After 17 years serving Orange County as one of the most liberal voices in the N.C. Senate, Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, is leaving an increasingly conservative legislature.
Kinnaird, 81, announced Monday that she was resigning from her seat to pursue a grassroots project to make sure people can still vote following the legislature’s passage of a bill that will require voters to have a government-issued photo ID.
“It’s a difficult decision, but one that I made feeling confident that it was the right decision,” Kinnaird said in an interview. “I could not accomplish anything in the second session.”
The N.C. General Assembly adjourned from its regular session late last month, and the short session is in May. Kinnaird, who is in her ninth term in the N.C. Senate, said she will work with churches and community groups to ensure that people have an appropriate photo ID and know where they’re voting. She said now, if voters go to the wrong precinct, their vote will not count.
“I’ve been working for several months on this, and I realized it was something that could really make a difference,” she said. “Perhaps we could turn this tide, that’s the goal.”
Finding a replacement
Ferrel Guillory, a UNC journalism professor who specializes in Southern politics, said Kinnaird has been one of the most liberal state legislators.
“She has been the quintessential Orange County representative in the legislature,” he said. “She’s been less effective in the last few years because she’s been the minority, but she’s had a long and distinguished career in both the local and the state government.
“I don’t think anybody would begrudge her the opportunity to resign and open up the seat for someone else — let a new leader emerge.”