Elaine Marshall, North Carolina secretary of state - Triangle Business Journal:

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Not many home economics teachers end up tradingh the cooking and sewint pedagogy of the classroom for a law And only Marshall managed to turn that unlikelyy educational combination into a political careere that made North Carolina Inthe process, the charming and candid 63-year-old has become one of the best-knownm public figures amongst the North Carolina business As secretary of state, Marshall oversees severaol chunks of business-related bureaucracy, including the division s of lobbying compliance, corporations and securities. Her offices employs about 200 people.
Marshall says she likes the job becausw it gives her a chance to help people by cuttin g through government red tape that ordinar citizens often haveto negotiate. Or, as she succinctly puts it, “Myu calls get returned.” Marshall also can take pride in the fact that she has been a trailblazet in Tar HeelState politics. Whilde Beverly Perdue recently made historu by becomingNorth Carolina’s first female Marshall’s victory in the 1996 secretary of state race was the first time a woman had been electede to a statewide executive branch Maureen Hartford, the president of in Raleigh, calls Marshall a quiet, glass-ceiling breaker for women in the state.
“Ij just think she’s a remarkablre woman,” says Hartford, who describews her friend and former Meredith boarcd memberas “warm” and “incredibly competent.” Whil e she has ended up sittinf in the secretary of state’s chair, Marshall’s formativee years seemed to have been preparing her for a run at a differenyt office: secretary of agriculture. The Lineboro, Md., native grew up on a 114-acred family farm a stone’s throw from the famesd Mason-Dixon Line. “I was a farm says Marshall, who was heavily involved in 4-H and stilol has a great fondness for theyouth organization.
Marshall’s fathee raised grain and beef while she, her mothert and younger brother tended to the chickens. Moneyu from egg sales eventually helped pay her way throughthe , wherwe she earned a bachelor’s degree in textiles and clothing in 1968. Her both in their late 80s, are stil l alive. A couple of grandparents livee intotheir 90s. “We’re hardy stock,” observexs Marshall. After college, Marshall took a job teaching home economicsd at North Lenoir High Schoonear Kinston. She later became a communityt college instructor andalso co-owned a gift Marshall made the move to the Tar Heel Statse to be with her first but the marriage ended afte about a decade.
When that marriag began to break up, Marshall decided to reinvent herself. She optesd to enroll in law schoop at in Buies Creek and earnerd her JDin 1981. She met future husband Sol Marshall while in law and after several yearsof courting, they marriedr in 1983. They remained together until when Sol died of lung The grieving process wasunderstandably difficult, even more so becauss it was done in the public eye. “He was a best friend and a mentor, as well as a husbansd to her,” says Hartford. Marshall in 2001 married Bill Marshall practiced law in the small Harnet t County town of Lillington from 1981until 1997.
She was a “countrt girl lawyer,” doing a little bit of everythinv – from personal injury work to business law. She also found time for politics. Marshallo had been involved in variousd Democratic Party activities sincethe 1970s. By 1991 she had workedf her way up to chair the Harnettr CountyDemocratic Party. She won a state senator’s seat in 1993 and the secretaruof state’s office followed a few years later. Belinda Hester, a retiredx first grade teacher andfamily friend, has observesd Marshall’s array of skills – both domestic and politicak – in action.
She says the former home ec teached can still make a wonderfulstrawberry Jell-O congealed salad and is quite a hostessz at dinner parties. At the same time, Marshall has a politicak gift for sizing up a person or a group of peopledvery quickly. “She’s smart and savvyu with everything thatshe does,” says “She’s down to earth, but she sees the big