North Carolina state Rep. Kelly Alexander Jr. dies at 75

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — State Rep. Kelly Alexander Jr., a scion of an influential civil rights family in North Carolina who advocated for legalizing medical cannabis, died Friday. He was 75.

A family statement posted on an Alexander social media site said the Mecklenburg County Democrat died Friday morning. It didn’t say where or provide a cause of death.

A former president of the state NAACP, Alexander was appointed to the House in mid-2008 and had been reelected to a Charlotte-area district ever since. He did not seek reelection this fall, telling WFAE radio in December that health issues would make it hard to run in 2024.

“Kelly’s unwavering commitment to his city, district, state, and this nation has been both profound and heartfelt throughout the years,” the family statement said.

Alexander, a leader at the family’s century-old Charlotte funeral home, graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was the son of Kelly Alexander Sr., who reinvigorated the NAACP’s Charlotte branch and became the state chapter president in 1948 — a position he would hold for over 35 years, according to the state NAACP’s website. His son succeeded him.

While at the General Assembly, the younger Alexander was a strong and early advocate for the legalization of medical cannabis. Such a bill has since passed the Senate but it has not found enough support in the House. Alexander also spoke in favor of an effort to strip an unenforceable literacy test requirement from the state constitution that was used for decades to disenfranchise Black voters.

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U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., was state House speaker during the early 2010s. He said Friday on X that Alexander was instrumental in the legislative effort to make North Carolina the first state to provide compensation for people whom it sterilized during the 20th century.

“I’m grateful for his years of service to our state, and my thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones during this difficult time,” Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said in a similar statement on X.

Funeral arrangements weren’t immediately released. Charlotte-area Democratic officials will pick someone to finish Alexander’s term through the end of the year.