Beth Wood | |
---|---|
Auditor of North Carolina | |
Assumed office January 10, 2009 |
|
Governor |
Bev Perdue Pat McCrory Roy Cooper |
Preceded by | Les Merritt |
Personal details | |
Born | April 22, 1954 |
Political party | Democratic |
Education |
Wayne Community College East Carolina University (BA) |
Beth Wood (born April 22, 1954) has served as the North Carolina State Auditor since January 10, 2009. She defeated incumbent Republican State Auditor Les Merritt in the 2008 election. She is North Carolina's first female state auditor.
Wood is a certified public accountant and a former training officer at the Office of the State Auditor. Her 2008 run for State Auditor as a Democrat was her first attempt at any elective office. In her 2012 run for re-election, she was endorsed by the News and Observer, whose editors wrote that Wood "has won respect for her leadership of an office that has not shied from criticizing [state] agencies for instances of mismanagement." She was re-elected in November 2012 with more than 53 percent of the vote, over Republican Wake County Board of Education member Debra Goldman.
Wood is a graduate of Wayne Community College and East Carolina University.
She was named one of the "most powerful women in accounting" for 2013 by CPA Practice Advisor.