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RALEIGH — Sen. Katie Dorsett withdrew from the state Senate race and endorsed another candidate Friday, the last day for aspiring lawmakers to file to run for office.

The Greensboro Democrat has said repeatedly since December she planned to run again. And on Feb. 9, she registered to run for a fifth term in Senate District 28.

Dorsett rescinded that paperwork Friday just before the deadline.

“I decided to withdraw because I really need to spend more time with my family,” Dorsett said, adding that her sister in California is sick.

She plans to serve the remaining year of her term.

The three-week filing period has been busier than usual, with more candidates showing interest in U.S. House races than in years past. Filings in legislative districts are up modestly, said Elections Director Gary Bartlett, who added there are more Republican primaries on this year’s ballot than there have been for decades.

No lawmaker running for re-election who represents Guilford County in Washington or Raleigh will go unchallenged this year — except Sens. Phil Berger and Stan Bingham, Republicans whose districts include other counties.

Many political veterans face primaries and general elections.

U.S. Rep. Howard Coble will face five fellow Republicans in his first primary since 1984.

In the seat Dorsett is leaving, there will be primaries for both Democrats and Republicans.

Gladys Robinson, a member of the UNC Board of Governors and executive director of Piedmont Health Services and Sickle Cell Agency, and Evelyn Miller, a member of the Greensboro Zoning Commission who works for Koury Corp. and runs the MB Housing nonprofit, will square off in the Democratic primary.

Despite public statements to the contrary, Dorsett said she has been considering pulling out of the race for months.

“Gladys Robinson has been interested for the past eight years,” she said. The two had a long-standing pact, the senator said, in which Robinson waited to run until Dorsett stepped down.

“I’m supporting Gladys,” Dorsett said.

Robinson acknowledged the agreement with Dorsett, saying she has long been interested serving the community.

“I feel that I have both the experience as well as the sense of community needed to represent the district,” she said.

Miller said early Friday afternoon she did not know Dorsett was planning to pull out.

“I’ve always been interested in politics and making change,” Miller said.

Four Republicans also are running. The best-known is Trudy Wade, a Greensboro councilwoman and former Guilford County commissioner. John Wayne Welch of Greensboro and Jeffrey Brommer  and Robert Brafford, both of Jamestown, also have filed to run.

“I want to run because I think we need effective representation for all of the people in District 28,” Wade said. “I want us to stop the ever-increasing spending at the state.”
Senate District 28 stretches from east Greensboro through parts of Guilford County and into Jamestown and High Point.

Dorsett, 77, is a former Greensboro City Council member and Guilford County commissioner. In 1992, Gov. Jim Hunt appointed her to be Secretary of Administration, a Cabinet-level post in the Raleigh government.

She won her first term in the state Senate in 2002 and has steadily climbed the ranks ever since. She holds the title majority whip, a position that typically would count votes on controversial legislation and help Senate leader Marc Basnight maintain discipline within the Democratic caucus.

Staff writer Amanda Lehmert contributed to this report.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com