Debra Goldman

Debra Goldman (born May 17, 1963) is an American businesswoman and political figure from Wake County, North Carolina. From 2009 to 2013, she served on the Wake County Board of Education, which oversees the Wake County Public School System. She was the Republican nominee for North Carolina State Auditor in 2012, but lost to Democrat Beth Wood in the general election.
Wake County politics
Goldman began her political career in Cary, North Carolina in 2009 when she was elected to the Wake County Board of Education. Goldman placed first and won on the October ballot. She served until late-January 2013. With 147,000 students enrolled in 165 schools as of the 2010-11 academic year, Wake County is the largest public school district in North Carolina and the 16th largest district in the United States. She served as the board's vice chair in 2010-11. She is a member of the North Carolina Republican Party.
Goldman's policies on the Wake County School Board have sparked state and national debates on the consideration of socioeconomic diversity when assigning students to schools, which have drawn both national praise and criticism alike. The state and national chapters of the NAACP have routinely criticized the Wake County School Board's recent decisions.
Run for State Auditor
In February 2012, Goldman announced via YouTube that she was running for North Carolina State Auditor. The Primary election was held on May 8, 2012.
Primary results
As the runner-up, Greg Dority chose not to request a runoff, making Goldman the nominee. In the general election, Goldman remained competitive in the beginning, but was ultimately defeated by Beth Wood.
Subsequent activities
Goldman relocated to Ronda, North Carolina in Wilkes County, where she appears on voter rolls and will be reportedly taking a job with a nonprofit organization.
Controversies
According to police reports from 2010 that came to light during the 2012 campaign, "Goldman named fellow board member Chris Malone as a suspect in June 2010 when she reported a burglary from her Cary home of $130,000 worth of jewelry, cash and coins....Cary police interviewed Malone and dropped him as a suspect after an investigation, but not before recording conflicting statements from both Goldman and Malone about whether they had a romantic relationship....After the incident, Margiotta said the working relationship among the Republicans on the board was strained by Goldman’s accusations." Both Goldman and Malone are married.
Goldman's former opponent, Greg Dority, claimed that senior Republicans knew of the allegations surrounding Goldman and Malone, and tried to dissuade other Republicans from running against Goldman and to dissuade Dority from calling for a runoff.
Following these news reports, Republican nominee for Governor Pat McCrory distanced himself from Goldman during a televised debate, and praised Goldman's Democratic opponent, incumbent Beth Wood.
Goldman's attorney John Austin, addressed the controversy on October 26, 2012. He implied that this story was "old news" and only being brought up because Goldman was running for state office. He also said that Goldman is in the middle of an "acrimonious divorce" and that her husband, Steve Goldman, wanted to punish Debra Goldman.<ref name="wral.com"/>

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