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Nancy Owen, Nathan Miller Top Choices To Succeed Eggers on Watauga Elections Board

Editor’s Note: Nancy Owen was appointed unanimously by the State Board of Elections. 

By Jesse Wood

The Watauga County Republican Party has nominated Nancy Owen and Nathan Miller as the top replacements for Luke Eggers on the three-member Watauga County Board of Elections, according to SBOE spokesman Joshua Lawson.

Eggers resigned before candidate filing for the 2016 elections began late last year because his aunt, Rebecca Eggers-Gryder, is running for a seat as judge in the 24th judicial district.

After a standing request, Lawson forwarded the information to High Country Press on Thursday evening. The State Board of Elections will select Eggers’ replacement at its Friday meeting, which begins at 10 a.m.

Earlier in the week, Watauga County GOP Chair Anne-Marie Yates said that she had submitted nominations to the N.C. GOP, which then formally submits those names to the State Board of Elections.

The N.C. GOP submitted the nominations to the State Board of Elections in a letter dated Jan. 13. Yates previously said she wouldn’t release the names until “confirmation from the state” and the NCGOP didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.

According to the letter, Owen is the first choice, while Miller is the second choice.

Owen is a staff member with the Town of Banner Elk, but resides in Beech Mountain. She is the wife of Rick Owen, who is the Banner Elk town manager and a member of the Beech Mountain Town Council.

Miller, meanwhile, is an attorney in Boone. Miller is a former chair of the Watauga County Board of Commissioners.