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RALEIGH (AP) - North Carolina Democratic Party chairman Jerry Meek, who presided as Democrats improved their electoral standing in the state from president to county commissioner, said Tuesday he won't seek another two-year term.

Meek, 38, is leaving the post he won in 2005, when he was the favorite of local party activists over the preferred candidate of Gov. Mike Easley. The party's executive committee will meet Jan. 31 in Raleigh to choose his replacement.

"I've enjoyed my four years. But four years is a long time in a full-time unpaid job," Meek said in an interview.

Meek, a Fayetteville attorney, also is stepping down in part because he's getting married Dec. 5 to state Rep. Tricia Cotham, D-Mecklenburg. He will share time between Charlotte and Raleigh while working at the Poyner Spruill law firm.

During his tenure, Democrats wrested congressional seats away from Republican incumbents Charles Taylor in 2006 and Robin Hayes two weeks ago. Also this month, Kay Hagan upset GOP U.S. Sen. Elizabe

th Dole and Barack Obama won North Carolina's electoral votes, the first time for a Democrat since 1976.

"Jerry is a great young leader with a lot of enthusiasm and he adds a lot of life to the party," said Hunt Johnson, the party chairman in Alamance County, where Democrats now have a majority on the county commission four years after the GOP had a 5-0 advantage.

"He deserves a great deal of credit for the victories we've had in 2006 and 2008."

Meek said he was proud of eliminating the party's roughly $500,000 debt and increasing the number of e-mails on the party's database from 5,000 activists to 400,000.

He also focused on improving county party operations by helping them with strategy and Web sites, spending many nights on the road working with county leaders.

"County parties are in much better shape than they were, and hopefully I've had a little bit of impact on that," he said.

Meek emphasized the western part of the state, where Republicans have had a historic advantage. Democrats won three legislative seats in leaning Republican districts in the region in 2006 and retained them this year.

The executive committee elected Meek, previously the party's vice chairman, over Raleigh attorney Ed Turlington in February 2005. Turlington had received endorsements from Easley, most other Democratic statewide elected officials and former Gov. Jim Hunt.

On the Republican side, former Guilford County chairman Marcus Kindley said this week he would seek to become state chairman at next spring's state GOP convention.

Linda Daves, who became chairwoman after the 2006 and defeated Kindley at the 2007 convention, hasn't said whether she would see another two-year term.