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Tom Fetzer
Tom Fetzer | |
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Basic facts | |
Organization: | Fetzer Strategic Partners |
Role: | Founder and president |
Location: | Raleigh, N.C. |
Education: | Wake Forest University (B.A., political science)[1] |
Tom Fetzer is founder and president of Fetzer Strategic Partners, a Raleigh, N.C.-based lobbying firm. He started his eponymous lobbying firm in 2011.[2] Before founding Fetzer Strategic Partners, he was chairman of the Republican Party of North Carolina.[3] From 1993 to 1999, he was the first Republican Mayor in the history of Raleigh, N.C.[1]
Career
In 1988, Tom Fetzer was the Republican nominee for the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina's 4th Congressional District.[4] He was defeated by Democrat David Price.[5] In 1993, Fetzer was elected Mayor of Raleigh, N.C., the first Republican mayor in the city's history; the victory was dubbed "the most impressive reform victory in the country" by the Wall Street Journal.[1] He served as mayor for three terms, from 1993 to 1999.
In 1999, Fetzer became a vice president of the John Locke Foundation, a think tank based in Raleigh, N.C. That same year, he was named head of the Foundation's Center for Local Innovation.[6][1] He also started a nonprofit organization, Private Initiatives in Education, to award college scholarships to top students and to develop more community learning centers in Raleigh, N.C., in 1999.[1]
In 2001, Fetzer was named CEO of Community Tennis with the United States Tennis Association (USTA), a position which he held into 2008.[7][8] He also consulted on United States Senate campaigns for both Elizbeth Dole (R) and longtime friend Richard Burr (R).[3][9]
In June 2009, Fetzer was elected chairman of the Republican Party of North Carolina.[10] In November 2010, he announced his resignation as chairman effective January 15, 2011, citing "family and financial reasons."[2] In April 2011, WRAL-TV in Raleigh, N.C., reported that Fetzer had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in March of that year.[11]
In 2012, Tom Fetzer was named to the list of Top 500 Influencers in American Politics by Campaigns & Elections Magazine.[12]
Fetzer Strategic Partners
In January 2011, Tom Fetzer founded Fetzer Strategic Partners, a Raleigh, N.C.-based lobbying firm before the General Assembly of North Carolina.[2] Since 2011, he has been named as one of the top three lobbyists in the State of North Carolina by the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research.[13][14][15]
According to records from the North Carolina Secretary of State, Fetzer represents the following clients before the General Assembly of North Carolina (partial list):[16]
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina
- City of Salisbury, N.C.
- Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC
- Nationwide Insurance and affiliates
- North Carolina Sheriffs Association, Inc.
- Pepsico
- WakeMed Health and Hospitals
Top influencers by state
Influencers in American politics are power players who help get candidates elected, put through policy proposals, cause ideological changes, and affect popular perceptions. They can take on many forms: politicians, lobbyists, advisors, donors, corporations, industry groups, labor unions, single-issue organizations, nonprofits, to name a few.
In 2015, Ballotpedia identified Tom Fetzer as a top influencer by state. We identified top influencers across the country through several means, including the following:
- Local knowledge of our professional staff
- Surveys of activists, thought leaders and journalists from across the country and political spectrum
- Outreach to political journalists in each state who helped refine our lists
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Tom Fetzer. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Harvard University Gazette, "Institute of Politics announces fellows for Spring 2000," February 3, 2000
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 WITN, "N.C. GOP Chairman Fetzer starts lobbying, media firm," January 3, 2011
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 ABC 11 Raleigh, "Fetzer resigns as state GOP chairman," November 20, 2010
- ↑ New York Times, "The Race for Congress; Where Incumbency Is No Guarantee: Four Close Contests in North Carolina," November 4, 1988
- ↑ Our Campaigns, "N.C. District 4," accessed December 22, 2015
- ↑ John Locke Foundation, "Smart growth isn't smart," August 31, 1999
- ↑ Sports Business Daily, "Former Raleigh Mayor Tom Fetzer named to new position at USTA," March 12, 2001
- ↑ United States Tennis Association (USTA, "Gov. Bush joins USTA to launch," May 25, 2008
- ↑ National Journal, "Rumors aside, Burr says he'll run again," September 15, 2014
- ↑ WRAL, "Fetzer elected N.C. GOP chair," June 13, 2009
- ↑ WRAL, "Former Raleigh mayor battles cancer," April 2, 2011
- ↑ Campaign and Elections (Via Acquire Media NewsEdge), "The Influencers 500 (Campaigns and Elections)," January 22, 2013
- ↑ North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research, "Lobbyists adapt to new political landscape," July 30, 2012
- ↑ Carolina Public Press, "Former legislators rank among North Carolina’s top lobbyists," August 27, 2014
- ↑ WRAL, "Influence of lobbyists makes them practically a 'third house' of legislature," September 2, 2015
- ↑ North Carolina Secretary of State, "Lobbyist information, Tom H. Fetzer," accessed December 22, 2015
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