State Sen. Graig Meyer Resigns March 31 to Lead N.C. Justice Center

Graig Meyer is leaving the North Carolina Senate to escape the grind of electoral politics, and he is not being subtle about why.

Meyer, the Democratic senator representing Orange, Person and Caswell counties, announced on March 9 that he will resign his Senate District 23 seat effective March 31 and become executive director of the Raleigh-based North Carolina Justice Center on April 8. The move ends more than a dozen years in the General Assembly that began with a 2013 appointment to the state House and will likely be remembered as a politically candid exit: Meyer said the new role allows him to work on policy "but avoiding internal party politics," and without "constantly competing in elections."

"I have given my all for these communities, and for the State of North Carolina, but of course I haven't come close to accomplishing all that I had dreamed when I entered the General Assembly back in 2013," Meyer wrote in a Facebook post announcing the transition. "We can and we must do better. For me that means leaving elected office and stepping into a new role. I am deeply humbled and beyond excited to share that I will become the next Executive Director of the North Carolina Justice Center. Ask my wife Kym or any of our closest friends and they will tell you that this is the opportunity that I have long hoped would be the next stage of my service to North Carolina."

Meyer has traced a parallel path to Valerie Foushee throughout his legislative career. He was appointed to the House's District 50 in 2013 to succeed Foushee, then won the Senate District 23 seat in 2022 when Foushee moved to Congress, capturing nearly two-thirds of the vote. He won re-election in 2024 over Republican Laura Pichardo and ran unopposed in the 2026 Democratic primary before announcing his departure. Before entering elected office, Meyer spent 16 years helping lead the Blue Ribbon Mentor-Advocate program in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.

At the NC Justice Center, Meyer will succeed Reggie Shuford, who left the executive director role last year to become president and CEO of the Philadelphia-based Independence Foundation. Former legislator Rick Glazier previously held the same position. Meyer described the organization, which focuses on public policy advocacy, research, and litigation for low-income, immigrant and working-class North Carolinians, as central to what comes next for progressive causes in the state. "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," he said.

He also laid out a specific policy vision for the role. "The Justice Center will continue to work on specific things like education policy, but also identify how they're attached to health policy, immigration policy, economic policy," Meyer said, "and advocate for moving the big levers that bring good changes for people across all policy areas."

His departure triggers a defined succession process. The Democratic Party's local executive committee covering Orange, Person and Caswell counties will hold an internal election to select a replacement, and Gov. Josh Stein is then required by law to appoint that person to serve out the remainder of Meyer's term and appear on the November ballot. Meyer has asked the party to complete that selection before the General Assembly convenes its 2026 short session on April 20, leaving a narrow window of roughly three weeks from his March 31 resignation.