One of the state’s most powerful lawmakers, Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, will resign before the end of the year, according to this report.?5:35 p.m. update: The report also indicates Rand will become chairman of the state Parole Board.
His Republican counterpart, Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, issued the following statement:
?Senator Rand has had a long and distinguished career in the North Carolina Senate and maintained a deep respect for Senate traditions. While he and I have often disagreed on matters of policy, he was always someone who kept his word. Given the dramatic leftward drift of the State Senate Democratic Caucus, Senator Rand increasingly found his views at odds with his more liberal Democratic colleagues and that may have led to this decision.?
