(The Center Square) – John Lowery, the choice of Robeson County Republicans to replace his brother in the General Assembly, was sworn in Friday to the North Carolina House of Representatives.
He’ll fulfill the remainder of the District 47 term of former Rep. Jarrod Lowery, a choice as senior advisor to the assistant secretary for Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of Interior. Superior Court Judge Jessica Locklear administered the oath on the steps of Old Main on the campus UNC Pembroke.
Lowery’s career has included public school teaching in Robeson County; federal programs for Native American farmers and rural communities in the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and the state Department of Commerce. He’s been chairman of the tribe since 2022.
Jarrod Lowery, 37, won a second term in November.
Robeson County has surged in Republican support this year and dating back through the century. For example, on the county commission, Faline Locklear Dial, Lance Herndon and Judy Sampson changed party affiliation from Democrat to Republican this summer to give the Grand Old Party a 6-2 majority.
The county was won by Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, the latter a cycle in which the incumbent did not win the state. Second-term Republican President Donald Trump garnered 64% of the votes in November, his third straight win in the county.
State Sen. Danny Britt, in 2016, became the county’s first state senator from the GOP since the Civil War with a 55%-45% win over Jane Smith. In 2022, Jarrod Lowery defeated incumbent Democrat Charles Townsend 60-7%-39.3%.
