Richard Burr's legacy: Old-school statesman or generic creature of Washington?

As North Carolina's senior senator heads into retirement, how will the state remember him?

The end of the biennium means a week full of farewells in both the General Assembly and the halls of Congress. North Carolina is saying goodbye to quite a few long-standing political figures this year, including Democratic U.S. Reps. David Price (30 years in Congress) and G.K. Butterfield (18 years).

On the Republican side, the biggest departure is unquestionable: U.S. Sen. Richard Burr. He announced after winning re-election in 2016 that he would not run again, opening the way for Senator-elect Ted Budd.

Among his colleagues in Washington, Burr is known as a congenial workhorse, forging deep relationships with politicians on both sides of the aisle and diving deep into the business of congressional committees.

Here in North Carolina, he’s hardly known at all. Over 28 years in office, he largely shepherded non-controversial bills through the committee process to become law. While generally well-liked on Capitol Hill, he was nearly invisible in his home state — even during campaign seas…