Sen. Martin Nesbitt of Asheville elected NC Senate majority leader

RALEIGH — Senate Democrats today unanimously chose Martin Nesbitt as Senate majority leader, picking an experienced legislator from Asheville to lead them into their most important election in a decade.

Majority leader is the No. 2 post in the Senate and in recent years has been one of the most powerful positions in state government.

It's the highest a Western North Carolina legislator has risen since Nesbitt fell from the House's top leadership in 1994, and perhaps since the days of House Speaker Liston Ramsey of Madison County.

Nesbitt, 63, has been in the legislature since Ramsey's tenure. He was appointed to his late mother's House seat in 1979.

Sen. Clark Jenkins of Edgecombe nominated Nesbitt for majority leader today and Sen. Tony Foriest of Alamance County seconded the nomination, according to Senate president pro tem Marc Basnight's office.

But Basnight was his most important backer. The Senate leader endorsed Nesbitt to be his top lieutenant just days after former Majority Leader Tony Rand announced he would leave the Senate.

Rand, who often sided with business and made the university system a priority, will be replaced by a mountain populist whose arguments frequently focus on how government can help the poor and less fortunate.

Nesbitt praised Rand but said the vote indicates a gradual shift in the Senate, which has many relatively new members.

"It's like a rebirth," he said. "We've retooled, we're ready to go forward and everybody's on board."