| Lorene T. Coates | |
| Office: | Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives |
| Term Start: | January 1, 2001 |
| Term End: | January 1, 2011 |
| Predecessor: | Charlotte Ancher Gardner |
| Successor: | Harry Warren |
| Constituency: | 35th District (2001-2003) 77th District (2003-2011) |
| Birth Date: | 13 January 1936 |
| Birth Place: | Rowan County, North Carolina |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Residence: | Salisbury, North Carolina |
| Occupation: | Retired |
Lorene Thomason Coates (born January 13, 1936)[1] [2] is an American former politician who served as a Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the seventy-seventh House district, including constituents in Rowan county from 2001 to 2011.
A retiree from Salisbury, North Carolina, she worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She has hosted a weekly radio show and for twenty years wrote a newspaper column in the Salisbury Post.[3]
On March 30, 2006, she gained distinction by being the first Democratic member of the House to publicly call for House Speaker Jim Black, a fellow Democrat, to step down from his post as Speaker following investigations of his misconduct.[4] Black later resigned from the House and pleaded guilty to a felony charge of public corruption.[5]
In 2007 she announced her support for John Edwards' presidential campaign.[6]
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