Candidate Biography (submitted by candidate):

Elaine Marshall grew up on a farm in Linesboro, Maryland. Her father worked the farm, and her mother played the organ in her family's church. With the help of public school teachers and the 4-H program, Elaine became the first person in her family to graduate from college. She moved to North Carolina, where she started a small business and taught in the public schools of Lenoir County, NC, before graduating from Campbell University with a law degree.
Elaine has dedicated her career to standing up and fighting for the people of North Carolina. As a small town attorney, Elaine took cases others ignored and stood up for women who were victims of domestic violence. In the state Senate, Elaine took on insurance companies, helping expand health insurance coverage for families in rural areas.

Elaine became the first woman elected to statewide office in North Carolina, when she defeated NASCAR legend Richard Petty to become Secretary of State. As Secretary of State, Elaine has stood up for consumers, businesses, and seniors. She's sent scam artists to jail for long prison sentences for preying on the elderly. And she's taken on Wall Street, returning hundreds of millions of dollars to North Carolina schools, businesses, and families.

Elaine has worked to cut red tape and reduce the cost of doing business in this state, helping businesses start and grow. And she has received international recognition for her efforts to combat counterfeit goods from countries like China, and to protect North Carolinians against securities fraud.

Elaine is a member of the Divine Street Methodist Church in Dunn. Elaine has five step-children and seven grandchildren. She lost her husband, Bill Holdford, to cancer in November 2009. 

While North Carolina families are hurting, Washington politicians like Senator Burr are busy playing political games instead of getting things done. This is the reason I decided to run for Senate. As Secretary of State I've taken on special interests such as Raleigh lobbyists and Wall Street banks and won. I'll bring that same vigor to Washington and get things done for the people of North Carolina. 

As Secretary of State, I inherited an office mired in the business practices of the past. Today, it is recognized as a national model for how government and people should interact; responsive and open to the customers we serve. When I took this position, we had some of the weakest lobbying laws in the country -- it was the Wild West. I took on the lobbyists in Raleigh, and today, I am proud to say we have enacted some of the toughest lobbying reform laws in the country. 

It's been almost 2 years since Wall Street crashed, but nothing has been done to reform the way they do business. In my role as Secretary of State, I've held those very same banks accountable for misrepresenting investment products. Today, we have returned over $500 million dollars back to North Carolina investors and charities. 

While Wall Street is back to making record profits, the rest of our country is just getting by. Middle Class families cannot afford a jobless recovery, since to many of our families that would mean no recovery at all. We must take on Wall Street and reform the way that they do business so everyday Americans can get loans in order to start businesses and fulfill their dreams. I have a record of holding banks accountable and I intend to do so in Washington so we can get our country moving again.