After losing his bid for the District 5 commissioners seat in 2014, Patrick E. Harris of Smithfield narrowly won the Republican Primary for the seat on Tuesday. Having no Democratic opposition in November, Harris will take over the reins from retiring commissioner Cookie Pope.
Pope, who is from the Cleveland community and has held the seat since 1994 including a challenge four years ago by Harris, had endorsed Cleveland Fire Chief Chris Ellington for the seat she was vacating. However, Harris, the retired chief of the Smithfield Fire Department garnered the most votes.
In unofficial results from the Johnston County Board of Elections, Harris carried 52 percent of the vote total with 4,241 votes to Ellington’s 48 percent or 3,938 votes.
Harris has spent 30 years in emergency response management with a background ranging from the NC Division of Forestry to Federal Emergency Management Agency, where he served on the Southeast Regional Response Team from 1986 to 1994. Patrick was a State Emergency Management Coordinator, Fire & EMS Instructor, and a Fire / Arson Investigator.
He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Fire Science and spent many years teaching management, emergency and medical response classes on a college level. Patrick has published articles on emergency services and response, and served on numerous advisory boards and committees over the past 32 years.
Patrick retired as Director of Emergency Services for the Town of Smithfield where he was responsible for municipal fire and emergency medical services management budget oversight and administration for the Fire and EMS Departments. From July 2011 until November 2017, Patrick served as Chief Executive Officer and CFO for Smithfield Crossings Family Healthcare, PA, Urgent Care of Smithfield, PA, and was co-founder and managing member of Harris Health, LLC. Patrick led both corporations to a successful merger with Med First Immediate and Primary Care in November 2017.
Patrick and his wife Victoria reside in Smithfield and has a daughter, Taylor Anne, who lives in Raleigh.
