Veteran party leader announces final year chairing conventions; McLaughlin touts county record; district official warns of organizational challenges ahead

EDENTON — Joe Hollowell has been calling Republican conventions to order in Chowan County for nearly a decade. On Thursday evening, in the overflow chambers of Edenton Town Hall, he did it for the last time.

The Chowan County Republican Party held its 2026 combined precinct meeting and annual county convention before a gathering of registered Republicans and guests. 

Hollowell, who has served as convention chairman not only in Chowan but also in neighboring Lenoir and Pasquotank counties, used the occasion to formally announce what he had already told those other gatherings: he is stepping down from the role.

“I have been chairing meetings for several years,” Hollowell told those assembled. “It has been an honor and a privilege on my part to be able to do it. And I thank you for the opportunity. But this is my last year.”

The announcement drew quiet appreciation from the room. With the exception of one year, Hollowell said, he has chaired the Chowan County convention for roughly nine years — long enough to watch the local party transform from a curiosity into a force.

Hollowell was in a reflective mood throughout the evening, and the convention’s relatively informal atmosphere gave him room to range freely across decades of political memory. He recalled a time when Edenton’s Republicans were so scarce they were practically exotic.

“When I grew up, there wasn’t any such thing as a Republican,” Hollowell said. “They walked down the street and people were like, ‘Hey, that’s a Republican.’”

Hollowell traced the party’s rise in North Carolina to a handful of pivotal figures — Richard Nixon’s presidential campaign, Jesse Helms, political operative Tom Ellis, and Carter Wrenn — crediting them with cracking open a state that had been solidly Democratic for generations. If anyone wanted to seek a local office, Hollowell recalled, a Democratic registration was a prerequisite.

“If you want to run for local office, you had to be a Democrat,” he said. “Come a long way, huh?”

Then Hollowell did something he had been warned not to do — and said so with a grin.

Hollowell shared a story about former US Senator Jesse Helms (RIP) — the two became friends in college, when Hollowell was a member of Farmhouse Fraternity and Helms hosted a radio commentary program called Viewpoint on WRAL. When Helms prepared to make his first Senate run, he called Hollowell — then a registered Democrat — and made a request that brooked no argument.

“Jesse called me up and said, ‘Joe, I want you to be my kind of trailer,’” Hollowell recalled. “I said, ‘Jesse, I am a Democrat.’ He said, ‘I don’t give a damn what you are. I want you.’ That was him. That’s what he said.”

Hollowell said they captured 47 percent of the vote in that race — closer than any Republican had come at that point in North Carolina history. It didn’t win, but it signaled what was coming.

“Then when things started turning around and people started getting involved and they realized that we needed conservative leadership, the Republican Party grew from there,” he said.

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From Fifteen to One Hundred Sixty-Eight

That historical arc connected directly to Hollowell’s pride in what the Chowan County party has built. He recalled that the first convention he attended in the county drew just 15 people at the public service center.

“And to tell you all what happened — Bob (Kirby) and Larry (McLaughlin) ran for office and we all got involved,” he said. 

The growth that followed was steady and then dramatic. From 15, attendance climbed to the forties, then the sixties, then the eighties. In 2022, the convention drew 168 people.

“The only other county that had more attendees that year was Onslow, and they’ve got sixty thousand registered Republicans. We’ve got three thousand,” Hollowell said. “But anyway, we have come a long way under Bob’s leadership, under Jim Robison, Patty (Kersey), the whole crew. We’ve come a long ways and we don’t need to lose it.”

Hollowell was careful not to let nostalgia breed complacency.

“We can sit here and say all we want that we’ve got it made, things are going great, but they’re not,” he said. “If we don’t get our act together and get this apathetic feeling out of people’s minds, and they come out and vote, we’re going to get our clock cleaned come November. Just keep that in mind.”

McLaughlin Makes His Case

County Commissioner Larry McLaughlin, on the ballot this November in the Second District — the southern portion of Chowan County — used the candidate remarks portion of the agenda to lay out a record he said speaks for itself after nearly eight years on the board.

“I’ve been on the board of commissioners for seven years, going on eight, and that experience has been helpful,” McLaughlin said. “We’ve put together numerous budgets, and we’ve balanced budgets. We’ve kept the taxes low when we could.”

McLaughlin touched on several areas he described as priorities, leading with education. He said he and fellow commissioners have supported increases in teacher supplements and pushed to bring career and technical education into the new Chowan County high school.

“I advocated when I ran four years ago that we need trades in the high school,” he said. “Everybody shakes their heads yes. Well, we are moving in that direction. The new high school — the first floor is all CTE, Career and Technical Education. And it’s going to have an impact.”

He also cited support for Hope Academy, a program at the middle school serving students in need of alternative placement, and touted his role as chairman of the Capital Improvement Program committee, which he said has driven long-overdue repairs to county-owned facilities.

“Many people told me that the courthouse was run down, that the library was a mess, the upper meeting room and any number of buildings the county was responsible for were falling apart,” McLaughlin said. “Well, that was then.”

McLaughlin listed a series of completed projects: a new roof and bridge at the Agricultural building at Virginia Road and Granville Street, interior and exterior renovations at the courthouse, window and roof repairs at the library, a new HVAC system at the Department of Social Services building, and a new roof at the health department.

“This isn’t social justice stuff,” he said. “This is just nuts and bolts county government. And that’s one of the things I need to communicate to people — what we do. It’s not that exciting. But my experience has been very helpful when we’re dealing with these problems.”

McLaughlin also noted the county’s recent vote to join the Albemarle District Jail, describing it as a more cost-effective alternative to building a local facility, and announced an ongoing project to implement a reverse osmosis water system, he said, which could eventually allow the county to sell water to Perquimans County and the Town of Edenton.

He closed by emphasizing constituent responsiveness.

“One of the things I get pleasure out of is when somebody calls me up or sends me an email — I get back to them as soon as possible and hopefully resolve their problems,” McLaughlin said. “I’m here to serve and I’m here to guide the county so it can be prosperous and be able to serve the needs of the people.”

Commissioner Chairman Bob Kirby followed with a brief endorsement, noting that every year during McLaughlin’s tenure the board had passed a balanced budget on time — a standard he drew in sharp contrast to performance at higher levels of government.

“Here in Chowan County, we don’t fail,” Kirby said. “We get it done.”

Familiar Face Shares District Message

First Congressional District First Vice Chair John Spruill, who also serves as Washington County Board of Commissioners Chairman and Chief of the Roper Fire Department, provided an update on the state of the district party. 

“We do have a new chairman, Mary Helen (Pelt-Warren), and she has hit the ground running wide open,” Spruill said. “I think we’ve had conference calls every night since she’s been elected to try to get the district back on the right track. It was focused inward and not outward. And the purpose of the district is to get Republicans elected, and that’s what we need to do.”

Spruill pledged that new district leadership would operate with full financial transparency — a commitment he framed as a party value.

“We are the party of transparency, and we’re going to be showing that moving forward,” he said.

Spruill also promoted the upcoming Salute to Service event in Washington County on May 30, which will feature Eric Geressy, a senior advisor to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as the keynote speaker, along with ongressional candidate Lori Buckhout. Tickets are $35, with sponsorship opportunities available.

Spruill closed with personal remarks about his own recent state house primary campaign, in which he said he fell short by 485 votes.

“It was humbling — the number of people that voted for us and that were pushing for us to win,” he said. “We didn’t win. We fell short by 485 votes, but it was very close. And I appreciate everyone’s support, and we’re going to keep working. Now I’m the first vice chair, so we want to keep working for Eastern North Carolina however I can, and I want to keep doing that as long as y’all want me to do it.”

Looking Ahead

Chair Jennifer Rice closed the convention by echoing Hollowell’s caution about complacency while pointing to the work ahead, including a planned fall event before early voting begins to energize Republican turnout. She also announced she would not seek a second term as chair, encouraging the party to begin identifying new leadership.

Staunch Republican Michael Dean gave his two cents on matters of politics and upcoming elections.

“The matter of business is the upcoming election for us to maintain Republican control of all these offices that are up for grabs. I am doing my best to be a cheerleader. We’ve got so much conflict within the Republican Party. There’s what I have seen on social media with Mr. (Don) Brown versus Michael Watley. It’s been terrible. It’s been a catfight. Stay off social media. Works wonders, OK? Well, that being said, what we all need to remember,” Dean continued, taking aim at Democratic US Senate candidate, “Roy Cooper has more dirt on his back than he’s got enough dirt on his back to grow a corn crop. And that’s one thing we need to make sure everybody’s aware of. And if we don’t get out and support Michael Watley, we’re going to have a corn crop sitting up there in that seat in Washington, D.C. And so, I mean, there are lots of group social services out there. Tar Heel conservatives, North Carolina conservatives, United American Conservatives. And I’m on all these. Some of them, I’m actually an All-Star contributor to some of them, OK? But you know, we need to make sure and get everybody together. Stop the family infighting and come together to elect Republicans to these offices…. Because we can’t have a corn crop sitting up there in Washington. I mean, that could turn, that could flip the Senate the other way. And we sure as hell don’t want (Democratic minority leader) Chuck Schumer running the Senate again. Okay, so I just had to say that.”

Last note — Hollowell thanked Rice and former county GOP chair, Bob Kirby, before offering his farewell to a role he has held through nine conventions, three counties, and several chapters of North Carolina Republican history.

“Jennifer, you have jumped in there full speed ahead,” he said. “You’ve done a super job. Bob, you did a fantastic job in keeping the party moving and going in the right direction and getting people involved.”

He paused before adding the charge he wanted to leave behind.

“We don’t need to lose it,” Hollowell said. “New faces, new energy — that’s what we need. We just need to keep working hard.”