Representative George Cleveland Contact information

George Grant Cleveland, born on May 9, 1939, is a Republican member of the North Carolina House of Representatives. He has represented the 14th District, which includes constituents in eastern Onslow County, since 2005. He is a 25-year veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He currently resides in Jacksonville, North Carolina, where he has lived for over 25 years.

In 2012, Cleveland generated controversy when he stated that the state of North Carolina has “no one in the state of North Carolina living in extreme poverty” during a debate in the House regarding preschool funding. In a conflicting statement, the non-profit group Action for Children in North Carolina cited statistics claiming one in ten North Carolina children live in extreme poverty.

Cleveland first ran for the North Carolina House of Representatives in 2004, where he defeated incumbent Keith Williams in the Republican primary. He has been re-elected a total of 8 times, most recently in 2020. He was defeated for re-election in the 2024 primary by college student Wyatt Gable, someone just over one-quarter of his age.

In February 2017, Cleveland joined with Representatives Michael Speciale (R-Craven), and Larry Pittman (R-Cabarrus) in proposing a constitutional amendment that would allow North Carolina voters to repeal Article I, Section 4 of the North Carolina Constitution. This article declares “This State shall ever remain a member of the American Union; the people thereof are part of the American nation,” and prohibits the state from seceding from the United States of America, and its inclusion in North Carolina’s 1868 constitution was a condition for being readmitted into the Union after the Civil War.

During the 2017 session, Cleveland introduced a bill to budget the funds to purchase for the North Carolina State Highway Patrol three rescue helicopters. H.B. 1050 was introduced by Representative Cleveland in 2018. The bill worked to authorize the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs to apply for Federal Funds for the Expansion of Sandhills 4 State Vets Cemetery and Western Carolina State Cemetery.

As of the 2020 Census, North Carolina state representatives represented an average of 87,116 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 79,715 residents.