Will Sen. Tony Rand's departure from the legislature mean that the bill seeking to limit local government's use of eminent domain will have a big Senate shoe lifted from its neck?

Rep. Paul Stam, an Apex Republiican and House minority leader, hopes that with Rand gone, the bill might have DOA erased from its margins.

How much would it matter?

Tyler Mulligan, an assistant professor of public law and government at the N.C. School of Government, writes that the amendment wouldn't much change current practices.

You can read Mulligan's post on the topic on the School of Government blog.

The departure of state Sen. Tony Rand has a lot of people wondering how the Senate will operate without the powerful master of rules, legislative maneuvers and hard-ball politics.

It even has state Rep. Paul Stam wondering if he'll finally get a favorite bill passed in the Senate. Stam, an Apex Republican and the chamber's minority leader, told Dome the other day that this could be the year that he gets a hearing in the Senate on a proposed constitutional amendment that would limit the government's use of eminent domain.

Stam just happened to have a copy of the bill with him, leading Dome to wonder if he carries it wherever he goes. The bill, which would prohibit the use of eminent domain if land would then be sold for economic development, didn't clear the House this year, but Stam said the Senate, and particularly Rand, have been the major obstacle in past years.

Dome asked whether Rand was the impediment or whether Rand was carrying out the wishes of the Democratic majority.

"That's what we'll find out," Stam said.

Senate Democrats elected Sen. Martin Nesbitt, a racing crew chief and self-described mountain populist from Asheville, as their new majority leader today.

Nesbitt quickly tried to quell any fears – or hopes, depending on the perspective – that he would steer the Senate down a more liberal course.

"I’m changing roles now," Nesbitt said after his unanimous election. "I’ve been a warrior…I’ll still have my opinions, and I’ll express them…but at the end of the day I’ll be about trying to help this caucus get where it wants to go."

Nesbitt’s tenure in the legislature started in 1979 and was interrupted once, when he lost his House seat in 1994 during the Republican tide that year. The GOP has hopes of riding voter discontent to a similar sweep next year, and Nesbitt said the lessons learned from 15 years ago will be invaluable as he helps Democrats prepare.

"There are very few things that I’m the most qualified for," he said, "but getting us through this election is one of them."

Nesbitt, a lawyer, also runs the racing operations for his son, Mart, who races in the USAR Pro Cup series.

Democratic senators are scheduled to meet at 11:30 this morning to elect a new majority leader, a proceeding which is expected to be a coronation of Sen. Martin Nesbitt, of Asheville.

Nesbitt goes into the meeting with the endorsement of Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight plus Nesbitt's own allies. He would replace Sen. Tony Rand, of Fayetteville, who is resigning from the Senate to chair the state parole board. The majority leader is the traffic cop who helps decide what legislation gets to the Senate floor and leads the agenda for floor sessions.

The lingering question is who Basnight will tap as chairman of the Rules Committee, a duty that Rand also held, often serving as gatekeeper for whether a bill will advance or whether an amendment survives.

How long has Sen. Tony Rand been thinking about leaving the state Senate for the state's parole board?

Civitas' Chris Hayes has dug up an interesting fact. In 2005, Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat, sponsored a bill that would have changed the structure of the Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission. Rand's bill meant to change the panel from three full-time members to one full-time member and two part-time members.

The bill passed the Senate unanimously on April 13, 2005 and was later incorporated into the 2005 budget bill to be signed into law.

I guess the question becomes, is this just a coincidence or did Rand have this all planned out years ago?

On the other hand, Rand was a powerful force in the Senate and has his name attached to an overwhelming majority of bills that were adopted.

Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight's endorsement of Sen. Martin Nesbitt, of Asheville, for majority leader has left Sen. Dan Clodfelter, of Charlotte (right), with few directions to go to pursue the job.

Basnight, of Manteo, wrote to his Democratic colleagues (see link below) on Friday encouraging them to support Nesbitt to replace outgoing Majority Leader Tony Rand, of Fayetteville.

"For our state to endure these difficult economic times, we need to focus all of our energies and efforts on creating jobs, improving education and health care, and giving everyone in North Carolina a chance at success," Basnight wrote. "Martin Nesbitt has fought for these important priorities throughout his decades of public service."

Several Democratic senators last week said Clodfelter was running for the majority leader's job, but the same day Basnight's letter appeared, Clodfelter refused to say whether he was a candidate.

The difficulty for him is that Nesbitt carries considerable loyalty among the more liberal wing of the Democratic caucus, while the more conservative and business-oriented side of the party remains loyal to Basnight. Those obstacles, along with Clodfelter's history of irritating colleagues with his brusque manner, leave a limited number of senators from whom Clodfelter might gain support.

Sen. Martin Nesbitt, an Asheville Democrat, won hefty support on Friday when Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight dispatched a letter endorsing Nesbitt for the post of Senate majority leader.

Basnight sent the letter to fellow Senate Democrats, who will pick a replacement for Sen. Tony Rand, of Fayetteville, who is resigning from the legislature and will be leaving by the end of the year, the Asheville Citizen Times reports.

Several Democratic senators last week said Sen. Dan Clodfelter, a Charlotte Democrat, was also seeking the post, but Clodfelter refused to say whether he was a candidate.

"I'm not at that point," he told the newspaper, though he added, "I’m not telling you I’m not a candidate."

Clodfelter said the talk about who gets the majority leader's post is happening too fast.

The state's teacher lobby seems to be leaning one way on who it supports to replace Senate majority leader Tony Rand.

But the lobby isn't taking any chances on backing the wrong candidate, either.

In an e-mail to members, the N.C. Association of Educators says that Sen. Martin Nesbitt has emerged as the frontrunner to replace Rand in the second-in-command position within the chamber. The headline on its Nesbitt brief reads, "K-12 Champion Vies for Senate Majority Leader."

Sen. Nesbitt's success comes as no surprise to Buncombe County Association of Educators President Anna Austin, who lunches with the mountain senator regularly. "Sen. Nesbitt checks in with me every week during session and its not surprising to watch issues we bounce around at a lunch table in Ashevillle make it into state law," she said.   

The next item is about Sen. Dan Clodfelter and is written under the decidedly more staid headline: "Charlotte Democrat Eyes Leadership Post." 

The write-up is positive on Clodfelter.

We have immense respect for Sen. Clodfelter, especially his support for public education and a modernized tax structure," said NCAE Vice President Rodney Ellis.  "As educators, we also admire Sen. Clodfelter's  incredible intellect.  He is a strong leader and whatever happens within the caucus, we hope that Sen. Clodfelter continues to lead on tax reform."    

RAND OUT: State Sen. Tony Rand is quitting the Senate. The news that the chamber's chief Democratic enforcer and most formidable political gamesmen is leaving likely thrilled liberal Democrats and conservatives alike. Rand is one of the great characters in state politics and the legislature just got a little more boring.

HOW MANY IS THAT: Gov. Bev Perdue's communications director David Kochman has resigned as her approval numbers remain in the sub-basment. From her days as lieutenant governor, Perdue has had four communications directors in six years, making the job a little bit like being the drummer for Spinal Tap. With luck, Perdue's approval rating will go above 11.

REP. HYPERBOLE: U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx said the Democrats' health reform proposals are more dangerous than terrorists. Republicans may have more to fear from Foxx's own mouth than anything Democrats have to say.

IN OTHER NEWS: President Barack Obama has nominated two North Carolina judges to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has had only six Tar Heels since 1801. With the election of a new mayor in Charlotte, Pat McCrory will be out of elected office, but his loss to Perdue is apparently still gnawing at him, so don't expect McCrory to be out of politics. N&O political cartoonist Dwane Powell has retired after 35 years of skewering politicians.

The race to succeed Sen. Tony Rand as Senate majority leader is on, and Senators Martin Nesbitt, of Asheville, and Dan Clodfelter, of Charlotte, are the early entries.

The two have been making calls to their fellow Democrats in the Senate. Both hail from the more liberal side of the caucus, compared to the more conservative, business-friendly team of Rand, from Fayeteville, and Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, of Manteo.

Nesbitt, (above) an Asheville lawyer, chairs the Judiciary 1 committee and is a veteran of intracaucus jockeying from his 11 terms in the House. He has focused many of his efforts on health care and mental health reform. The conservative Civitas Institute ranked him as the most liberal senator.

Clodfelter, (below) a Charlotte lawyer and former city council member, is a co-chair of the tax-writing finance committee and has long been viewed as a future candidate for president pro tem when Basnight retires.

Neither senator returned Dome's calls. Seems they might have some votes to line up.