Lorene T. Coates

Lorene T. Coates
Member of the
North Carolina House of Representatives
In office
January 1, 2001 – January 1, 2011
Preceded byCharlotte Ancher Gardner
Succeeded byHarry Warren
Constituency35th District (2001-2003)
77th District (2003-2011)
Personal details
Born (1936-01-13) January 13, 1936 (age 88)
Rowan County, North Carolina
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceSalisbury, North Carolina
OccupationRetired

Lorene Thomason Coates (born January 13, 1936)[1][2] is an American former politician who served as a Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the seventy-seventh House district, including constituents in Rowan county from 2001 to 2011.

A retiree from Salisbury, North Carolina, she worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She has hosted a weekly radio show and for twenty years wrote a newspaper column in the Salisbury Post.[3]

On March 30, 2006, she gained distinction by being the first Democratic member of the House to publicly call for House Speaker Jim Black, a fellow Democrat, to step down from his post as Speaker following investigations of his misconduct.[4] Black later resigned from the House and pleaded guilty to a felony charge of public corruption.[5]

In 2007 she announced her support for John Edwards' presidential campaign.[6]

  1. ^ "Lorene Thomason Coates (1936-unknown) - Find A". Find a Grave.
  2. ^ "North Carolina manual [serial]".
  3. ^ Women in the Legislature Archived 2007-08-22 at the Wayback Machine, Lillian's List of North Carolina, Retrieved May 20, 2007
  4. ^ "Democrat Urges Black to Step Down". Raleigh News & Observer. 31 March 2006. Retrieved 20 May 2007.[permanent dead link‍]
  5. ^ Jim Black Archived 2007-05-09 at the Wayback Machine, March 28, 2007, The News and Observer, Retrieved May 20, 2007
  6. ^ Edwards Launches "Women For Edwards" Archived 2011-09-26 at the Wayback Machine, My Direct Democracy Website, Retrieved 21 August 2011