Ballance, Frank W. (Frank Winston), Jr., 1942-2019

BALLANCE, Frank W., Jr., a Representative from North Carolina; born in Windsor, Bertie County, N.C., February 15, 1942; graduated from W.S. Etheridge High School, Windsor, N C., 1959; B.S., North Carolina Central University, Durham, N.C., 1963; North Carolina Central Law School, Durham, N.C., 1965; North Carolina Army National Guard, 1968; North Carolina Army National Guard Reserve, 1968-1971; lawyer, private practice; librarian; professor, South Carolina State College, Orangeburg, S.C., 1965-1966; member of the North Carolina state house of representatives, 1982-1985; member of the North Carolina state senate, 1989-2002; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Eighth Congress and served until resignation June 11, 2004 (January 3, 2003- June 11, 2004); died on February 22, 2019, in Raleigh, N.C.

<p>Frank Winston Ballance Jr. (February 15, 1942 – February 22, 2019) was an American politician and attorney who was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 2003 to 2004, representing North Carolina's 1st congressional district.</p>

<p>In 2004, Ballance pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering, and was sentenced to four years in prison, two years supervised release, and fined $10,000.</p>

<p>Ballance was born in Windsor, North Carolina. He graduated from W. S. Etheridge High School in 1959 and attended North Carolina Central University, earning a bachelor's degree in 1963 and a law degree in 1965.</p>

<p>After receiving his law degree, Ballance briefly served as a faculty member of the South Carolina State University School of Law before entering private practice in 1966. He served in the North Carolina National Guard Reserve from 1968 to 1971.</p>

<p>The first African American elected to the state legislature from eastern North Carolina since the Reconstruction Era, Frank Ballance won election to the U.S. House in 2002, succeeding Representative Eva Clayton in a district that included much of coastal North Carolina. During an 18–month tenure in the House that was abbreviated by health problems and a probe into his management of a nonprofit foundation, Ballance served on the Agriculture Committee—an important assignment for his predominantly rural, farm–based constituency.</p>

<p>Frank Winston Ballance, Jr., was born in Windsor, North Carolina, on February 15, 1942, to Frank Winston and Alice Eason Ballance. His mother, noted one political activist in eastern North Carolina, was the “political wheel” of Bertie County, organizing drives for voter registration and advocating greater representation for the area’s black voters.1 Ballance graduated in 1959 from W. S. Etheridge High School in Windsor and four years later earned a bachelor of science degree from North Carolina Central University in Durham. In 1965, Ballance graduated with a law degree from the same institution. He was employed as a professor at South Carolina State College (now South Carolina State University) from 1965 to 1966. Ballance served in the North Carolina National Guard in 1968 and continued on as a reservist until 1971. He practiced law, establishing a firm along with Theaoseus T. Clayton (the husband of future U.S. Representative Eva Clayton) in Warrenton, North Carolina. Ballance married Bernadine Smallwood, a lawyer, and they raised three children: Garey, Angela, and Valerie.</p>

<p>Ballance became active in local politics in the late 1960s as a youth director of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He eventually ran two unsuccessful campaigns: for a seat as a judge on a district court in eastern North Carolina in 1968 and, after switching to the Republican Party, for a seat on the Warren County Commission in 1974. Ballance soon returned to the Democratic Party “to my people, where my votes are.” In 1982, Ballance became the first black in roughly a century to be elected to the statehouse from the eastern section of the state, defeating a white lawyer to represent a newly redrawn district. A local newspaper published the story under the headline “Free at Last.” Ballance recalled, “Among the black community, there was great excitement that a new day had dawned and things would be different.” He served from 1983 to 1987 in the North Carolina state house of representatives. He was unsuccessful in his bid for a nomination to the North Carolina senate in 1986 but was elected two years later and served in the upper chamber from 1989 to 2002. As a state senator, Ballance was a leading critic of the death penalty, especially for mentally retardedconvicts. He also was responsible for a four–year education plan that raised teachers’ salaries statewide, a measure to fund state community colleges with local bonds, and the establishment of a mental health fund.</p>