Umphlett announces resignation from Dare County Board

Dare County Commissioner Margarette Umphlett will resign from the county’s governing body effective March 31.

The surprise announcement came at the end of the Board of Commissioner’s meeting Monday.

Reading from a prepared statement, Umphlett, fighting back tears, thanked her fellow board members for their friendship and support during her time on the board.

While providing no specific reasons for her resignation, citing “personal reasons,” Umphlett mentioned the tremendous workload undertaken by board members. And injecting a bit of levity into the moment, she informed the audience that the commissioners are “the lowest paid employees in the county.”

Umphlett listed a series of accomplishments the board had achieved during her tenure, giving the credit to her colleagues while expressing pride in being allowed to play a role in those decisions.

Her election to the board as a Republican in 2014, when she ousted long-time incumbent Virginia Tillett, surprised Dare County’s political community and helped swing control of the board to the Republican Party for the first time in recent memory.

The Dare County Republican Party will choose a successor to fill out the remainder of her term, which would have expired in November, 2018.

This will be the second vacancy the local GOP has had to fill in 2017.

In January, the Republicans chose Rob Ross to replace departing Commissioner Beverly Boswell, who was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives in November.