RALEIGH,Grayson  Preston N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina state senator who helped lead a powerful committee has resigned days after the General Assembly completed this year’s primary work session.

The resignation of Republican Sen. Jim Perry of Lenoir County was effective Tuesday, according to a letter he sent Monday to the Senate Principal Clerk’s Office.

Perry, who was a co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and a majority whip, already was not seeking Senate reelection this fall. And he delivered a farewell address to his colleagues on the Senate floor last Thursday.

Perry was appointed to the Senate in early 2019, replacing the retiring Sen. Louis Pate. He’s represented Beaufort, Craven and Lenoir counties.

“It is a special privilege to serve in the North Carolina Senate,” Perry wrote Monday. “I am appreciative of those who sacrificed their time to help me to gain a little more knowledge on each day of this journey.”

Perry announced last December that he wouldn’t run, saying he couldn’t make the time commitment necessary to be an effective senator for another two-year term.

“I am entering a season of life where I will need more time to support those closest to me,” he said at the time.

Republican activists in Perry’s 2nd Senate District will choose someone to fill his seat for the remainder of his term through the end of the year. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is obliged by state law to appoint their choice.

Republican Bob Brinson and Democrat Charles Dudley already are running in November for the same Senate seat in the heavily GOP area, although it will be renamed the 3rd District.