15 Facts About Dan Blue

Dan Blue is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

In 2009, Dan Blue was selected by local Democrats to take the place of Sen.

In 2014, Dan Blue was elected Senate minority leader by his Democratic colleagues when Sen.

Dan Blue was elected to a full term as minority leader after the 2014 elections.

Dan Blue served in the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1981 through 2002 and from 2006 through his 2009 Senate appointment, representing a portion of the state capital, Raleigh.

Dan Blue was the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1991 until 1994, when the Democrats lost control of the House to Republicans.

From 1998 to 1999, Dan Blue served as the first African-American President of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Dan Blue sought unsuccessfully to regain his position as Speaker when the Democrats got back the majority in 1999, by forming a coalition of Democrats and Republicans that fell two votes shy of a majority.

Dan Blue remained in the House until he ran in the Democratic primary for US Senate in 2002, in which he came in second place behind nominee Erskine Bowles and ahead of Secretary of State Elaine Marshall.

Dan Blue was selected by his local Democratic Party to return to what was essentially his former seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives, after his successor, Bernard Allen, died while running unopposed in the November 2006 election.

Dan Blue served the remaining months of Allen's term and then took his seat for a full term in January 2007.

Dan Blue serves on Duke University's board of trustees and was elected chairman in 2009.

Dan Blue was the first African American to chair Duke's board.

Dan Blue's daughter Kanika, is a law professor at Campbell Law School.

Blue's son, Dan III, ran for North Carolina State Treasurer in the 2016 elections.