Rufus Leigh Edmisten (born July 12, 1941)[1] is a former North Carolina Secretary of State, Attorney General, and candidate for Governor in 1984. He is currently a lawyer in private practice.
Rufus Edmisten was born and raised in Boone, North Carolina. He earned an undergraduate degree in political science with honors at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a J.D. from the George Washington University Law Center in Washington, D.C. where he served on the Law Review. During law school, he joined the Capitol Hill staff of North Carolina Senator Sam Ervin. In 1973-1974, Edmisten was a staff counsel for the Senate Watergate Committee, which Ervin chaired. Edmisten served the subpoena to the White House for the Watergate tapes. During his time working for Senator Ervin, Edmisten had the opportunity to participate in such important legislative initiatives as securing constitutional rights for American Indians. He served as the Chief Counsel and Staff Director to the Separation of Powers Committee. He capped his Capitol Hill experience as Deputy Chief Counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee, and, following Senator Ervin's retirement, returned to North Carolina in 1974.
Following his return to North Carolina, Edmisten was elected to the post of state attorney general in 1974 and served in that post for ten years. While North Carolina's attorney general, Edmisten was engaged in the successful effort to prevent the damming of the scenic New River. He launched a series of legislative efforts as varied as securing victim's rights, enhancing the state's historic preservation laws, and setting new educational standards for the state's law enforcement personnel. Edmisten was the Democratic nominee for Governor in 1984 (losing to Republican James G. Martin). After his unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign, Edmisten practiced law with Reagan H. Weaver for four years until he won the office of Secretary of State in the 1988 and 1992 elections. As Secretary of State he broadened securities oversight in an effort to protect investors, and worked with the General Assembly to craft a law to establish Limited Liability Corporations in North Carolina. He also launched a non-profit, the Foundation for Good Business. In 1996 Edmisten resigned from office after an audit of the Secretary of State's office led to a State Bureau of Investigations inquiry into numerous abuses.[2] Edmisten maintained that his resignation had nothing to do with the investigation.
After his resignation in 1996 Edmisten launched a legal practice that merged with that of former NC Department of Justice colleague Woody Webb in 1998. Thomas Moore became as a partner in 2010 and the firm name is now Edmisten, Webb & Moore. Edmisten also runs a charity in North Carolina called Extra Special Super Kids. The Super Kids program provides scholarships for college to underprivileged high school students wishing to pursue higher learning. Rufus and his wife, Linda, live in a designated 1921 Raleigh Historic Landmark house.