The North Carolina State Senate will see considerable turnover in the Democratic Leadership by the end of 2010. Democrats currently hold a 30-20 majority, and have controlled the Senate Chamber since the 1870s. All members face re-election every 2 years.
3 Democrats have announced they will not run in 2010, and Majority Leader Tony Rand resigned today to accept a new position in state government. The retirements include 3 (now 4) of the 5 most senior Democrats in the Senate.
1/17 Update – Another retirement announced – Sen Charlie Albertson will not run in 2010.
Majority Leader Tony Rand has resigned after 27 years to accept Governor Bev Perdue’s appointment as Chair of the State Parole Commission. Gov Perdue will appoint Rand’s replacement.
http://www.fayobserver.com/Art…
Sen David Hoyle, co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, has announced he will not run for re-election in 2010 after serving for 18 years in the State Senate.
http://jackbetts.blogspot.com/…
Sen Julia Boseman has announced she won’t seek a 4th term in 2010. Boseman is NC’s only openly gay or lesbian legislator.
http://www.starnewsonline.com/…
Sen RC Soles, Chairman of the Commerce Committee and NC’s longest serving State Senator, has announced he will not run for re-election in 2010. Soles was first elected to the Legislature in 1968, serving 40 years. Soles shot and wounded an intruder in his home earlier this year, and may face charges.
http://www.wral.com/news/state…
The seats held by Hoyle, Boseman, and Soles were all considered competitive in 2008.
http://www.wral.com/news/local…
1/17 update: Sen Charlie Albertson announced Friday he will not run for re-election in 2010. His district #10 is a D +3 district. Albertson has served in the legislature for 20 years. He is the 3rd most senior Democrat in the Senate.
http://www.wral.com/news/local…
Given the insider trading allegations facing him (http://www.fayobserver.com/Articles/2009/12/20/961209), along with ethical problems surrounding former Gov. Easley, it is probably better for NC Democrats that he is giving up his Senate seat, regardless of whether the allegations are true.
I would give the GOP about a significant chance of taking the NC Senate (defined as getting 26 seats, not a tie)
http://www.nccivitas.org/n-c-p…
It’s PVI calculated for NC’s Senate districts. Rand’s district, at D+4, should be pretty easy to hold. Boseman and Soles represent neighboring R+3 districts in a locally Democratic part of the state, the southeast, so those are tossups at worst. Hoyle’s district is the really tough one. It’s in Gaston County, a suburb of Charlotte, and is R+10. Barring a really strong Democrat or a really weak Republican, it’s likely gone.
Perdue appointed him as head of the Governor’s Highway Safety Program during the fall, so he resigned and a replacement was appointed shortly after. His district is minority-majority and is made up of Hoke and Robeson counties. It went for Obama with 57%, and is even more Democratic on the local level. The new senator, Michael Walters, has never faced the voters before, but he should be okay barring catastrophe.
There is something important to remember about these two Senate seats, especially if Soles has to resign before his term ends and before the election. Under NC law, the state senatorial party executive committees of the same party as the incumbent choose the replacement for that person, who Governor Perdue MUST then appoint to the Senate (thus she has appointed Republicans to some of the seats this session). So Rand’s seat will not necessarily be open, it will have an incumbent running, who may or may not be well known to voters. But his seat is Democratic enough I don’t think it will give us any headaches.
Soles’ seat, on the other hand, will be much more competitive. It swung to the right in 2008, with McCain winning Pender and Brunswick counties (on the coast) with 57% and 58%. He won the other county in the district, Columbus, with only 53%, but McCain actually IMPROVED on Bush’s performance despite the fact that it is 31% and Soles’ home county. It may be easier to hold without Soles on the ballot due to the scandals surrounding Soles.
Former state Rep. David Redwine from Brunswick County will probably end up seeking the Democratic nomination and should be a good choice to hold the seat. I wonder if it would be easier for him to win as an appointed incumbent or as a candidate for the open seat?