TARBORO – One local woman has been chosen to be a delegate for Barack Obama in the National Democratic Convention.

It’s an honor that no one else in the Roanoke-Chowan area shares.

Emma Johnson, a Bertie County Board of Education member and former Bertie Board of Elections member, was elected Saturday at Edgecomb Community College, one of four in the First Congressional District to be picked for the job.

Johnson, an Aulander resident, was born in Roxobel and has lived in Bertie County her entire life.

&uot;This is so amazing because I had no idea I would be elected when there were so many others who wanted to become a delegate and attend too,&uot; Johnson told the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald.

The National Democratic Convention for which Johnson is to be a delegate is set to be held in Denver, Colorado in August.

Johnson said she has always been active in the Democratic Party, but has never before had the opportunity to attend the national convention.

She is on the trustee board at her church, Sandy Branch Baptist in Roxobel, and serves as secretary/treasurer for the Exodus for Youth non-profit organization.

Johnson is also a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

She retired in 1995 from Hertford County Schools, where she served as a librarian at the middle school.

Johnson earned her undergraduate degree in English and French before continuing on to East Carolina University where she received her Master’s in library science.

She has served on the Board of Education since June 2007 and prior to that was a Board of Elections member for two years.