Daniel Terry Blue Jr. (born April 18, 1949) is an American politician and attorney serving as a member of the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the Upper house, 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 ...

, representing the state's 14th Senate district, and was the Senate minority leader.

Early life and education

Blue graduated from

North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliati ...

and the

Duke University School of Law The Duke University School of Law is the law school of Duke University, a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. One of Duke's 10 schools and colleges, the School of Law is a constituent academic unit that began in 1868 as the ...

, establishing a law practice in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

. He is a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the ...

fraternity.

Career

North Carolina Senate

In 2009, Blue was selected by local Democrats to take the place of Sen.

Vernon Malone Vernon Malone (December 20, 1931 – April 18, 2009) was a Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state's fourteenth Senate district from 2003 until his death in 2009. His district included constituents in ...

, who died in office. He joined the Senate on May 19, 2009. In 2014, Blue was elected Senate minority leader by his Democratic colleagues when Sen. Martin L. Nesbitt had to step down abruptly due to health issues. Blue was elected to a full term as minority leader after the 2014 elections.

North Carolina House

Blue served in the

North Carolina House of Representatives The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Speaker of the House, who holds powers si ...

from 1981 through 2002 and from 2006 through his 2009 Senate appointment, representing a portion of the state capital,

Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

. Blue was the

Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives The speaker of the North Carolina North Carolina House of Representatives, House of Representatives is the presiding officer of one of the houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The speaker is elected by the members of the house when the ...

from 1991 until 1994, when the Democrats lost control of the House to Republicans. Blue was the first—and to date, only--

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

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 The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), established in 1975, is a "nonpartisan public officials' association composed of sitting state legislators" from the states, territories and commonwealths of the United States. Background ...

. 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 The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

in 2002, in which he came in second place behind nominee

Erskine Bowles Erskine Boyce Bowles ( ; born August 8, 1945) is an American businessman and political figure from North Carolina. He served as the 19th White House Chief of Staff from January 1997 to October 1998, under President Bill Clinton, and as the p ...

and ahead of Secretary of State

Elaine Marshall Elaine Folk Marshall (born November 18, 1945) is an American attorney and politician who has served as the North Carolina Secretary of State since 1997. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she is the first woman ...

. 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. Governor

Mike Easley Michael Francis Easley (born March 23, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the List of Governors of North Carolina, 72nd governor of North Carolina from 2001 to 2009. He is the first governor of North Carolina to have been ...

, obligated to accept the nomination of the party, appointed Blue to the legislature on November 2, 2006. He served the remaining months of Allen's term and then took his seat for a full term in January 2007.

Other work

Blue serves on Duke University's board of trustees and was elected chairman in 2009. He was the first African American to chair Duke's board. After leaving the

, Blue returned to his private law practice and was hired as a lobbyist for cities on energy issues.

Personal life

Blue and his wife, Edna, have three children. His daughter Kanika, is a law professor at

Campbell Law School The Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law (also known as Campbell Law School or Campbell University School of Law) is a private law school in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1976, the law school is one of six graduate programs o ...

. Kanika is married to

Jeff Capel III Felton Jeffrey Capel III (born February 12, 1975) is an American college basketball coach and former player who is currently the head men's basketball coach at the University of Pittsburgh. He played for Duke University and was a head coach at V ...

, a college basketball coach. Blue's son, Dan III, ran for

North Carolina State Treasurer The North Carolina State Treasurer is a statewide elected office in the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina responsible for overseeing the financial operations of state government. The current state treasurer is Brad Briner. The office o ...

in the 2016 elections.

References

External links

North Carolina General Assembly - Senator Dan Blue
official NC Senate website
Project Vote Smart - Representative Daniel Terry 'Dan' Blue Jr. (NC)
profile
News & Observer profile
*''Follow the Money'' - Dan Blue
2008200019981996
campaign contributions

''Thigpen, Blue, Stephens & Fellers'', attorney profile
The New Republic article
* , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Blue, Daniel T. Jr. 1949 births 20th-century members of the North Carolina General Assembly 20th-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century members of the North Carolina General Assembly African-American candidates for the United States Senate African-American state legislators in North Carolina Democratic Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives Democratic Party North Carolina state senators Duke University School of Law alumni Living people North Carolina Central University alumni North Carolina lawyers Politicians from Raleigh, North Carolina People from Lumberton, North Carolina Speakers of the North Carolina House of Representatives