6-573: Don W. East (December 26, 1944 – October 22, 2012) was an American politician who served in the North Carolina Senate from 1995 to 2001 and from 2005 until his death in 2012. He died on October 22, 2012, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina , at age 67. This article about a North Carolina politician is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . North Carolina Senate Minority The North Carolina Senate
12-696: Is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly , which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives —the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina . The Senate has 50 members, and the term of office for each senator is two years. The Senate's prerogatives and powers are similar to those of the other house, the House of Representatives. Its members do, however, represent districts that are larger than those of their colleagues in
18-469: The House. The president of the Senate is the lieutenant governor of North Carolina , but the lieutenant governor has very limited powers and only votes to break a tie. Before the office of lieutenant governor was created in 1868, the Senate was presided over by a "speaker." After the 1988 election of James Carson Gardner , the first Republican lieutenant governor since Reconstruction , Democrats in control of
24-637: The Senate holds an impeachment trial , as in the federal system. If the governor or lieutenant governor is the official who has been impeached, the chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court presides. During the Reconstruction era , African Americans served in the state senate ( African-American officeholders during and following the Reconstruction era ). By 1874 four African Americans, all Republicans, were in
30-488: The Senate shifted most of the power held by the lieutenant governor to the senator who is elected president pro tempore (or pro-tem). The president pro tempore appoints members to standing committees of the Senate, and holds great sway over bills. According to the state constitution, the Senate is also the "Court for the Trial of Impeachments". The House of Representatives has the power to impeach state officials, after which
36-455: The body as Democrats had already regained a large majority 38 to 12. In 1920, Loula Roberts Platt , became the first woman to run for a seat in the state senate. The qualifications to be a senator are found in the state Constitution: "Each Senator, at the time of his election, shall be not less than 25 years of age, shall be a qualified voter of the State, and shall have resided in the State as
#370629