RALEIGH — North Carolina State Board of Elections Executive Director Sam Hayes announced three new appointments for the board’s staff leadership positions, including replacing the board’s General Counsel Paul Cox with Tim Hoegemeyer.
“Each of these new appointments have demonstrated a strong record of devoted service to the state and will bring a high level of knowledge in their respective areas,” Hayes said.
Since February 2021, Hoegemeyer served as deputy general counsel for both the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education. He was also a staff attorney for the State Treasurer’s office and spent 12 years as general counsel in the Office of the State Auditor. He was a candidate for state auditor in 2020.
Hoegemeyer is a former artillery officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. He holds a law degree from Campbell, a master’s in public administration from NC State and earned his undergraduate degree at Northwestern.
A North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) spokesperson confirmed that NCSBE General Counsel Paul Cox had been “on leave” for several weeks in advance of the announcement and that Cox resigned effective Oct. 31.
Cox had been with the NCSBE for a little over four years, with over three of those years spent as general counsel and a year as associate general counsel. Prior to that, he was a special deputy attorney general during Josh Stein’s tenure as attorney general.
A LinkedIn profile for Cox says he is now working for the Raleigh law firm Poynter Spruill.
Hayes named Jason Tyson as the director of external affairs, which oversees the NCSBE’s external, internal and intergovernmental communications.
He had previously served as director of communications in the North Carolina Department of Insurance and held communications roles in the UNC System office, the N.C. Department of Labor and in the Governor’s Office during the McCrory administration.
Tyson earned his undergraduate degree from UNC Wilmington and has a master’s degree from Wake Forest.
Hayes also named Leah Byers as the legislative liaison to the board. She previously worked for Sen. Ralph Hise (R-Mitchell) and also worked in public policy at the conservative John Locke Foundation.
Byers went to NC State University and holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Kentucky.
Along with the staff changes, Hayes announced two promotions.
NCSBE Deputy General Counsel Lindsey Wakely is now the director of campaign finance and the board’s campaign finance attorney.
Parker Holland will be the deputy director of election administration. He had been serving as the board’s elections administration manager. He moved to the NCSBE in 2014 after working in county elections administration.
According to the State Board of Elections press release, the appointments were all effective Nov. 1.
