Context: Roy Asberry Cooper III (born June 13, 1957) is an American politician who is the 75th and current Governor of North Carolina, since January 2017. Cooper had served as the Attorney General of North Carolina from 2001 to 2017 and was previously a member of the North Carolina State Senate. Cooper is a member of the North Carolina Democratic Party, and ran for Governor of North Carolina in the 2016 election against Republican incumbent Pat McCrory. On December 5, McCrory conceded the election, making Cooper the first challenger to defeat a sitting governor in North Carolina since 1850. Cooper took office as the 75th governor of North Carolina on January 1, 2017. A ceremonial inauguration was scheduled for January 7, 2017 but was postponed due to winter weather., A U.S. state is a constituent political entity of the United States of America. There are 50 states, which are bound together in a union with each other. Each state holds administrative jurisdiction over a defined geographic territory, and shares its sovereignty with the United States federal government. Due to the shared sovereignty between each state and the federal government, Americans are citizens of both the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons covered by certain types of court orders (e.g., paroled convicts and children of divorced spouses who are sharing custody)., The North Carolina General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of North Carolina., The Governor of North Carolina is the head of the executive branch of North Carolina's state government and serves as commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The current governor is Roy Cooper who took office on January 1, 2017, with a ceremonial inauguration held on January 7, 2017., Col. Thomas Michael Holt ( July 15 , 1831 -- April 11 , 1896 ) was a prominent North Carolina industrialist who served as the 47th Governor of North Carolina from 1891 to 1893 . Formerly a North Carolina State Senator and Speaker of the House of the North Carolina General Assembly , Holt was instrumental in the founding of North Carolina State University , as well as in establishing several railroads within the state and the state 's department of agriculture . Holt was also responsible for the technology behind the family 's Holt Mills ' Alamance Plaids , ' the first colored cotton goods produced in the South -- a development that revolutionized the Southern textile industry . He was born in Alamance County , North Carolina , July 15 , 1831 . Thomas Michael Holt was a descendant of Michael Holt or Holdt , one of the earliest settlers of the Germanna Colony in Virginia in the early 18th century . Holt studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for one year before briefly moving to work in a Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , dry goods store . In 1858 , Thomas and his father , Edwin Michael Holt , acquired Benjamin Trollinger 's bankrupt textile - manufacturing mill later known as the `` Granite Mill , '' ( located in Haw River , North Carolina ) . In 1861 , Thomas acquired his father 's interest in the mill and moved to Haw River to oversee the mill 's operations . ( Edwin Michael Holt had formerly manufactured the so - called Alamance Plaids , the first cotton goods produced in the South on power looms . Edwin M. Holt established his Alamance Cotton Mill in 1837 , thus beginning the Southern textile industry . ) In 1868 , Thomas 's brother - in - law , Adolphus `` Dolph '' Moore , became business partners with Thomas and the operation was renamed Holt & Moore . In 1876 , Moore was murdered , and the mills were consolidated as the Thomas M. Holt Manufacturing Company . ( Other members of the Holt family were operating the Haw River Mills , Glencoe Mills , Carolina Mill , Lafayette Mill , the Pilot Mill of Raleigh , and others in their expanding family empire . ) After Thomas 's death in 1896 , his son , Thomas Jr. , took over operations of the mills and expanded them . In 1900 , the mills were organized by a local labor union , which sponsored a strike that was eventually broken by lockouts and mill housing evictions by the mill management . Thomas 's party affiliation was Democratic , and he served as a local magistrate , a county commissioner , as a member of North Carolina 's state senate ( 24th District ) in 1876 , as a member of North Carolina 's state house of representatives from Alamance County , 1883 -- 1887 , as the sixth Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina , 1889 -- 1891 , and upon the death of Governor ( Daniel G. Fowle ) , as 47th Governor of North Carolina , 1891 - 1893 . As Governor , he was actively involved in establishing a new system of county government , in the construction of the Western North Carolina Railroad and the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway as well as the North Carolina Railroad , which Holt served as president , as well as in increasing the funding for public schools , the University , and the state hospitals . He pushed for the establishment of an institution for the deaf at Morganton . An outstanding accomplishment was his getting the holders of bonds for the North Carolina Railroad to release the State from the lien on the State 's shares . This saved the State money as the property was valued at more than $ 5 million . The Holt family had long ties to the railroad company , and these were undoubtedly useful in Holt 's striking a deal with the bondholders . Following his service as Governor , Holt sat on the boards of both the University of North Carolina and Davidson College . Holt was aided in the burgeoning Holt family mill empire by his brother - in - law , James Nathaniel Williamson , who had married Thomas Michael Holt 's sister Mary . The Holt family eventually became the largest textile barons in the state , running scores of different mills , under various names , and as various Holt heirs and their in - laws broke off from the main enterprise and founded their own companies . Ultimately , however , the Holt mills were sold by the family and became the backbone of the emerging Burlington Mills ( later Burlington Industries , overseen by rival industrialist Spencer Love . Thomas Holt died April 11 , 1896 and is buried at Linwood Cemetery in Graham , Alamance County , North Carolina ., Subject: thomas michael holt, Relation: member_of_political_party, Options: (A) democratic party (B) military (C) north carolina democratic party (D) union
Output: democratic party