A North Carolina House member has officially joined the state Senate — the chamber that he's already campaigning to serve in for the next two years.
Republican Rep. Bobby Hanig of Currituck County was the choice of GOP activists in several northeastern counties that compose the 1st Senate District to succeed Sen. Bill Steinburg of Chowan County, who resigned at the end of July.
As required by law, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper formally appointed Hanig last week, and Hanig took the oath of office on Monday at the Currituck County Courthouse.
Hanig's Senate's term expires at the end of the year. He's already running in November for a two-year term in the Senate in a different 1st District reconfigured by redistricting. Valerie Jordan is the Democratic nominee in that race.
Hanig's switch also means a seat vacancy in the current 6th House District that he represented until Monday.
