By Karissa Minn
kminn@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — Republican Mac Butner filed Wednesday as one of 15 candidates running for Rowan County commissioner.
Butner, 58, of 1105 Forestdale Drive in Salisbury, is the owner of Mac Butner Real Estate and executive officer of the Salisbury-Rowan Homebuilders Association.
Though he has not held elected office before, he is no stranger to politics or to public service.
Butner is a member of the Rowan County Rescue Squad board of directors, a past chairman and vice chairman of the county planning board and a past member of the county tax board of equalization and review.
“I wish to continue my county service at a more involved and responsible level,” Butner wrote in a prepared statement Thursday. “Since 1992, I have had the opportunity to serve the citizens of Rowan County in several positions. … This broad overview of experience has given me a unique exposure and qualifications to move forward as a member of the County Commission.”
Butner received the Republican nomination for N.C. Senate District 34 in 1996 and 1998 and for N.C. House District 77 in 2004. He lost in the general election in all three races.
This year, Butner is setting his sights on a seat closer to home — one of the two that are open on the Board of Commissioners.
“As your county commissioner, I will strive to promote sound conservative fiscal and social policy in protecting private property rights, lower taxes, limited government expansion (and) unnecessary regulations,” Butner wrote in the statement.
He said he also wants “to continue to develop a positive environment for career education and job producing industries for our Rowan County families.”

Mac Butner
Office sought: Rowan County Commissioner
Age: 58
Address: 1105 Forestdale Drive, Salisbury
Phone number: 704-633-4494
Party: Republican
Occupation: Owner, Mac Butner Real Estate
Education: B.A. in business administration from Catawba College; graduate of Realtor’s Institute at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; graduate of Home Builder’s Institute at North Carolina State University; residential real estate appraising diploma from Mingle Institute at Queens College.
Previous elected office: None
Community involvement: Executive officer and former president, Salisbury-Rowan Home Builder’s Association; former president, Salisbury-Rowan Association of Realtors; commissioner, Rowan County Housing Authority; member, Rowan County Rescue Squad Board of Directors; former chairman and vice chairman, Rowan County Planning Board; former member, Rowan County Board of Tax Equalization and Review.
Family: Wife, Julia; one son, Wade; one daughter, Laura.

Contact reporter Karissa Minn at 704-797-4222.
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