Michael A. Lazzara is a

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

politician.

Early life and education

Lazzara was born in Palermo, Sicily and raised in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Military career

Lazzara served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

from 1982 to 1986 and was stationed at Camp Lejeune. He was promoted to corporal.

Career

Lazzara is the owner of Lazzara Pizza Inc. By 2021, Lazzara has been in the pizza industry for 30 years. In 2005, Lazzara first started serving as Mayor Pro Tem of

Jacksonville, North Carolina Jacksonville is a city in Onslow County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,723, which makes Jacksonville the 14th-largest city in North Carolina. Jacksonville is the county seat and most populous commun ...

. On the Jacksonville city council, he represented the 3rd ward. Lazzara is chairman of the Jacksonville Tourism Development Authority. In 2020, Mayor Pro Tem Lazzara, along with Chief Michael Yaniero, accepted a Law Enforcement Agency of the Year awarded to the Jacksonville Police Department by the North Carolina Police Executives Association. On November 3, 2020, Lazzara was elected to the North Carolina Senate seat representing the 6th district. He resigned from the city council as result. Lazarra assumed office on January 1, 2021. Lazarra and was sworn in with a virtual ceremony on January 2 alongside

George G. Cleveland George Grant Cleveland (born May 9, 1939), is a Republican member of the North Carolina House of Representatives. He has represented the 14th District (including constituents in eastern Onslow County) since 2005. He is a 25-year veteran of the Un ...

and

Jimmy Dixon Jimmy Dixon (born 10 October 1981) is a Liberian football coach and former player who is assistant coach at Swedish club Assyriska BK. A defender, he spent most of his career in Sweden and Turkey. Between 1999 and 2012, he made 24 appearances ...

due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Lazzara was appointed to three committees in the state senate: Appropriations on General Government, State and Local Government, Education and Judiciary. In January 2021, Lazzara advocated for a state senate bill sponsored by

Deanna Ballard Deanna Ballard (born October 2, 1978) is an American politician served in the North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representa ...

that sought to reopen North Carolina schools, with a virtual option, amid the pandemic.

Personal life

Lazzara is

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

References

External links

Living people American restaurateurs Businesspeople from Chicago Businesspeople from North Carolina Businesspeople from Palermo Catholics from North Carolina Italian emigrants to the United States Military personnel from North Carolina North Carolina city council members Republican Party North Carolina state senators People from Jacksonville, North Carolina Politicians from Chicago Politicians from Palermo United States Marine Corps non-commissioned officers 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American legislators Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century North Carolina politicians {{NorthCarolina-politician-stub