Patrick Gannon has been the public information officer at the State Board of Elections since October 2016, just before the presidential election. He came to the State Board after a 17-year career in journalism, most recently as editor of The Insider State Government News Service and syndicated columnist covering state politics for the Capitol Press Association. Before that, he worked as a reporter and editor for the Wilmington, N.C., Star-News and a reporter for the Utica Observer-Dispatch in upstate New York. In 2004, he reported from Iraq while embedded with a N.C. National Guard unit. He is a 1999 graduate of Kent State University in Ohio.