RALEIGH (AP) — For voters, Larry Kissell was an outlet. Frustrated by manufacturing job losses and worried about the future, they turned to the former millworker and social studies teacher who toured the district echoing their blame of Washington.

But after taking his outrage to the campaign trail, Kissell no longer has the comfort of just talking about his district's problems. And the GOP is ready to take notes on his every move.

North Carolina's newest congressman will officially begin his duties Tuesday at a swearing-in ceremony, along with Sen.-elect Kay Hagan. He was set to learn his committee assignments Monday evening, giving him some responsibility that will begin shaping his tenure.

Kissell was a rookie politician and small-town dreamer when he first ran for Congress in 2006. He taught world history at East Montgomery High in Biscoe, a small town right in the middle of a district that stretches across central North Carolina from Concord to Fort Bragg. The son of a teacher and an Army veteran, Kissell left his job at a textile plant in the late 1990s: just before many of the state's manufacturing companies began shuttering their doors.

It's a long way from the mill to Capitol Hill, something Kissell recognized on Sunday when he and his wife, Tina, moved into an apartment that's "a little bigger than a dorm room."

But Kissell said he was moved when they walked up to the Capitol to take in the sights.

"There's a feeling you get — that sense of the great honor it is to have been selected to represent the people," he said. "I've been told to always remember your job title and job description: You're a representative."

Kissell got the keys to his office Monday and began moving into the space used for the last two years by North Carolina Rep. Heath Shuler.

Together, Shuler and Kissell have marked a changing tide in Congress from Republicans to Democrats. Their party now has eight members from North Carolina in the House, compared to just five with the GOP.

But with power comes responsibility, and Democrats no longer have the luxury of blaming shortfalls on Republicans. Kissell, who defeated GOP Rep. Robin Hayes in November, now has to cast votes on sensitive subjects. And he'll be trying to prove to voters he can be more effective than his predecessor.

"We're told that you will never feel prepared," Kissell said. "But I'm eagerly anticipating what we're about to do. There's going to be a learning curve as I go, like anything you take on that's new, but that's OK because I've got a lot of great people to help me."

Andy Taylor, a political scientist at North Carolina State University, said lawmakers generally perform much better in their first re-election bid. But they can also struggle during midterm elections when their party is in power as voters look for somewhere to place blame.

Kissell will be tested on the ballot in 2010 after two years of full Democratic control, including Barack Obama's first months in the White House.

Taylor said Kissell may also struggle for recognition among powerful Democrats with large agendas but will need to prove to voters that he's doing work on their behalf.

"When constituents think something good has happened in Washington, they should know that Larry Kissell may not have been a huge part of it but was certainly pushing in the right direction," Taylor said. "It'll be interesting to see if he gets sort of star-struck and sort of curls up in a ball, or it goes to his head, or he gets down to business."

Republicans are ready to target him in 2010. It was the only close race in November and will likely be the same in two years. Brent Woodcox, a spokesman for the state GOP, said Kissell showed displayed some liberal tendencies in the election by opposing offshore drilling on North Carolina's coast.

"He's going to deal with a variety of issues over the course of the next two years where he's going to feel a certain pull from his district and a certain pull from liberal Democrat leadership in D.C.," Woodcox said. "I think that he's going to find himself at odds with his constituency if he does not adhere to their conservative principles."