George Holding | |
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNorth Carolina | |
| In office January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Brad Miller |
| Succeeded by | Deborah Ross |
| Constituency | 13th district (2013–2017) 2nd district (2017–2021) |
| United States Attorney for theEastern District of North Carolina | |
| In office September 13, 2006 – June 2011 | |
| President | George W. Bush Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Frank Whitney |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Walker |
| Personal details | |
| Born | George Edward Bell Holding (1968-04-17)April 17, 1968 (age 57) Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | Wake Forest University (BA,JD) |
George Edward Bell Holding (born April 17, 1968) is an American politician, lawyer, and former federal prosecutor who is a formerUnited States Representative forNorth Carolina's 2nd congressional district from 2017 to 2021. He previously representedthe 13th District from 2013 to 2017. Holding is a member of theRepublican Party. The district Holding represented stretched from just southwest ofRaleigh to just east ofRocky Mount. He served as theUnited States Attorney for North Carolina'sEastern District from 2006 to 2011.
Holding announced in December 2019 that he would not run for re-election in2020, after court-mandated redistricting made the district significantly more Democratic.[1]
The youngest of five children, Holding grew up inRaleigh. He is a member of the Holding family which founded theFirst Citizens Bank inSmithfield.[2] He attended theGroton School in Massachusetts.[3][4] He attendedWake Forest University, studying Classics. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree, he studied law atWake Forest University School of Law. During law school, he met his future wife, Lucy Herriott. They married after graduating and returned to Raleigh where Holding practiced law withKilpatrick Stockton.[4]
In 1998, Holding left the practice of law to serve as legislative counsel to U.S. SenatorJesse Helms in Washington. He was employed by Maupin Taylor, a Raleigh law firm, from 2001 to 2002. Holding joined the U.S. Attorney's office for the Eastern District of North Carolina in 2002, working underFrank DeArmon Whitney. Under Whitney, the U.S. Attorney's office prosecuted a number of high-profilepublic corruption cases, including formerstate Agriculture CommissionerMeg Scott Phipps, formerstate House SpeakerJim Black and former U.S. RepresentativeFrank Ballance. Whitney left his position as U.S. Attorney when he became a judge for theUnited States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
On September 9, 2006, Holding was nominated by PresidentGeorge W. Bush to succeed Frank Whitney as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina. On September 13, 2006, theU.S. Senate confirmed Holding's nomination byvoice vote.[5] Holding remained as U.S. Attorney for two and a half years into the Obama administration in order to complete a number of political corruption cases.[6]
During Holding's tenure as U.S. Attorney, formerNorth Carolina GovernorMike Easley pleaded guilty to a campaign finance felony that followed a lengthy federal investigation.[7] Holding oversaw the prosecution of former U.S. SenatorJohn Edwards on campaign-finance charges; in 2012, Edwards was acquitted on one count, and thejury deadlocked on five other counts. The Justice Department decided not to retry Edwards on the counts that the jury deadlocked on.[6]
During his tenure, Holding also oversaw the prosecution ofDaniel Patrick Boyd and theRaleigh jihad group on charges including conspiracy toprovide material support to terrorists.[8]
After his resignation as U.S. Attorney in 2011, Holding announced his candidacy for Congress inNorth Carolina's 13th congressional district.[9] The district had been significantly redrawn to be more compact and Republican than its predecessor. The old 13th ran along a portion of the Virginia border, but extended two tendrils intoGreensboro and Raleigh. The new 13th covered eastern Raleigh, as well as suburban and exurban areas to the east. Holding was endorsed by multiple conservative business and civic leaders, including N.C. Supreme Court Chief JusticeI. Beverly Lake and former U.S. SenatorLauch Faircloth.
Holding won the Republican primary in May. He defeated former Raleigh MayorPaul Coble. In the general election, he won the seat with 57% of the vote.[10]
Holding was unopposed in the Republican primary for re-election. He won the general election against his Democratic challenger, Brenda Cleary, a registered nurse and former executive director of the North Carolina Center for Nursing, 57%-43%.[11]
Following court-orderedredistricting in 2016, a large portion of the 13th was merged into the neighboring2nd district. Holding's home was located in the4th district under the new map, just outside the new 2nd's borders. However, congressional candidates are only required to live in the state they wish to represent. Holding decided to run in the 2nd district against the incumbent, fellow RepublicanRenee Ellmers, in theprimary.[12] The newly drawn district encompassed outer portions ofRaleigh, many of its northern and southern suburbs,[13] along with parts of ruralHarnett,Johnston,Wilson,Nash, andFranklin counties.[14]
During the primary campaign, Holding was endorsed by theAmerican Conservative Union and theanti-abortion N.C. Values Coalition, and theClub for Growth and theKoch brothers'Americans for Prosperity ran ads against Ellmers.[15] Ellmers made much of the fact that Holding lived outside the 2nd district (six miles from the district's border), although the new district was actually geographically and demographically more similar to Holding's old 13th district than to Ellmers' old 2nd district.[16] In the June 2016 primary, Holding defeated Ellmers, 53.4% to 23.6%, with a third candidate,Greg Brannon, receiving 23.0% of the vote.[17]
In the November 2016 general election, Holding defeated Democratic nominee John McNeil, receiving 56.7% to McNeil's 43.3%.[18]
In 2018, theCook Political Report rated the congressional race in the 2nd district as "lean Republican."[13] Holding won reelection with 51.3% of the vote, defeating Democratic nomineeLinda Coleman, a formerstate representative who received 45.8% of the vote.[13][19] Libertarian Party candidate Jeff Matemu received 2.9% of the vote.[19] Coleman received more votes than Holding in the Wake County portion of the district (the district's most populous) but Holding led in the other five counties in the district.[19]Outside groups spent at least $3.3 million on the competitive race.[20]
After a North Carolina state judge issued a preliminary injunction forbidding the use of the 2016 congressional map for the 2020 elections, the state legislature drew a new map. Holding's district was made significantly more Democratic than its predecessor.[1] The old 2nd had covered most of northern and southern Wake County, as well as exurban areas south and east of the capital. The new 2nd was a compact district in southern Wake County, including almost all of Raleigh. Had it existed in 2016,Hillary Clinton would have carried it with 60 percent of the vote;[21] by comparison,Donald Trump had carried the old 2nd with 53 percent of the vote.[22] On paper, the new map turned the 2nd from a Republican-leaning district into one of the most Democratic white-majority districts in the South.
Even before the new map was issued, state and national Democrats viewed the 2nd as a potential pickup opportunity for Democrats due to the close 2018 contest. Three Democrats sought the congressional nomination.[14] Soon after the new map was issued, former state representative and unsuccessful 2016 Senate candidateDeborah Ross entered the race for the redrawn 2nd. In December 2019, Holding announced he would retire at the end of his term, saying the new map was a factor in his decision.[1] However, according to J. Miles Coleman of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, Holding's fundraising had left much to be desired even before the new map was issued–a "tell-tale sign of retirement."[23]
DuringDonald Trump's presidency, Holding voted in line with the president's stated position 90.5% of the time.[24]
Holding opposes abortion, and during his 2016 Republican primary battle against RepresentativeRenee Ellmers, Holding received the support of two major anti-abortion groups, theSusan B. Anthony List[25] and theNational Right to Life Committee.[26] In 2017, Holding voted for legislation to ban abortion after the 20th week of pregnancy.[24]
Holding opposes theAffordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare) and supported the2017 House Republican bill to repeal and replace the ACA.[27][28] During his 2018 re-election campaign, Holding incorrectly claimed that "we’re all paying 100 percent more" onhealth insurance premiums due to the ACA; in fact, only 2 to 5 percent of Americans were affected by premium increases related to the ACA's individual market, which is the smallest health insurance market.[29]
On December 18, 2019, Holding voted againstboth articles of impeachment against Trump. Of the 195 Republicans who voted, all voted against both impeachment articles.[citation needed]
Holding's committee assignments were as follows:
Holding was a member of theRepublican Study Committee,[34]Congressional Western Caucus,[35]International Conservation Caucus,[36] andU.S.-Japan Caucus.[37] Holding was the House Republican chair of theBritish-American Parliamentary Group, which maintained ties between the U.S. Congress and theBritish Parliament, and was co-chair of the Congressional U.K. Caucus; in theses roles, Holding had ledcongressional delegations to Britain and commented onBrexit.[38][39]
George is married to Lucy Holding, who was born inEngland.[40] They have four children.[15] InJuly 2022, he was awarded asHonorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), for services to UK-US Relations.[41]
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by | United States Attorney for theEastern District of North Carolina 2006–2011 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNorth Carolina's 13th congressional district 2013–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNorth Carolina's 2nd congressional district 2017–2021 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
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