Julia Craven Howard

Julia Craven Howard is the incumbent Republican member of the North Carolina House of Representatives for District 77 and is on the ballot for re‑election in the November 3, 2026 general election ¹¹⁸. She currently serves as a senior chair of the House Finance Committee, a role she regained in 2023 after a brief removal during an intra‑party dispute ¹⁸. Howard also chairs the UNC Board of Governors Nominations Committee and holds memberships on several other committees, including Banking, Commerce, Energy and Public Utilities, and Insurance ¹.

Born on August 20, 1944 in Rowan County, North Carolina, Howard earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Salem College in 2003 ⁷⁹. She is a licensed real‑estate appraiser and realtor, owning and operating Howard Realty in Davie County ¹⁹.

Howard’s public service began on the Mocksville Town Board, where she served from 1981 to 1988 ⁹. She was first elected to the North Carolina House in 1989, representing District 79 for more than three decades until redistricting moved her to District 77 in 2019 ¹⁴⁷⁴. Over her tenure she has chaired key committees such as Banking, Finance, and Energy and Public Utilities, and has been a senior chair of the Finance Committee multiple times ¹¹⁴. Her legislative focus has included welfare reform, small‑business support, child‑protection laws, and restructuring the state unemployment system during the 2008 recession ¹⁴.

Beyond the state legislature, Howard has been active in national legislative organizations. She served as national vice‑chair and later chair‑elect of the Council of State Governments (CSG), and chaired the CSG Southern Legislative Conference in 2007‑08 ¹⁴. She has received recognitions such as the American Legislative Exchange “Legislator of the Year” award and the Rotary Paul Harris Award ⁹.

In 2023, after a three‑year hiatus from the Finance Committee leadership, Speaker Tim Moore reinstated Howard as a senior chair, citing her experience and the importance of her role in budgetary matters ¹⁸. She continues to represent constituents in Rowan, Yadkin, and Davie counties, emphasizing fiscal responsibility and policies that benefit families and small businesses ¹¹⁸.

Howard’s office is located at 300 N. Salisbury St., Room 302, Raleigh, NC 27603‑5925, with a district mailing address at 330 S. Salisbury St., Mocksville, NC 27028. She can be reached by phone at 919‑733‑5904 or 336‑751‑3538 ¹¹.

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