Jerry Meek

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Jerry Meek is the current (2005-present) Chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party.

Jerry Meek, age 35, became involved in Democratic Party politics at age 13, as a volunteer for Democratic nominees in the 1984 election. As a teenager, he served as President of the State and National Teen Democrats. At age 17, he was elected as the youngest delegate ever elected to a Democratic National Convention.

After graduating from high school, he attended Duke University. Three and a half years later, he graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Duke, double majoring in Economics and Political Science. Jerry then won a fellowship to study at the University of Notre Dame, where he completed a Masters degree in Government. In the fall of 1995, Jerry returned to North Carolina to attend Duke Law School, completing his law degree in 1997.

While in college, Jerry served as a precinct Chair in the Cumberland County Democratic Party and as an officer in the 7th Congressional District Democratic Party. At age 25, Jerry was elected Chairman of the Cumberland County Democratic Party, an office he held while commuting from Fayetteville to Durham to attend Duke Law School. In 1998, Jerry was the Democratic nominee for the North Carolina House of Representatives from Cumberland County's 18th House District.

Between 1999 and 2002, Jerry was a partner with a Dallas, Texas based law firm, practicing in the area of mental health law. In 2002, Jerry returned to work for a Fayetteville firm, while running the Cumberland County Democratic Party's coordinated campaign for the fall of 2002 election. He is a medical malpractice attorney with the Law Offices of Wade Byrd in Fayetteville.

In February of 2003, Jerry was elected First Vice Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party. In February of 2005, he was elected Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party over Ed Turlington. He was unanimously re-elected to another 2-year term in January of 2007.[1]

With a keen interest in international affairs, he has lived in Central America and traveled to over forty countries around the world. He is a licensed pilot and airplane owner and the father of two puppies, Kennedy and Carter.

Meek is particularly well known for his advocacy of youth participation in politics, and has been known to bend over backwards in order to include younger people in important Democratic Party events.