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Amid efforts to fire her, County elections director retires
- Details
- Tuesday, 11 August 2026
- Written by Paul Woolverton, CityView Today
The embattled Cumberland County elections director abruptly retired Aug. 1, four months after the three Republicans on the five-member county Board of Elections tried to have her fired, and 11 days after the three, plus a Democrat, sought her dismissal a second time.
“This was not an easy decision to make but one I feel was forced to make,” Angie Amaro said in a letter she sent to the board. Her retirement notice also took aim at elections board Chair Linda Devore.
“Since the completion of the March 3, 2026 election especially, Mrs. Devore ramped up her long standing effort to have me removed as Director of Elections, regardless of the effect on the operations of the office and the preparation for the upcoming mid-term election,” Amaro wrote.
“The emotional toll of the past several months is difficult to put into words what this Board has put me through. After twenty-five years of dedicating my career to serving the voters of Cumberland County, I found myself working in an environment where I no longer felt trusted, respected, or valued.”
Amaro’s departure from the elections office may be the coda to a period of tension between county elections staff and some members of its board, in particular with Devore.
Even if she survived the effort to fire her, “I do not feel I could work effectively with Mrs. Devore and others still involved with this office,” Amaro said.
Amaro joined the elections office in February 2002 and became its interim elections director in January 2022. She became the permanent elections director in October 2022.
“It was an open secret that Mrs. Devore did not want me to be hired as Director and intended to have me removed as soon as she could,” Amaro wrote.
The first petition to dismiss Amaro was filed April 2 without the knowledge of the board’s two Democrats. It generated speculation among Democrats and local activists that the board’s Republican majority was trying to replace her with a partisan leader that favored Republicans. Protesters went to board meetings to support Amaro.
But the April petition was withdrawn after the board received additional information, Devore told CityView. On July 21, a new petition with bipartisan support was filed. Democratic board member Derek Edmonds signed it along with Republicans Devore, Ryan Johnson, and Bree Eldridge.
“The 4-1 decision of our Board was based on careful consideration and investigation of factual information available to us, and focused on how to provide the best and most competent administration of our elections process,” Devore said.
The fact that the new removal petition was signed by a Democrat proves that the board’s desire to dismiss Amaro was not based on partisan politics, Devore said. “We make the right decisions for the right reasons, and I think the public can have confidence in that,” she said.
Democratic board member Irene Grimes did not sign either petition.
“I was for a while under a lot of pressure to sign on to a petition, and I did not, and I would not, because I don’t think she deserves it,” Grimes said.
She had hoped the problems the board’s majority had with Amaro’s job performance could be addressed through training or some other method rather than firing her.
The board tried to work with Amaro, Devore said. “We did, and four members of the board decided that was not the best path,” she said.
Through Grimes, Amaro declined an interview request. Edmonds could not be reached for comment.
Up & Coming Weekly Editor's Note: This article has been edited for space. To read the article in full, visit https://bit.ly/4g5lQOM
(Graphic courtesy of Cumberland County Board of Elections)
