RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A long-serving member in the North Carolina Senate announced Thursday that he’ll resign next week.
Sen. Jerry Tillman, a Randolph County Republican, disclosed his decision to step down during a brief speech on the Senate floor. The General Assembly worked late Thursday toward completing a legislative session that began in April.
Tillman, a retired public schoolteacher, administrator and coach, said it was time to step down. First elected to the Senate in 2002, Tillman is now in his ninth term, making him No. 2 on the seniority list among current chamber members behind Senate leader Phil Berger.
Tillman mentioned his age - he turns 80 in October - while explaining his decision to step down effective Tuesday.
“I’ve been very, very pleased to help people,” Tillman told reporters after his speech. “When you can help them, you have a good feeling and I’ve done that for 20 years. I feel like that it’s time for me to move on and give somebody else a chance to do this work.”
Tillman, one of two majority whips in the Senate and an education budget writer, said he was most proud of the tax relief laws and education reforms he helped pass.
Tillman has been a candidate to seek reelection this fall against Democrat Jane Ledwell Gant. Now Republican activists in Randolph and Guiford counties will pick a candidate to replace Tillman on the November ballot.
House Majority Leader Harry Brown of Onslow County, ranked No. 3 on the Senate seniority list, announced last year he wouldn’t seek reelection in 2020.
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