700 new businesses a day. That’s whiplash speed.”
She’s only the third elected secretary of state since 1936. She’s been alongside Democratic governors Jim Hunt, Michael Easley, Bev Perdue and Roy Cooper, and Republican Pat McCrory.
“Fortunately, business development and economic development are favored by both parties,” she said.
Marshall said she wouldn’t be where she is today without the people who have been with her “through thick and thin.”
“I’ve had some great success in life and some real, real, real disappointments,” she said. “Friends and coworkers have sustained me through my tough times.”
Martha Sue Hall is one of those people. A personal friend and colleague, she is grateful for their decades of friendship.
“I first met her in 1983 when she was a brand new attorney practicing in eastern North Carolina,” Hall said. “She was strong. She was graceful. Her presence made folks just want to respect her.”
Over the years, their paths continued to cross, and Hall eventually campaigned for Marshall.
“During her election of 1996 I had a 9-year-old and a 6-year-old, and they did a lot of things with me on Elaine’s behalf. We quickly became more than just political allies,” Hall said. “We have a personal friendship. We have been through deaths, births, divorces, marriages, and graduations. Whatever family could go through, we have gone through together.”
Hall said Marshall stands up for all North Carolinians alike.
“She is the most ethical public servant that I have ever met,” Hall said. “It doesn’t make any difference if you’re a Democrat or Republican, independent, Black, white.”
Marshall has helped cultivate a strong relationship between North Carolina and the country of Moldova. Recently, she received the Moldovan Order of Honor, the highest distinction Moldova awards to a non-Moldovan citizen.
“She’s really become North Carolina’s consistent ambassador to Moldova,” said U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross, another close friend.
Ross said that, over the years, she has watched Marshall repeatedly be a trailblazer for women.
“We’ve been in the trenches together, fighting for everyday North Carolinians,” Ross said. “The thing that I admire the most about her is how much she cares about this state and the people of this state. She is not an ego-driven politician, which is rare. She is a service-driven politician.”
Marshall is also driven to get to know the people of North Carolina, Ross added.
“More people have that positive personal connection with her than probably anybody else in the state of North Carolina,” she said. “She’s kind of like the mom of the entire state of North Carolina … everything that she does, she does with all of her heart and with all of her energy.”
She even approaches her hobbies with that same passion.
“Gardening was always something that, once you were done, you felt good about it,” Marshall said. “It was never a burden. It was always a delight.”
Since her husband passed away, Marshall said she has had to downsize her garden, but she still enjoys what she has in plants.
When asked if she would run again in 2028, Marshall said she had no current plans to retire from public service. Chad Brown is her opponent this fall, he trying to become the first Republican to win the office since William Howerton’s 1873-77 tenure.
“I am not thinking any further than this coming November,” she said. “I’ll start a new administration and see how it goes. I’m having fun. I’m enjoying what I’m doing. I think I’m creating value for the people of North Carolina, so it’s all good going forward.”
