Daniel T. Blue, Jr.
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Senator Dan Blue |
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| Member of the North Carolina Senate from the 14th district |
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Assumed office January 8, 2009 |
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| Preceded by | Vernon Malone |
| Minority Leader of the North Carolina Senate | |
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Assumed office March 2, 2014 |
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| Preceded by | Martin Nesbitt |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 18, 1949 Robeson County, North Carolina |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Edna |
| Residence | Raleigh, North Carolina |
| Alma mater | North Carolina Central University, Duke Law School |
| Profession | Attorney |
Daniel Terry Blue Jr. is a Democratic member of the North Carolina Senate, representing the state's 14th Senate district, and is the Senate minority leader.
Blue served in the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1981 through 2002 and from 2006 through his 2009 Senate appointment, representing a portion of the state capital, Raleigh.
Blue was the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1991 until 1994, when the Democrats lost control of the House to Republicans. Blue was the first--and to date, only--African American to hold the post of Speaker in North Carolina.
From 1998 to 1999, Blue served as the first African-American President of the National Conference of State Legislatures.
He sought unsuccessfully to regain his position as Speaker when the Democrats got back the majority in 1999, by forming a coalition of Democrats and Republicans that fell two votes shy of a majority. Blue remained in the House until he ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in 2002, in which he came in second place behind nominee Erskine Bowles and ahead of Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall.
Blue returned to the practice of law and was hired by Jeanne Bonds (former Mayor) to be a lobbyist for cities on energy issues affecting working families.
He was selected by his local Democratic Party to return to what was essentially his former seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives, after his successor, Bernard Allen, died while running unopposed in the November 2006 election. Democrats also voted to allow Allen's votes in the election to go toward Blue.
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