RALEIGH — Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) will become the longest-serving state legislative leader in the country, reported Pluribus News. The longtime Rockingham County state senator has led the North Carolina Senate since 2011.
First elected to the chamber in 2000, Berger became the Senate’s minority leader in 2005 and served in that role for six years.
Berger becomes the longest-serving leader following the departure of Democratic Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney, who is stepping down from leadership at the end of 2022.
“I never expected to be the president pro tem of the Senate,” Berger told Pluribus News. “As a body, the Senate over the past 12-plus years has changed the trajectory of North Carolina and the direction. I’m obviously very pleased to have been a part of that, and I think the state is demonstrably in a better position now than it was when we took over.”
