North Carolina Senate Republicans limit Minority Leader Batch's authority; leadership transition results in reduced staff, office changes and committee reassignments

April 29, 2025 (Herald-Sun) –

After Senate Democrats chose Sen. Sydney Batch as the new minority leader, she started the work of leading her caucus in a new legislative session by making contact with those who control the General Assembly — top Republicans .

But if Batch thought she would make administrative decisions, like who Democrats hired and where they worked, she soon realized that her authority was limited. She would have fewer staff than her predecessor, Sen. Dan Blue , a different office, and different committee assignments.

The Senate Democratic Caucus elected Batch in December to replace longtime leader Blue, a fellow Wake County lawmaker. Blue won reelection to his Senate seat, but bowed out of the caucus leadership race ahead of a favorable vote for Batch.

As The News & Observer recently reported, that has led to a rift in the caucus, with Blue choosing not to attend Senate Democrats’ meetings this legislative session.

As minority leader, Batch expected to, but didn’t get to assign all Democratic senators’ offices, including Blue’s. She was also given two fewer staff members than Blue and was not appointed to the Senate Rules Committee , as Blue had been.

And it was Blue, not Batch, who was the sole Democrat escorting Berger to the well of the Senate on opening day of session.

Staffing, committee assignments and office space are controlled by Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger and Rules Committee Chair Bill Rabon .

Office space might not seem like a big deal, but in the halls of power, it can matter. Berger’s office and House Speaker Destin Hall’s office are in the corners of the Legislative Building . Saying “the corner offices” is shorthand for Berger, Hall and their respective staffs. Other leadership offices are bigger; some include conference rooms. Like the old real estate adage, it’s about location, location, location.

But instead of Batch taking Blue’s office, Blue kept it, and she moved to a different office, the same size as Blue’s.

“I could see no reason to move Sen. Blue from his office to any other digs. He had been there, I and thought that was the proper thing to do and the way to leave it,” Rabon told The N&O on Tuesday.

Asked if he made the decision because of Blue’s tenure in the Senate , Rabon said, “it was the decision of the Rules chair.”

Sen. Bill Rabon confers with then-House Speaker Tim Moore on the dais in the House of Representatives during debate of the proposed state budget in the House on Thursday, June 30, 2022 in Raleigh, N.C. Robert Willett /rwillett@newsobserver.com

Rabon said as Rules chair, he also determines the Senate seating, and “every year as Rules chairman, I have put people in different seats because they requested it,” giving an example of assigning former Durham Democratic Sen. Mike Woodard a seat he preferred. Rabon said after assigning some seats, he would give the minority leader the remaining seat assignments.

Rabon said he’s treating Batch the same as he did Blue, when Blue was minority leader.

“I gave her the same respect, and will continue to, that I gave to Sen. Blue . I appointed some seats, some offices, and then I turned the rest over to him and his staff. And I did the same this year,” Rabon said.

Berger declined an interview Tuesday, but his spokesperson Lauren Horsch noted that Rabon assigns offices, and that the full name of the committee is Rules and Operations.

The decision to assign Batch her office is consistent with previous minority leader offices, Horsch said. Batch’s new office is the same office that Berger had when he was minority leader, Horsch said, and when Berger became minority leader in 2005 and moved into that office, the previous minority leader, Sen. Jim Forrester , kept his office, as Blue has.

Then-House Republican leader Paul ‘Skip’ Stam, right, places his hand on the shoulder of Senate Republican leader Phil Berger as they celebrate with Rep. Thom Tillis , left, their party’s legislative victory on Nov. 4, 2010 . Robert Willett /rwillett@newsobserver.com Batch questions staffing

Batch was allotted a staff of three: a chief of staff and general counsel; a communications director; and a legislative assistant. All legislators are allowed a legislative assistant, regardless of seniority.

Batch, and Blue before her, also has two staff who are part of the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations , which is designated by state law.

Staff for minority leaders beyond those two Gov Ops positions and a legislative assistant are at the discretion of the Senate leader.

Blue had a deputy chief of staff who was also general counsel, which was Lisa Stifler , along with a research assistant.

Berger allowed Blue to keep his chief of staff, Fred Aikens , this legislative session, along with Blue’s legislative assistant.

As of October 2023 , Aikens’ salary was $131,788 as chief of staff. To compare that to Berger’s chief of staff at the time, Brian Fork was earning $200,069 , the second-highest salary at the General Assembly . Berger, as the top senator in the majority, has a much larger staff.

“I met with Sen. Berger at the beginning of this year after the leadership change, and asked after being informed that my staff would be cut and that I could not assign specific offices, as it’s been the tradition with former minority leaders, I asked (to have those restored),” Batch told The N&O in an interview.

Batch was not successful.

Rabon said that Aikens “has been an integral part of this General Assembly and this legislature for years. I think that his being here is an asset to the state — and I’d like to see him stay as long as he’d like.”

Emails show office shuffles ahead of legislative session

Emails between Batch and Berger’s office about staffing, committees and offices were obtained by The N&O through a public records request, though the legislators made themselves exempt from public records law in 2023. Lawmakers retain the discretion to turn over their records, and Batch provided the requested emails.

In a Jan. 2 email to Berger’s chief of staff, Kolt Ulm , Batch asked:

“I noticed on the seating chart and office assignments that it indicates I do not have the ability to change the seats and office assignments for Sen. Blue , Sen. Robinson , Sen. Lowe and Sen. Mohammed . Please advise: (1) If my fellow Senate Democratic caucus members made those specific requests to Sen. Berger or Sen. Rabon and/or their respective staff directly; (2) Do I have the ability to reassign Sen. Everitt’s office assignment; and (3) Do I have any flexibility with reassigning the seating and offices of Sen. Blue , Sen. Robinson , Sen. Lowe , Sen. Mohammed and Sen. Everitt?”

Ulm replied that he can’t “speak to conversations between members. However, I can tell you that typically Senator Rabon makes a handful of office and seating assignments for the minority caucus that generally reflect seniority.”

The email exchanges over office and seating assignments continued over the next few days between Batch’s chief of staff, Stifler, and Rabon’s senior policy and strategy adviser, Nathan Babcock .

Office assignments can be rewards, or in some cases, punishment.

Blue, Lowe and Mohammed all kept the same offices they had last session, according to the emails. As a freshman senator, Everitt got a new office this year. His office as a House member had previously been relegated to the Legislative Building basement by former House Speaker Tim Moore.

Moore punished Everitt for public criticism by moving his House office to a former supply closet in the basement, near the cafeteria, pressroom and General Assembly Police Department . Everitt rarely used the room, and it has since been returned to a supply closet. That closet was still larger than many legislators’ offices, including one on the first floor frequently delegated to minority party freshmen.

Staffing for minority party

Berger’s office approved Batch’s salary requests for Stifler’s current $141,000 salary and her legislative assistant’s salary of $47,000 a year, according to email records. The exchanges show that there were in-person meetings as well as the email communication ahead of the session start.

Batch questions the number of staff the minority party received.

Batch told The N&O that it’s “extremely unfair that our caucus represents more than 4 million North Carolinians, and yet we are relegated to fewer staff than some individuals and leadership have.”

She noted that she is “being treated quite differently than others in this position. And some will say, ‘Well, historically, this is how it’s happened.’ I would tell you that historically, this country used to endorse slavery, child labor and smoking inside buildings. None of those exist now, and relying on what we have done historically is disingenuous, not only to me, but also to the voters of North Carolina and the individuals who are asking for their representatives to be at the table.”

Sen. Val Applewhite , a Fayetteville Democrat, said that Democrats are “going to push on, even without the staffing. Of course, we need staffing.”

Committee assignments

Berger’s office explained the committee assignments as Batch not choosing Rules as one of her top requests.

“When our office shared the committee assignments with Sen. Batch’s office and asked for any feedback or changes, her office did not request to have her added to the Rules Committee, at that time,” Horsch said.

Committee assignments were sent to Batch’s office ahead of a press release being issued, emails show.

Blue’s votes

Berger and Blue have known each other for a long time, since Berger was in the minority party and it was Blue in the controlling party. Blue said he and Rabon have known each other since before Rabon was in the Senate , as both are from Eastern North Carolina .

Blue voted for the Republican-written budget earlier this month. He said he had not talked with Berger about his budget vote, but “I just naturally voted for it because I thought debate should continue.”

By voting with Republicans , Blue may get a seat on the conference committee, which is a key negotiating position on deciding the final version of the bill.

“I don’t have to be on a conference committee or anywhere else, I’m going to let my feelings be known to folk who can consider them, and if they desire, to do something about them,” Blue told The N&O in an interview last week.

Sen. Dan Blue , a Raleigh Democrat and former longtime Senate Democratic leader, left, talks with Sen. Sydney Batch , right, a Wake County Democrat who was elected leader by their party’s caucus this 2025 legislative session. Travis Long /tlong@newsobserver.com

Blue hasn’t attended Senate Democrats’ meetings this legislative session, but said he hopes he’d be welcome if he returned.

“I want them to be able to run the caucus however they want to,” Blue said, “and if they think that a certain technique and tactic is more effective, who am I to say that it’s not?”

Rules Chair controls Senate offices

Blue said offices and staff are rearranged at the start of every session by the Rules Committee chair. It’s been that way as long as he’s been in the Senate , he said.

Blue said he’s had the same office since he came to the Senate .

“It was functional. It worked for me. By the way, Sen. Batch’s office is identical to the one I have, except it’s in the front of the building, rather than at one of the inner courts, as mine is. But I liked it there because it was away from the front. It was quiet enough, but still had access enough, straight up the stairs to the chamber, and so Sen. Rabon kept me there,” Blue said.

Batch’s office is adjacent to the members’ entrance to the Rules Committee room on the first floor, in a different courtyard than Blue’s office, but still directly below the Senate chamber on the second floor.

Batch said she was told Blue was going to “remain in his office, and that was an office that I could not one, occupy, or two, move him from. ... I did not think that there were going to be restrictions on my ability as the minority leader of our caucus to dictate where people would be and also where they would sit on the floor.”

Blue said Batch not getting his office wasn’t unusual, as there are four similar sized Senate offices for the minority party.

“I don’t know what the big deal is that I didn’t give up mine,” Blue said.

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