RALEIGH, N.C. — Dan Blue, a seminal figure in North Carolina politics for more than four decades, will no longer serve as leader of the Senate Democrats after more than a decade and will be replaced by another lawmaker from the Raleigh area.
The Senate Democratic Caucus has selected Sen. Sydney Batch as the minority leader heading into the next two-year session, the caucus said in a news release Monday after meeting privately.
Batch, a family law attorney who first joined the General Assembly in 2019, succeeds Blue, who before the leadership election “announced his desire to decline another term” as leader, the caucus release said.
“I am excited to pass the torch into the capable hands of Senator Batch,” Blue said in the release. No details about the vote have been released.
Blue, 75, first entered the Legislature as a member of the House of Representatives in 1981 and was elected North Carolina’s first — and still only — Black House Speaker a decade later. He held this position for four years until the Republicans took over the House.
He left the House of Representatives after an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate in 2002. He returned to the House of Representatives in 2006 and moved to the Senate in 2009, filling vacancies in both cases. Early 2014 Blue was elevated to the post of minority leader after then-Sen. Martin Nesbitt stepped aside due to an illness and died days later.
As minority leader, Blue is in the difficult position of finding ways to effectively push back against Republicans, who have had continuous control of the House since 2011. For several years in this role – including most of 2023 and all of 2024 – the Republican Party has had a veto-proof majority in every chamber of the General Assembly.
While referring to a “new chapter” in caucus leadership, Batch praised Blue on Monday for “bringing to the fore his many years of experience gained during a historic tenure in both chambers of the General Assembly to deliver results for the people of North Carolina.’
Blue, who was re-elected to Wake County’s Senate seat last month, did not immediately respond to a text message seeking comment.
During the next two-year session, which begins in January, Republicans will retain at least 30 of the 50 seats in the Senate. But barring changes in an unresolved district race, Republicans in the House of Representatives will fall just short of being able to exert veto control in their chamber — giving more leverage to Democratic Gov.-elect Josh Stein and his legislative allies.
Batch was first elected to the House in 2018 but lost a re-election bid two years later. She filled a Senate vacancy in early 2021 and was re-elected in 2022 and last month. Batch is a breast cancer survivor who has spoken out on issues related to health care and support for abortion rights.
Batch said the Democratic caucus “remains focused on creating a North Carolina where every resident can build the life he or she wants for their family and themselves, and we are prepared to work to get North Carolina back on track to get.”
The Senate Democratic Caucus also re-elected Sen. Jay Chaudhuri of Wake County as minority whip on Monday.
On Monday, the House Democratic Caucus re-elected Robert Reives of Chatham County to another two-year term as minority leader. Reives entered the House of Representatives in early 2014 and was elected to the House of Representatives Leader of the Democrats after the 2020 electionssucceeding then-Rep. Darren Jackson.