{"id":524688,"date":"2026-03-15T08:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T08:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/524688\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T08:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T08:36:13","slug":"breaking-sat-gop-taps-sam-powell-to-fill-commissioner-vacancy-run-for-abbreviated-term","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/524688\/","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING SAT.: GOP taps Sam Powell to fill commissioner vacancy, run for abbreviated term"},"content":{"rendered":"

The leaders of Alamance County\u2019s GOP have tapped Burlington businessman Sam Powell to serve as a temporary successor to the late county commissioner John Paisley, Jr., who passed away in February with nearly three years left in his term on the county\u2019s governing board.<\/p>\n

During a closed conclave on Saturday, the party\u2019s executive committee selected the 73-year-old Powell to fill Paisley\u2019s old seat until this fall\u2019s general election, when the county\u2019s voters will pick someone to complete the final two years of Paisley\u2019s four-year term.<\/p>\n

\"\"Dr. Sam Powell before the county commissioners in 2023.<\/p>\n

The executive committee has also named Powell as its standard-bearer for this special, two-year position, which will be contested by a nominee of the Democratic Party when it appears on the ballot this fall.<\/p>\n

[Story continues below photos of Sam Powell.]<\/p>\n

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\"\"Powell, who as a member of the Sons of the American Revolution often appears in colonial attire, here with then-Burlington mayor Jim Butler in 2022 at a Burlington city council meeting.
\n\"\"Powell, last December with the late county commissioner John Paisley, Jr., who was recruiting Powell to be a potential successor as he contemplated a possible resignation from office due to his declining health. Paisley died in February.
\n\"\"Earlier this year, Powell, who was co-chairman of the county\u2019s 1999 Sesquicentennial Committee, addressed Graham\u2019s city council about preserving the Sesquicentennial Park on the northwest corner of Court Square.<\/p>\n

Under state law, the political party of a commissioner who makes a mid-term departure has the right to propose a temporary successor until the next countywide vote. The remainder of the county\u2019s governing board is obligated to install the party\u2019s choice for this seat-warming role \u2013 which, in Powell\u2019s case, will presumably occur when the commissioners convene their next regularly-scheduled meeting on Monday.<\/p>\n

Prior to Paisley\u2019s death, the late county commissioner had approached Powell as a potential successor as he contemplated a possible resignation from office due to his declining health.<\/p>\n

A 12-year-veteran of Burlington\u2019s city council, Powell had previously served on the board of commissioners from 1998 until 2002. Since then, he has done turns as a trustee for Alamance Community College and as a member of the North Carolina state board of community colleges.<\/p>\n

In his professional life, Powell presently serves as the CEO of Burington-based Powell Enterprises, and he had once been CEO of MEDTOX Diagnostics, which was bought out by another company in 1986. A graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, the Burlington native went on to obtain a master\u2019s degree from Old Dominion before he received a PhD in biochemistry from Loyola University in 1982.<\/p>\n

In addition to his professional interests, Powell is an active member of the Sons of the American Revolution and makes frequent appearances in a period uniform to promote local history.<\/p>\n

Democrats will presumably select their own candidate to be on the November ballot for the abbreviated, two-year term.<\/p>\n

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