Charlotte’s Black Caucus looking for a new chairman after Arthur Griffin steps down

Charlotte’s Black Political Caucus is looking for a new leader after Arthur Griffin stepped down as chairman.

Griffin, 71, said Friday he resigned for health reasons. He was diagnosed five years ago with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer.

“My doctors tell me not to overdo it,” he said Friday. “Just trying to avoid getting sicker.”

Caucus official Gloria Rembert, a former chair herself, is the caucus’ acting head until a new election takes place. It’s unclear when that will be.

Griffin, a former Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools chairman, said he plans on “just taking care of my health.”

The caucus has long been a mainstay in Charlotte politics but was reinvigorated in recent years. It sponsored several debates in the last city election and virtually every candidate it endorsed in the Democratic primary went on to win.

African-Americans make up 37% of Charlotte’s registered voters. They’re 62% of Democratic voters.

This year’s races for Charlotte mayor and city council kick off July 5 with the opening of a two-week candidate filing period. Primaries are Sept. 10 and the general election is Nov. 5.

This story was originally published May 31, 2019 at 12:33 PM.