NC Democrats again seeking new party leader

Patsy Keever said Wednesday that she won't seek re-election as chairwoman of the North Carolina Democratic Party in February.

Keever, a former state House member, Buncombe County commissioner and congressional candidate, was elected in 2014, after years of turmoil in party leadership that included a sexual harassment lawsuit, questions about the handling of party finances and a grassroots revolt against Keever's predecessor.

State Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin is the best-known candidate seeking to succeed Keever. A former state lawmaker, Goodwin lost his re-election bid in November to Republican Mike Causey.

Others in the running include Marshall Adame, a retired Marine, former U.S. State Department adviser in Iraq and one-time congressional candidate, and Janice Covington Allison, an Army veteran and longtime party activist who in 2012 became the first transgender delegate from North Carolina at a national political convention.