American politician from North Carolina
Josephus Lyman "Joe" Mavretic (born July 29, 1934) is a former Democratic public official and military veteran from North Carolina. Born in Currituck County,[1] he made his career as a Marine, graduating from the Naval War College and becoming a Marine fighter pilot, retiring at the rank of lieutenant colonel.[1][2][3] Mavretic had served 300 combat missions in Vietnam and recorded 3,000 hours of flight time.[4]
He retired from the Marines and returned to his home state. He came from a Democratic family and community, and he ran successfully for the North Carolina House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1980. He succeeded Jim Ezzell.[5] In spite of his party label, he admired President Ronald Reagan and was willing to buck his party on several issues.
Mavretic became nationally known when he led a bipartisan coalition to remove Liston Ramsey from the position of Speaker of the House.[2][6] He then served in that position from 1989 to 1990.[1][2][7]
He left the legislature in 1995 and retired to private life. He is now a panelist on the television news talk show NC Spin.[1][2][8]
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