Republican state Rep. Bill McGee said Monday that he will not seek re-election this year after a decade in the 75th District seat.
Republican Donny Lambeth, chairman of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education, said he plans to run for the seat, which covers much of southern and southeastern Forsyth County.
The two men had lunch together Monday and discussed the transition, Lambeth said.
McGee, 75, said he is retiring to make more time for family, including his 95-year-old mother, wife and five grandchildren.
"Been decided for some time," McGee said. "I've been there 10 years. It's time to let somebody else have it."
Lambeth can remain school board chairman, under the board's rules, during the campaign and would need to resign only if he wins the House seat.
Lambeth is in his 18th year as school board chairman, and he was N.C. Baptist Hospital's chief financial officer for many years. More recently he served as hospital president, a position he relinquished recently as part of a long-term restructuring plan at the hospital.
Lambeth said his expertise in health care and education would make him a strong legislator, particularly since the majority of the state budget is spent on those areas. Asked if he could toe the party line if the General Assembly's Republican majority holds this year and looks to cut education funding or Medicaid reimbursements, Lambeth said he has "never been bashful about speaking my piece."
McGee is a former Clemmons village council member and mayor. He left the mayor's office for the assembly in 2002.
McGee said his favorite time in the legislature has been the past year and a half, when Republicans have held a majority in both chambers for the first time in more than a century.
"I think that the next session, we'll be there with the House, Senate and the governor's office," he said.
McGee said his notable legislative accomplishments dealt with driving. One change requires drivers to move over to give wider berth to law-enforcement and emergency personnel on the side of the road. Another made it illegal for vehicles, other than law-enforcement vehicles, to have front-facing blue lights.
McGee was a primary sponsor of both bills.
Formal candidate filing is slated for Feb. 13-29. Those dates could be pushed back to April, though, depending on how a legal challenge to North Carolina's election-district maps is resolved.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement