Kate Woods

Chuck Baker, who filed in February to seek the District 3 seat on the Lee County Board of Commissioners in November, has withdrawn from the race and will be replaced with fellow Democrat Kate Woods.

“I’m working both full and part time, and I just didn’t feel like I would have the time and resources” to go through with a campaign for the seat, Baker said Thursday. Baker also sought the seat back in 2014.

The District 3 seat is currently held by Republican Andre Knecht and covers most of Lee County’s southern portion.

Woods, 36, has worked at the Carolina Trace Country Club for the past seven years, and has been the organization’s director of catering and events for the past year. Woods said she was approached by the Lee County Democratic Party about filling the ballot vacancy but noted that public office was something she “had considered for years.”

“At 8 years old, I was one of those girls who wanted to be the first woman president,” she said, noting that she’s also the vice president of her home owner’s association and has three children in Lee County’s public schools.