ROCKINGHAM — Rep. Ken Goodman has resigned from his seat representing House District 66 following the Senate’s unanimous vote Thursday to confirm him to the North Carolina Industrial Commission.

The Senate vote was 37-0 in favor of his move to the commission, and comes a month after the House’s 115-0 vote on the appointment. It is now up to the Democratic parties of each county in District 66 (Richmond, Montgomery and part of Hoke) to recommend candidates to serve out the remainder of his term.

Governor Roy Cooper will then nominate someone from these recommendations, according to North Carolina General Statute 163A-719(d). That appointee will then have the option to run for the seat in 2020. Goodman will take his seat on the commission May 1.

“I think the district will be fine … I think there a lot of good candidates and I think (the Democratic Executive Committee) will choose well,” Goodman said in an interview Thursday. “I hope we get someone that is thoughtful and sees both sides of issues and understands that politics is the art of what’s possible so you have to be willing to compromise.”

Goodman sent letters to Cooper and House Speaker Tim Moore expressing his intent to resign prior to the vote. He said this would allow his constituent counties to prepare for a vacant seat.

Goodman accepted Cooper’s nomination to the commission at the end of February.

The Industrial Commission deals with workers’ compensation claims, tort claims, death benefits for first responders, compensation for childhood vaccine-related injuries and compensation for those wrongfully convicted of felonies.

Two previous nominees for the commission seat were not confirmed. The latter nominee failed after the November elections, and Goodman said representatives of the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce and other members of the business community approached him about the possibility of serving on the commission.

“I had never thought of it,” Goodman said Thursday.

In an interview last month, Goodman said he believes his nomination is a result of his 42 years in business and his reputation of working towards bipartisan interests.

“I am grateful for Representative Goodman’s willingness to assume this important responsibility for the State of North Carolina,” Cooper said in a memo to Sen. Phil Berger dated Feb. 27.

Goodman has represented District 66 since 2010. In an interview in March, Goodman called his time in the seat “one of the great privileges of my life.”

“I tried very hard to follow what I think is the will of the people in my district and I hope that I’ve done some positive things,” he said at the time.

Goodman also said in March that he believes that elected officials shouldn’t stay in their seats “forever” and that this is a “good time to move on to something else.”

The Industrial Commission is made up of six seats, three “employee” and three “employer” seats. Goodman has been nominated for one of the vacant employer seats.

Now that his confirmation is final and his resignation effective, Goodman said he will meet with the other commissioners next week to “find out how things are going to work and where I need to be”.

“I’m grateful to the voters of the district for allowing me to serve the last eight years,” Goodman said.

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Senate confirms his nomination to commission

Gavin Stone

Editor

Reach Gavin Stone at 910-817-2674 or [email protected].