Michael A. Lazzara is a

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

politician.

Early life and education

Lazzara was born in

Palermo, Sicily Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

and raised in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Military career

Lazzara served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

from 1982 to 1986 and was stationed at

Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune ( or ) is a United States military training facility in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Its of beaches make the base a major area for amphibious assault training, and its location between two deep-water ports ( ...

. 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. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 72,723, which makes Jacksonville the List of municipalities in North Carolina, 14th-most populous city in North Caroli ...

. 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 Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population ch ...

to the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The 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 and Jimmy Dixon due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. 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 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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

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 Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century members of the North Carolina General Assembly {{NorthCarolina-politician-stub