This story originally published online at NC Newsline.
Sen. Graig Meyer (D-Orange, Person and Caswell) will leave the General Assembly at the end of this month to become the new executive director of the North Carolina Justice Center.
Meyer, a veteran lawmaker who has served a combined 12 years in the N.C. House and the N.C. Senate, said he is ready for this next stage of public service.
“Politicians are really the receptacles of outside organizing power,” Meyer told NC Newsline. “If you really want change, you have to have communities that are organized and advocacy organizations that are communicating the intended change that you want your elected officials to enact.”
For 30 years, the N.C. Justice Center has worked to eliminate poverty and ensure that every North Carolinian has the opportunity to thrive.
Meyer, a leading voice for progressive causes, said the Raleigh-based nonprofit has the benefit of working across policy areas to help communities and elected officials understand how issues are interconnected.
“The Justice Center will continue to work on specific things like education policy, but also identify how they’re attached to health policy, immigration policy, economic policy,” explained Meyer, “and advocate for moving the big levers that bring good changes for people across all policy areas.”
Meyer’s resignation will be effective March 31st. The Democratic party’s local executive committee has an internal election process for identifying who will fill the seat and who will replace Meyer on the ballot for the November midterm election. By law, Gov. Josh Stein must appoint the person that the party selects. That appointment will likely occur before the short legislative session.
Meyer said there are many qualified people who could fill the seat, but he hopes that it will be someone who understands the three-county district, is willing to help support the party and will speak boldly in challenging moments.
From the Outside, Looking In
For the first time in more than a decade, Meyer will find himself speaking outside the halls of the N.C. General Assembly. His departure comes at a time when the two chambers are divided on a comprehensive state budget, and grappling with federal cuts that will impact Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
Meyer believes the Justice Center can be a strong voice for progressive policy solutions, and that may involve some unlikely coalitions.
“For instance, on housing, I think there’s the possibility to build coalitions of people who traditionally have been on opposite sides of issues, but might actually have a shared interest in building more housing and more affordable housing in dense connected communities,” said Meyer.
“And where we’re not able to get things done in the General Assembly, then we should be working at the local level that might create some pressure for the General Assembly to do better, because they see it’s possible and people are starting to demand it,” he said.
Another thorny challenge will be getting the Republican-controlled legislature to rethink a 2025 decision to freeze grants from the Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts program. Blocking the awarding of new IOLTA grants cut off millions of dollars to groups like Legal Aid of North Carolina, Pisgah Legal Services, Disability Rights North Carolina, and the NC Justice Center. The fund also provided $970,000 to victims of Hurricane Helene in 2024 who needed legal aid after the natural disaster.
At an October 2025 hearing, Rep. Harry Warren (R-Rowan) accused the IOLTA board of “going rogue”and funding groups with “leftist ideologies.”
Meyer said the litigation that the Justice Center does on behalf of working people is generally legal work that a for-profit firm won’t do.
“If people don’t have the personal wherewithal to go up against someone in court who has more money than they do, then they usually have to walk away from terrible situations,” Meyer said. “If no one fights those battles in court, then we allow exploitation to go on unchecked.”
Meyer said constituents in every district in the state benefit from the IOLTA funds.
“We can address the concerns that we’ve heard from the Speaker of the House and other legislators and still continue to provide services to people who need it,” said Meyer.
For now, IOLTA funds remain frozen until June 30, 2026.
A Push Toward Accountability and Away from Negativity
In the last legislative session, Meyer introduced legislation that would increase reporting standards on school vouchers, and increase transparency in the budget process, giving the public more notice before the state budget could be adopted. That bill would have also removed legislative confidentiality from lawmakers requesting funding in the appropriations bill. Yet another bill of Meyer’s would have made all redistricting documents public records.
The move for greater accountability comes after legislators included in the state budget a provision toexempt themselves from the state’s public records law.
Some Democrats have expressed frustration that many of the bills they view as common sense have never once been debated by the majority party.
Meyer understands that frustration, exacerbated by a toxic national political climate that is turning many people off.
He says it’s time for advocacy and policy organizations to strategically plan for a decade plus of progress. And he’s urging progressives to avoid the trap of “fighting hate with more hate.”
“That’s what I want to do with this next stage of my leadership,” said Meyer. “I want to help North Carolinians who really believe that we should all take care of each other and support each other,” Meyer said. “Everyone should have the opportunities that the most fortunate among us have.”
Meyer begins work at the N.C. Justice Center in April.
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