Durham's Michaux, longest-serving legislator, to retire

Rep. Mickey Michaux, D-Durham, the longest-tenured member of the General Assembly, announced Thursday that he plans to retire.

Michaux, 87, a Durham native and North Carolina Central University alumnus, has served in the House since 1983. He also served from 1973 to 1977. In between those stints in the legislature, he was the first black person to serve as a U.S. attorney in North Carolina since Reconstruction.

A civil rights activist during the 1960s, he has fought to preserve voting rights protections and warned against changes to election laws he said would harm black voters.

Michaux has held various leadership positions during his decades in the House, including senior budget chairman.

"Rep. Mickey Michaux is one of the finest people to ever serve North Carolina. A giant of Durham and North Carolina politics, he has worked tirelessly for more than 50 years to create a forward-looking, inclusive North Carolina where the color of one’s skin mattered less than what they believed in their heart," Wayne Goodwin, chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party, said in a statement.

For decades, Mickey Michaux has fought for justice in North Carolina and is a legend in the fight for civil rights. Thank you for your enduring commitment to public service and to the people of North Carolina. Your presence will be missed in the NCGA. - RC

— Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) February 9, 2018

"For decades, Mickey Michaux has fought for justice in North Carolina and is a legend in the fight for civil rights. Thank you for your enduring commitment to public service and to the people of North Carolina. Your presence will be missed in the NCGA," Gov. Roy Cooper tweeted.