Elaine Folk Marshall (born November 18, 1945) is an American attorney and politician who has served as the North Carolina Secretary of State since 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first woman to be elected to statewide office in North Carolina. Marshall was also the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for the United States Senate seat then held by Republican Richard Burr^[1] in the 2010 election.^[2] In 2020, Marshall was re-elected to a seventh term as North Carolina Secretary of State with 51.16 percent of the vote.^[3]

Marshall was born on November 18, 1945, in Lineboro, Maryland.^[4] Her father was a farmer who, for many years, served as a volunteer fire fighter and community leader, and her mother was the organist in the family's small rural church for more than 60 years. She attended public schools as a child and became the first person in her family to graduate college. She studied textiles at the University of Maryland from 1964 to 1968, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Textiles and Clothing.^[4] While at Maryland, she became a member of Alpha Gamma Delta. During her undergraduate years, she spent her summers working as a camping director for the Maryland 4-H Foundation, an organization she has continued to support.^[5]

After graduation, Marshall taught in the public schools of Lenoir County, North Carolina, and then ran a book and gift store. She later returned to the field of education as an instructor at Lenoir Community College and Johnston Technical Community College.^[5][6]

Marshall returned to school to study law at the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University and earned her Juris Doctor degree in 1981,^[4] where she was accepted into the Who's Who Among American Universities and Colleges honors program. She has been admitted to practice before all North Carolina courts, the U.S. District courts in the Eastern and Middle Districts of North Carolina, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. She is a member of the NC State Bar, the NC Bar Association, the NC Association of Women Attorneys, and the Delta Theta Phi legal fraternity. She also holds multiple honorary degrees from Campbell University, Meredith College, Lees–McRae College and Testemitanu State University.^[5][7] She was a partner in Lillington, North Carolina law firms Bain & Marshall (1985–1992) and Marshall & Marshall (1993–1997).^[5][6]

From the early 1970s, she was active in the Young Democrats organization and eventually became National Secretary of the Young Democrats of America. In Harnett County, where she practiced law, Marshall served in 1983–1987 as President of Democratic Women and in 1991–1992 served as chair of the Harnett County Democratic Party.^[5]

Marshall has five stepchildren and seven grandchildren.^[21]

Marshall married attorney Bill Holdford in 2001. Holdford had two daughters from a previous relationship. He died in 2009 from cancer.^[22][23] Marshall married J. Thomas "Tommy" Bunn in 2017.^[24]