Buncombe County's Martin Nesbitt gains No. 2 spot in NC Senate
Martin Nesbitt isn't known for toeing the party line. Over nearly three decades in the House and Senate, he has been a loyal lieutenant of some Democratic leaders and a thorn in the side of others.
But in his new job, the Asheville senator will try to keep 30 Senate Democrats speaking with one voice.
“I'm changing roles right now. I've been a warrior,” Nesbitt said, emerging from the room where Democratic senators voted unanimously Tuesday to name him Senate majority leader.
The new post is the highest a mountain legislator has risen to since Nesbitt was a top House budget writer in the early 1990s and perhaps since the days of the late House Speaker Liston Ramsey, of Madison County.
In the Senate's No. 2 job — in recent years, one of the most powerful in the state — Nesbitt will take the lead in deciding what's on Senate Democrats' agenda headed into their most important election in a decade.
“It carries a lot of weight with it,” said Ran Coble, executive director of the nonpartisan N.C. Center for Public Policy Research. “I think it means that the issues that are of interest to people in the mountains will always get a hearing and probably will get high attention from the Senate.”
Nesbitt said the new post will change nothing about his willingness to say what's on his mind.
“Pouring concrete on me won't fix that,” he said. “But at the end of the day I'm going to be trying to help this caucus get to where it wants to go.”
Time will tell how Nesbitt's confrontational style will mesh with the leadership of Senate leader Marc Basnight, who endorsed him to be his top lieutenant.
Basnight has guided the Senate's path since 1993, mostly with Sen. Tony Rand at his side. It has tended to be more tightly controlled than the House and more likely to side with business.
Rand is leaving the Senate to chair the state Parole Board. His replacement as majority leader is a populist whose arguments frequently focus on how government can help the poor and less fortunate.
Defending the underdog
Nesbitt has cultivated a reputation as a mountain populist, echoing mentors like Ramsey.
It's a philosophy that centers on trying to help the average Joe, a perspective Nesbitt delivers in a distinctive baritone and peppers with folksy turns of phrase.
“I've heard him, time after time, talk about the working man or the little man in budget debates,” said Chris Fitzsimon, executive director of the liberal N.C. Policy Watch.
That attitude and the issues he has supported have made Nesbitt a favorite of some liberal groups, though Nesbitt himself says liberal and conservative labels are outdated.
He helped shepherd a bill through the Senate this year that will allow for more explicit sex education in schools. He has sought unsuccessfully to fund programs giving clean needles to intravenous drug users.
In the Senate, Nesbitt has focused most of his attention on the mental health system.
He dived into the issue as it became clear that a reform effort by legislators and former Gov. Mike Easley's administration had gone awry, leaving patients struggling to find care.
“He's got a crackerjack mind, and he has a lot of compassion. I'd say he's looking out for the underdog,” said former Rep. Marie Colton, of Asheville, another Nesbitt mentor who sat next to his mother, Mary, and then her son on the House floor.
Shifting Senate
John Hood, president of the conservative John Locke Foundation, said he expects business lobbies to have a harder time preventing legislation on economic issues like taxes, labor and health care from receiving a hearing.
Nesbitt “is simply closer to the left of the Democratic Party than Tony Rand was,” he said.
Whatever the label, Nesbitt's ascension to leadership is another sign the Senate has shifted as the old guard is gradually replaced.
“It's like a rebirth,” Nesbitt said. “We've retooled, we're ready to go forward, and everybody's on board.”
Observers like Hood and Fitzsimon predicted more of the Senate's business might happen in the open.
Under Basnight and Rand, key decisions about the state budget have been made in private.
In his role as Rules Committee chairman, it was common for Rand to prevent votes on Republican amendments that might embarrass Democrats come election time. Democrats, including Nesbitt, voted to support Rand's parliamentary maneuvers.
A new rules chairman has not been named, and Nesbitt won't get the job. But he is likely to play a role in the budget negotiations. Fitzsimon, who as an aide to then-Speaker Dan Blue watched Nesbitt write budgets, said he pushed the process toward openness.
Hammering out agreement
One of Nesbitt's biggest accomplishments came with 2002 passage of the Clean Smokestacks Act, forcing power plants to cut down on toxic emissions.
Former Sen. Steve Metcalf, a Weaverville Democrat who was Nesbitt's partner on the smokestacks legislation, said he could tell during their push that Nesbitt loves the legislative process and has mastered it.
“He was very good at bringing folks in to the room, sitting down and saying, ‘We need a bill out of this, fellas,'” Metcalf said.
Two years of such negotiations won support from business interests, Nesbitt said.
That kind of practical politics is the reason the public policy center ranked Nesbitt in the top 25 most effective of 120 House members in every term after his first one and among the 15 most effective of 50 senators.
When he's not in Raleigh or at his Asheville law firm, he can be found on the track as crew chief for his son Mart's stock car racing team.
The role has led to political headaches. His opponents and a former state auditor questioned if having Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina as the team's former sponsor was a conflict of interest, given the insurer's business with the state.
But it could be good experience now that he's in a role that might be described as crew chief for Senate Democrats heading into the 2010 elections, which will decide which party redraws legislative and Congressional districts.
In the meantime, he'll spend plenty more time on the 250-mile drive to Raleigh.
He's put 210,000 miles on his 1999 Cadillac DeVille.
“My biggest problem is, I've got to buy another car,” he said.
Martin Nesbitt: Warrior to Majority Leader
Senate Democrats elected Sen. Martin Nesbitt, a racing crew chief and self-described mountain populist from Asheville, as their new majority leader today.
Nesbitt quickly tried to quell any fears – or hopes, depending on the perspective – that he would steer the Senate down a more liberal course.
"I’m changing roles now," Nesbitt said after his unanimous election. "I’ve been a warrior…I’ll still have my opinions, and I’ll express them…but at the end of the day I’ll be about trying to help this caucus get where it wants to go."
Nesbitt’s tenure in the legislature started in 1979 and was interrupted once, when he lost his House seat in 1994 during the Republican tide that year. The GOP has hopes of riding voter discontent to a similar sweep next year, and Nesbitt said the lessons learned from 15 years ago will be invaluable as he helps Democrats prepare.
"There are very few things that I’m the most qualified for," he said, "but getting us through this election is one of them."
Martin Nesbitt, a Lawyer, also runs the racing operations for his son, Mart, who races in the USAR Pro Cup series.
NC Senator Dan Clodfelter boxed out
Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight's endorsement of Sen. Martin Nesbitt, of Asheville, for majority leader has left Sen. Dan Clodfelter, of Charlotte, with few directions to go to pursue the job.
Basnight, of Manteo, wrote to his Democratic colleagues on Friday encouraging them to support Nesbitt to replace outgoing Majority Leader Tony Rand, of Fayetteville.
"For our state to endure these difficult economic times, we need to focus all of our energies and efforts on creating jobs, improving education and health care, and giving everyone in North Carolina a chance at success," Basnight wrote. "Martin Nesbitt has fought for these important priorities throughout his decades of public service."
Several Democratic senators last week said Clodfelter was running for the majority leader's job, but the same day Basnight's letter appeared, Clodfelter refused to say whether he was a candidate.
The difficulty for him is that Nesbitt carries considerable loyalty among the more liberal wing of the Democratic caucus, while the more conservative and business-oriented side of the party remains loyal to Basnight. Those obstacles, along with Clodfelter's history of irritating colleagues with his brusque manner, leave a limited number of senators from whom Clodfelter might gain support.
NC Senator Dan Clodfelter sees hurdles in path to leader post
The shuffle to fill what is effectively the No. 2 post in the N.C. Senate has left Sen. Dan Clodfelter of Charlotte with few directions to pursue the job.
Senate Democrats are tentatively scheduled to meet next Tuesday to elect a new majority leader.
Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight endorsed Asheville Sen. Martin Nesbitt for Senate majority leader in a letter to his fellow Democratic senators on Friday.
Basnight, of Manteo, praised Nesbitt as a replacement for outgoing Majority Leader Tony Rand of Fayetteville, who last week announced plans to resign.
Several Democratic senators last week said Clodfelter was running for the majority leader's job. The same day Basnight's letter appeared, Clodfelter urged senators not to move quickly to fill the majority leader's post, but he wavered as to whether he was a candidate.
"I'm not at that point," Clodfelter told the Asheville Citizen-Times, before adding: "I'm not telling you I'm not a candidate."
He has not returned repeated phone calls and e-mails from the Observer
The difficulty for Clodfelter is that Nesbitt carries considerable loyalty among the more liberal wing of the Democratic caucus, while the more conservative side remains loyal to Basnight.
Those obstacles, along with Clodfelter's history of irritating colleagues with his brusque manner, leave a limited number of senators from whom Clodfelter might gain support.
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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, Under The Dome, Asheville Citizen Times, Charlotte Observer, NCGS, NCDP,Youtube, Google Maps
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