RALEIGH — The N.C. Republican Party will be searching for a new executive director because its recently hired operational leader is taking a new job.
Jonathan Sink will begin work as county government attorney for Gaston County in mid-March, the state GOP said. Gaston County commissioners formally gave Sink the job at a meeting this week, according to a county news release.
In an interview with NSJ, Sink called the move to Gaston “the best move for our family” and that he planned to be a continued resource to the NC GOP leadership. “I cannot tell you how grateful I am to have had the honor of working as Executive Director for the North Carolina GOP,” said Sink. “Our move to Gaston is genuinely a move towards something as opposed to a move away from the Party.”
Sink said he and his wife, Leigha, are excited to settle down in Gaston County as their oldest child starts kindergarten next fall.
Sink began work as executive director last July, succeeding Dallas Woodhouse. Now the state Republican Party’s Central Committee must quickly choose a successor during an election year with statewide races for president, governor and U.S. Senate on the ballot.
Sink, who had been general counsel to a the Department of Public Instruction before becoming executive director, arrived as the state GOP was in turmoil.
Last March, then-Chairman Robin Hayes and three others were indicted in a corruption case. Hayes accepted a plea agreement in the fall. A new election also was run in 9th Congressional District following an absentee ballot probe focused on campaign workers backing the GOP candidate in the 2018 race.
Sink said his favorite aspect of the job at NC GOP was working with the party’s volunteers. “To meet people who share the same conservative and even eternal values has been such an honor, and I feel so thankful to share such a rich North Carolina heritage with them,” said Sink.
He also cited the retirement of a six-figure debt that his team inherited as a major accomplishment under his watch. “In seven months, we have raised $1.9 million and we are pleased but not stopping there,” he said.
Sink’s final day on Hillsborough Street will be March 13 and his first day in Gaston County will be March 16.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
