George Holding

George Edward Bell Holding (born April 17, 1968) is an American politician, lawyer, and former federal prosecutor who is a former United States Representative for North Carolina's 2nd congressional district from 2017 to 2021.

In 1998, Holding left the practice of law to serve as legislative counsel to U.S. Senator Jesse Helms in Washington.

He was employed by Maupin Taylor, a Raleigh law firm, from 2001 to 2002.

Holding joined the U.S. Attorney's office for the Eastern District of North Carolina in 2002, working under Frank DeArmon Whitney.

Under Whitney, the U.S. Attorney's office prosecuted a number of high-profile public corruption cases, including former N.C. Agriculture Commissioner Meg Scott Phipps, former House Speaker Jim Black and former U.S. Representative Frank Ballance.

Whitney left his position as U.S. Attorney when he became a judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.

He served as the United States Attorney for North Carolina's Eastern District from 2006 to 2011.

On September 9, 2006, Holding was nominated by President George W. Bush to succeed Frank Whitney as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

On September 13, 2006, the U.S. Senate confirmed Holding's nomination by voice vote.

Holding remained as U.S. Attorney for two and a half years into the Obama administration in order to complete a number of political corruption cases.

During Holding's tenure as U.S. Attorney, former North Carolina Governor Mike Easley pleaded guilty to a campaign finance felony that followed a lengthy federal investigation.

After his resignation as U.S. Attorney in 2011, Holding announced his candidacy for Congress in North Carolina's 13th congressional district.

He was endorsed by multiple conservative business and civic leaders, including N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake and former U.S. Senator Lauch Faircloth.

Holding won the Republican primary in May.

He defeated former Raleigh Mayor Paul Coble.

In the general election, he won the seat with 57% of the vote.

Holding was unopposed in the Republican primary for re-election.

He won the general election against his Democratic challenger, Brenda Cleary, a registered nurse and former executive director of the North Carolina Center for Nursing, 57%-43%.

Holding oversaw the prosecution of former U.S. Senator John Edwards on campaign-finance charges; in 2012, Edwards was acquitted on one count, and the jury deadlocked on five other counts.

The Justice Department decided not to retry Edwards on the counts that the jury deadlocked on.

During his tenure, Holding also oversaw the prosecution of Daniel Patrick Boyd and the Raleigh jihad group on charges including conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.

He previously represented the 13th District from 2013 to 2017.

Holding is a member of the Republican Party.

The district Holding represented stretched from just southwest of Raleigh to just east of Rocky Mount.

Ellmers made much of the fact that Holding lived outside the 2nd district (six miles from the district's border), although the new district was actually geographically and demographically more similar to Holding's old 13th district than to Ellmers' old 2nd district.

Following court-ordered redistricting in 2016, a large portion of the 13th was merged into the neighboring 2nd district.

Holding's home was located in the 4th district under the new map, just outside the new 2nd's borders.

However, congressional candidates are only required to live in the state they wish to represent.

Holding decided to run in the 2nd district against the incumbent, fellow Republican Renee Ellmers, in the primary.

The newly drawn district encompassed outer portions of Raleigh, many of its northern and southern suburbs, along with parts of rural Harnett, Johnston, Wilson, Nash, and Franklin counties.

During the primary campaign, Holding was endorsed by the American Conservative Union and the anti-abortion N.C. Values Coalition, and the Club for Growth and the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity ran ads against Ellmers.

In the June 2016 primary, Holding defeated Ellmers, 53.4% to 23.6%, with a third candidate, Greg Brannon, receiving 23.0% of the vote.

Holding announced in December 2019 that he would not run for re-election in 2020, after court-mandated redistricting made the district significantly more Democratic.

The youngest of five children, Holding grew up in Raleigh.

He is a member of the Holding family which founded the First Citizens Bank in Smithfield.

He attended the Groton School in Massachusetts.

He attended Wake Forest University, studying Classics.

After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree, he studied law at Wake Forest University School of Law.

During law school, he met his future wife, Lucy Herriott.

They married after graduating and returned to Raleigh where Holding practiced law with Kilpatrick Stockton.