State Sen. Graig Meyer, D-Orange, announced Monday that he'll resign from the Senate later this month. The Democrat is leaving the legislature to take a new job as executive director of the North Carolina Justice Center, a left-leaning advocacy group.
"This is the opportunity that I have long hoped would be the next stage of my service to North Carolina," Meyer said in a lengthy Facebook post. "Over the next decade, I believe that the NC Justice Center must be one of the core sources of energy and strategy for moving our state beyond the current conservative era."
Meyer has served in the legislature since 2013. Democratic Party leaders from his district in Caswell and Orange counties will meet soon to pick someone to finish his term after he leaves March 31. Gov. Josh Stein will then formally appoint that person.
And because this year's primary election is already over, that group of Democratic Party leaders will also need to pick someone to replace Meyer on this November's ballot for a two-year Senate term. Meyer's current district leans heavily to the left, so it's likely whoever Democrats pick for the race will win.
Meyer says he won't be involved in the process to select his successor, but he hinted that a current N.C. House member might be considered.
"It is important that the Democratic Party has time to select someone prior to the General Assembly beginning our 2026 short session on April 20," he wrote. "And should the party select a current member of the House to my seat, then there also must be time to make a second appointment."
Orange County's House representatives are Reps. Renee Price and Allen Buansi. Meyer himself made the jump from the House to Senate a few years ago when then-Sen. Valerie Foushee moved up to Congress.
At the N.C. Justice Center, Meyer will replace Reggie Shuford, who left the executive director role last year to take a new position as president and CEO of the Philadelphia-based Independence Foundation. Another former legislator, Rick Glazier, has also held the position in the past.
