Draft:Scott Lassiter

Dr. Scott Riley Lassiter, born June 11, 1987, is a North Carolina educator and public-servant. Scott is a native of Apex, North Carolina. He attended Apex Elementary, Apex Middle, and Apex High School.

Lassiter graduated cum laude from North Carolina State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a Secondary Social Studies Education Concentration. After graduating Scott began his teaching career with the Wake County Public School System where he taught History, Psychology, Sociology, and other subjects.

Lassiter was elected to the Apex Town Council in 2011 earning the most votes in a highly contested election. He was the youngest councilman in modern history when sworn in at 24 years of age. While teaching and serving on the council Scott attended night school at North Carolina Central University where he graduated magna cum laude with a Master of School Administration in 2015.

While on the Apex Town Council Lassiter was the chairman of the planning committee and the budget committee. He was also the liaison to the town's parks and recreation advisory board. Lassiter was considered an ally to town employees advocating for market salary adjustments and merit based raises. Additionally, Lassiter successfully got funding approved for all secondary schools in the municipality to have a school resource officer (SRO).

Lassiter was appointed by the Wake County Public School System Board of Education to serve as an assistant principal in 2015 at 27 years old making him one of the youngest in that position at the time.

In the Apex municipal election of 2015, Lassiter was defeated. Shortly after, he moved to Cary, North Carolina where he found use for his previous municipal government experience as the homeowners' association president for his new neighborhood, MacGregor Downs.

In 2017, Lassiter was tapped by the school system to help open the districts newest alternative school, Connections Academy. In his new role he was responsible for the safe and orderly operation of a school for students from all across the district who were recommended for long-term suspension but given a second chance.

In 2020, Lassiter undertook another academic challenge when he enrolled in a doctoral cohort at North Carolina State University. Additionally, he ran for a seat on the Board of Supervisors for the Wake Soil and Water Conservation District. In this county-wide election Lassiter was the only Republican elected and unseated a long serving Democrat.

Soon after his election, Lassiter was named vice-chairman of the board. He also was selected to serve as the state's regional president of the association of soil and water conservation districts.

After a the North Carolina General Assembly completed a controversial redistricting process in 2023 Lassiter found himself living in a state Senate district with no current member and quickly announced his candidacy.

In March of 2024, Lassiter won a highly contested primary election to become the Republican nominee for the North Carolina State Senate in the newly drawn 13th district that includes the majority of southern Wake County.

After successfully defending his dissertation for his doctoral degree, Lassiter was officially conferred his Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership on May 4th, 2024 and was awarded his superintendent license from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

Lassiter is also the founder and president of The Lassiter Education Foundation, a federally recognized 501c3 organization to assist at-risk youth in the Wake County, North Carolina community.