RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A top lieutenant to North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger announced on Tuesday his resignation from his Senate seat, creating a leadership vacancy as the Senate enters a more intense work period this year.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Paul Newton is retiring effective Wednesday evening “to pursue an opportunity outside of state government,” according to a statement from Senate Republicans. His specific plans weren’t immediately released.
Newton’s departure will mean that Republicans in the 34th Senate District will choose someone to fill his seat through the end of 2026. Senate Republicans also will have to meet to pick a new majority leader.
The majority leader presides at caucus meetings in which the majority party discusses policy issues and votes and is usually closely allied with the Senate president pro tempore — the position held by Berger.
Newton, 64, a former Duke Energy state president in North Carolina from Cabarrus County, joined the Senate in 2017 and was elected by his GOP colleagues after the 2022 elections to the majority leadership post.
As a majority leader or a committee chair, Newton helped get enacted laws that extended the GOP’s conservative tax policies; eliminated the three-day grace period for mail-in absentee ballots postmarked by the day of the election; and set greenhouse gas reduction mandates on electric power plants operated by Duke Energy.
“It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve the people of Cabarrus County for nearly a decade,” Newton said. “During that time, I’ve been able to play a small role in so many consequential pieces of legislation that have made an incredible impact on the lives of North Carolinians.”
In the statement, Berger called Newton a “valued voice and leader” who “provided a calm presence and wise counsel to many legislators during his time in Raleigh. He was always willing to tackle the tough subjects and never wavered from his convictions.”
The Senate’s bill-filing deadline was Tuesday. The Senate aims to approve a two-year state government budget proposal next month.