Representative George Moore Pritchard

George Moore Pritchard (January 4, 1886 – April 24, 1955) was an American lawyer and Republican politician who served one term as a United States Representative from North Carolina. He was born in Madison County, North Carolina, and was the son of Jeter Connelly Pritchard, a prominent Republican who served as a United States Senator from North Carolina, and Augusta Ray Pritchard. Growing up in a politically active family in the post-Reconstruction South, he was exposed early to public affairs and the workings of government, influences that helped shape his own career in law and politics.

Pritchard received his early education in the public schools of North Carolina and later pursued legal studies, following his father into the legal profession. After reading law and completing the requirements for admission to the bar, he began practicing as an attorney in North Carolina. His legal career provided the foundation for his entry into public life, as he developed a reputation as a capable lawyer and an active member of the Republican Party in a state where Republicans were often in the minority.

Pritchard’s formal political career began in state government. He was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives and served in that body in 1916 and 1917. During his tenure in the state legislature, he participated in the legislative process at a time when North Carolina was undergoing social and economic changes in the early twentieth century. His service in the General Assembly helped establish him as a significant Republican figure in the state and prepared him for higher office.

In 1928, Pritchard was elected as a Republican to the 71st United States Congress from North Carolina’s 10th congressional district. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1929, to March 3, 1931. His term in Congress coincided with a pivotal period in American history, including the onset of the Great Depression following the stock market crash of October 1929. As a member of the House of Representatives, Pritchard contributed to the legislative process and represented the interests of his constituents in western North Carolina, participating in debates and votes on national economic and policy issues during a time of growing financial crisis.

Rather than seek re-election to the House in 1930, Pritchard chose to run for the United States Senate. He was the Republican nominee in the 1930 Senate race but was defeated by Democrat Josiah W. Bailey. This campaign took place in a political climate dominated by the Democratic Party in the South, and his loss reflected the broader challenges Republicans faced in the region during that era. After this defeat, he returned to his legal practice but remained an active and persistent figure in North Carolina Republican politics.

Pritchard continued to seek high office in the following decades, mounting several notable but ultimately unsuccessful campaigns. He ran for Governor of North Carolina in 1940 and again in 1948, each time as the Republican standard-bearer in a state still firmly controlled by Democrats. In 1952, he sought a return to Congress by running for the U.S. House of Representatives, but this effort also ended in defeat. Despite these setbacks, his repeated candidacies underscored his enduring prominence within the state Republican Party and his commitment to offering an alternative to Democratic dominance in North Carolina.

George Moore Pritchard spent his later years engaged in the practice of law and in party affairs, remaining a respected elder statesman among North Carolina Republicans. He died on April 24, 1955. Through his service in the North Carolina House of Representatives, his term in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1929 to 1931, and his numerous statewide campaigns, Pritchard played a visible role in the political life of North Carolina during the first half of the twentieth century.