RALEIGH, N.C.  – A powerful North Carolina lawmaker who drove his colleagues to pass a statewide smoking ban has again undergone surgery to remove part of his right lung.

The legislative assistant for House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman said the Davidson County Democrat had a lower lobe of his right lung removed on Tuesday. Holliman assistant Carol Bowers said the legislator’s wife reported he is recovering in the intensive care unit of Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem.

Holliman had a cancerous lung tumor removed in September 2007. He also was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1999, and declared himself cured in 2005.

The former smoker was collecting plaudits one week ago as Gov. Beverly Perdue signed into law a ban on smoking in restaurants and bars in the state.