Rep. Gillespie leaving House to join DENR -- an agency he targeted

Veteran lawmaker Rep. Mitch Gillespie – who in 2011 literally drew a bulls-eye target on his legislative office window aimed at the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources – will resign next month to become an assistant secretary of the agency.
The McDowell News and The Hickory Record report that the Republican from Marion said he will be one of three assistant secretaries. The newspapers quoted Gillespie saying he would resign from the House soon after being sworn in to his eighth term, to which he was re-elected in November.
He said he wanted to be officially sworn in to the office he had won, and that would give him seniority if he were to ever be re-elected to the House.
Gillespie spearheaded a slew of environmental regulatory reforms in last year’s session, and said he felt he had good relations with environmental advocates. But Gillespie comes from the business side of the equation, having worked in surveying, civil engineering and land development.
He has been supported by the state’s energy company PACs.
Republican party officials in Gillespie’s House district, which include McDowell, Mitchell and Avery counties, will choose a replacement.