Josephus L. Mavretic

Josephus Mavretic
Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives
In office
January 1, 1989 – January 1, 1991
Preceded byListon Ramsey
Succeeded byDan Blue
Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives
In office
January 1, 1981 – January 1, 1995
Preceded byJim Ezzell
Succeeded byEdward Norris Tolson
Constituency7th District (1981-1983)
8th District (1983-1993)
71st District (1993-1995)
Personal details
Born (1934-07-29) July 29, 1934 (age 90)
Powells Point, North Carolina
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseLaura Kranifeld
Children1
Alma materUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (AB)
George Washington University (MS)
Naval War College
OccupationSoldier (lieutenant colonel, USMC, Ret.)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Marine Corps
Years of service1956–1977
Rank Lieutenant Colonel

Josephus Lyman "Joe" Mavretic (born July 29, 1934) is a former Democratic public official and military veteran from North Carolina. Born in Currituck County,[1] he made his career as a Marine, graduating from the Naval War College and becoming a Marine fighter pilot, retiring at the rank of lieutenant colonel.[1][2][3] Mavretic had served 300 combat missions in Vietnam and recorded 3,000 hours of flight time.[4]

He retired from the Marines and returned to his home state. He came from a Democratic family and community, and he ran successfully for the North Carolina House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1980. He succeeded Jim Ezzell.[5] In spite of his party label, he admired President Ronald Reagan and was willing to buck his party on several issues.

Mavretic became nationally known when he led a bipartisan coalition to remove Liston Ramsey from the position of Speaker of the House.[2][6] He then served in that position from 1989 to 1990.[1][2][7]

He left the legislature in 1995 and retired to private life. He is now a panelist on the television news talk show NC Spin.[1][2][8]

  1. ^ a b c d "NC SPIN Online". Ncspin.com. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  2. ^ a b c d "Democratic Speaker Joe Mavretic: Perdue flip flops (Video) - Katy's Conservative Corner". Katysconservativecorner.typepad.com. 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  3. ^ "Our Campaigns - Candidate Detail Page".
  4. ^ "North Carolina manual [serial]". 1916.
  5. ^ "North Carolina manual [serial]". 1916.
  6. ^ "Wiser, former legislator, dies | newsobserver.com projects". Projects.newsobserver.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  7. ^ "Mavretic to Step Down as House Speaker".
  8. ^ "Joe Mavretic".