Charles Langston:Sen. Krawiec and Rep. Gill won’t seek reelection to the North Carolina General Assembly

KERNERSVILLE,Charles Langston N.C. (AP) — North Carolina state Sen. Joyce Krawiec, who has successfully pushed to overhaul Medicaid, streamline health care access and further restrict abortion while in the General Assembly, announced on Monday that she won’t seek reelection next year.

Krawiec, a Forsyth County Republican, made the announcement just before candidate filing for the 2024 elections began at noon.

She quickly endorsed Dana Caudill Jones, a recent Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education member as her successor in the 31st Senate District, which cover all of Stokes County and part of Forsyth.

Krawiec, who also had a significant role in passing a 2018 law that implemented a voter ID mandate, said she will serve out the remainder of her term through the end of 2024.

Krawiec “is a conservative stalwart and has been a guiding force in the Senate,” Senate leader Phil Berger was quoted as saying in Krawiec’s news release. “Her influence can be felt throughout our caucus as a skilled legislator, trusted mentor, and well-respected colleague.”

Once the vice chairwoman of the state Republican Party, Krawiec served briefly in the House in 2012, then joined in the Senate in 2014 to fill the seat previously held by Sen. Pete Brunstetter. She currently helps lead Senate health care and pensions committees.

Krawiec was involved in legislation that moved Medicaid from a fee-for-service system to a managed-care system where statewide and regional health plans received monthly payments for each patient they enrolled and treated.

Over the years, she also fought for additional abortion restrictions and for easing state regulations on health care entities that wish to construct building or purchase new equipment. Those certificate of need rules were incorporated into this year’s law expanding Medicaid coverage to hundreds of thousands of low-income adults.

Also Monday, Democratic state Rep. Rosa Gill of Wake County said she won’t run for reelection. A former teacher and Wake County school board member, Gill filled a House vacancy in 2009 and has been reelected ever since, focusing on education matters.

“I’ve served long enough,” Gill told WUNC-FM.