Appointed by the General Assembly
July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2027
Kathryn G. Harrington, a retired real estate broker from Gaston County, has a long history of devoted service to North Carolina. In her home community, she has worked as a victim advocate for children, including roles as a volunteer mentor, tutor, and program coordinator to several schools, and she has served on community boards, including the Gaston County Board of Realtors, Gaston County Museum of Art and History Board of Trustees, Gaston Dance Theatre Board, and the Piedmont Community Charter School Board. For more than a decade, she was also a member of the North Carolina State Senate, representing District 43. She assumed office in 2011 and retired from the Senate in 2022. Upon her retirement from the Senate, Harrington was serving as the Senate Majority Leader, the first woman elected to hold that position in North Carolina. Senator Harrington grew up in Gastonia, where she still resides with her husband, Michael.