Martin Luther Nesbitt Jr. (September 25, 1946 – March 6, 2014) was a Democratic 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 ...

. He represented the 49th district (

Buncombe County Buncombe County ( )Talk Like a Tarheel
, from the North Carolina C ...

). An attorney from

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...

, Nesbitt was elected to eleven terms in the

state House State House or statehouse may refer to: Buildings *Aso Villa or State House, the official residence of the President of Nigeria *Government House, Dominica or The State House, the official residence of the President of Dominica * State House, Bar ...

before moving to the state senate in 2004.

Political career

Nesbitt was first appointed to the House in 1979 to fill out the remainder of the term of his mother, Mary Cordell Nesbitt, who held the House seat until her death. Groomed by one of North Carolina's most famous and influential politicians, Liston Ramsey, Nesbitt rose to become an appropriations chairman and top budget writer in the 1990s. Former Speaker of the House

Jim Black Jim Black is an American jazz drummer who has performed with Tim Berne and Dave Douglas. He attended Berklee College of Music. Career His band AlasNoAxis includes Hilmar Jensson on electric guitar, Chris Speed on tenor saxophone and clari ...

(who was later incarcerated) found disfavor with Nesbitt after Nesbitt challenged his power in the early 2000s. In February 2004, Martin Nesbitt was appointed to the North Carolina Senate by 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 ...

to fill the vacant seat left by the resignation of

Steve Metcalf Stephen Michael Metcalf is an American lobbyist and former politician. He was a Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state's forty-ninth Senate district, including constituents in Buncombe county. A managem ...

. After moving to the Senate, Nesbitt rose to become chairman of the powerful Judiciary I Civil Committee. Nesbitt was unanimously elected majority leader on November 17, 2009, replacing

Tony Rand Anthony Eden Rand (September 1, 1939 – May 1, 2020) was an American attorney and politician who served as a member of the North Carolina General Assembly from 1981 to 1989 and again from 1995 to 2009. Early life Rand was born in southern Wake ...

. Prior to his election, he received an endorsement from Senate President Pro Tempore

Marc Basnight Marc Basnight (May 13, 1947 – December 28, 2020) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the North Carolina State Senate, representing the 1st district, from 1984 through his resignation just before the start of what w ...

, a powerful nod in North Carolina politics. After Democrats lost their Senate majority in the 2010 elections, Nesbitt was unanimously elected minority leader for the next legislature. He stepped down as minority leader in 2014 for health reasons, and was succeeded by Sen. Daniel T. Blue Jr. Within two days of resigning from the leadership, Nesbitt died.

Committees

Nesbitt was in several senate committees: *Appropriations/Base Budget *Commerce *Finance *Judiciary I *Mental Health & Youth Services *Redistricting *Rules and Operations of the Senate *State and Local Government

Education and personal life

Nesbitt earned his bachelor's degree from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

in 1970 and his law degree from UNC in 1973. He was married with two grown children and two grandchildren at the time of his death. He died on March 6, 2014, one week after being diagnosed with stomach cancer. He was 67.

Electoral history

2012

2010

2008

2006

2004

2002

Legacy

Martin L. Nesbitt Discovery Academy, a

STEM Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

high school in

, is named in his honor.Buncombe schools to dedicate Nesbitt Discovery Academy
" ''Asheville Citizen-Times,'' Sep. 20, 2014. Retrieved Feb. 16, 2024.

References

External links

Official site
, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nesbitt, Martin Democratic Party North Carolina state senators Democratic Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives North Carolina lawyers 2014 deaths 1946 births University of North Carolina School of Law alumni Politicians from Asheville, North Carolina Deaths from stomach cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in North Carolina 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century members of the North Carolina General Assembly