Wood successfully challenged incumbent State Auditor Les Merritt in the 2008 election and was sworn-in the following January.
After being indicted on a misdemeanor charge of misusing a state-issued vehicle, Wood announced that she would resign as state auditor, effective December 15, 2023.
[1][4] After deciding she wanted to make more money, she enrolled at East Carolina University in 1982 to study accounting[2] and earned her Bachelor's of Science degree two years later.
[6] During the 2008 campaign Wood accused Merritt of making partisan investigations,[2] particularly his decision to release a critical audit shortly before the election of trips to Europe in which state officials and First Lady of North Carolina Mary P. Easley spent $110,000.
Wood was narrowly re-elected to a third term as state auditor in the 2016 general election over Republican Chuck Stuber by just 6,042 votes, margin of 0.14 percent.
[12] In 2013 Wood's office found that North Carolina spent the highest administration costs in the implementation of the Medicaid program among all the states.
Auditors suggested that organizational issues in the Department of Health and Human Services led the state to spend $180 million more than necessary to administer the program.
[13] In 2017 the auditor's office found that the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services had not penalized some dairies' milk gradings despite recurrent sanitation and pest control violations.
Wood countered by accusing the department of failing to follow its own inspection procedures and suggested that it was struggling to balance its responsibilities regarding both the regulation and promotion of agricultural products.
[13] Wood later reimbursed the state and the owner of the other car for the damages and towing costs incurred, saying in a statement on February 28, "[A]ll I can do moving forward is take responsibility for the accident and fix what was broken.
[22] After being indicted on a misdemeanor charge of misusing a state-issue vehicle, Wood announced that she would resign as state auditor effective December 15, 2023.
[24] Wood later criticized the selection of Holmes, stating that her chief deputy in the auditor's office was better qualified to run the agency until the next election.