Washington native Brownie Futrell announced his decision Friday morning to run for the District 1 seat in the North Carolina Senate.

District 1 includes Beaufort, Dare, Hyde, Currituck, Camden, Pasquotank, Perquimans and Gates counties. Futrell, a Democrat, will be running against incumbent Republican Sen. Bill Cook.

Futrell said the main reason he decided to run was to continue his passion for public service. He was the publisher at the Washington Daily News for 32 years, following in the footsteps of his father, Ashley B. Futrell, and he felt he was able to make a difference in people’s lives through that line of work.

Futrell has also served the public in a variety of other capacities over the years, including on the board of the Washington Salvation Army, East Carolina Board of Visitors, North Carolina Beautiful, Duke University Divinity School’s Board of Visitors, the administrative board at his church and the Washington City School Board, according to a press release.

“It’s just real simple,” he said. “For 32 years, I had the opportunity to impact people’s lives daily.”

When asked if he misses the newspaper industry, Futrell said, “I tell them, ‘I miss two things: I miss the people I work with, and I miss those public service opportunities.’ … Through this opportunity of service, I can do that again.”

Futrell said he has several policies he would like to accomplish if elected to office, including the improvement of public education, protecting the state’s natural resources, better transportation for the eastern part of the state and support for rural health care.

He said he has had an interest in education for years, at least since serving on the Washington City School Board for 10 years, six of those as chairman.

Regarding education and the environment, Futrell said he thinks the state legislators have begun taking steps back from what he feels were positive changes.

Some of those changes involve giving career professionals in education the support and competition they deserve, as was promised in the past, he said.

“I want to make sure we honor the commitment,” Futrell said. “I’m also concerned about protecting our natural resources, especially in the northeastern part of the state.”

He said he is concerned about the closure of the hospital in Belhaven, as well, and thinks it signals a bigger problem regarding rural health care and the state legislation related to it.

Still influenced by his newspaper background despite his retirement about five years ago, Futrell said he believes in transparency in government and intends to spend the next year talking with constituents directly to get to know them.

After filing for office on Friday morning, he went straight to Dare County to meet some of his constituents and is planning an upcoming visit to Pasquotank County.

“I’ll be coming to them,” Futrell said. “(In) my home county of Beaufort, I’ll be working hard, as well, really in all eight counties.”