Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina

Lieutenant Governor of
North Carolina
Incumbent
Dan Forest
since January 7, 2013 (2013-01-07)
Style
Member of
Seat Raleigh, North Carolina
Term length Four years, renewable once
Constituting instrument North Carolina Constitution of 1868
Inaugural holder Tod R. Caldwell
Formation 1868
Salary US$124,676 per year
(2013)[1]
Website Official website

The Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina is the second highest elected official in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is the only elected official to have powers in both the legislative and executive branches of state government. The current Lieutenant Governor is Dan Forest, a Republican.

As of 2008, the administrative offices of the Lieutenant Governor are located in the historic Hawkins-Hartness House on N. Blount Street in Raleigh's Government District. The Lieutenant Governor also maintains an office at the nearby North Carolina State Legislative Building. At one time, the Lieutenant Governor had an office in the North Carolina State Capitol.[2]

Duties and powers

The office of Lieutenant Governor was created by the North Carolina Constitution of 1868. Just as the Vice President of the United States presides (albeit rarely) over the United States Senate, the lieutenant governor's primary responsibility is to preside over the North Carolina Senate; until 1970, this was the lieutenant governor's only major responsibility, and the position was only part-time. The position is now a full-time job.

By virtue of the office (Ex officio), the lieutenant governor is a member of the Council of State, the North Carolina Board of Education, the North Carolina Capital Planning Commission, and the North Carolina Board of Community Colleges, and serves as the Chairman of the eLearning Commission.[3]

From 1868 through 1977, the lieutenant governor, like the governor of North Carolina, was limited to a single four-year term. In 1977, the North Carolina Constitution was amended to allow both the governor and the lieutenant governor to serve two consecutive terms.[4]

Succession to office of governor

The lieutenant governor is the first official in line to succeed the Governor of North Carolina, should that office be vacated. This has occurred five times in the history of the office; four of the first six lieutenant governors were promoted upon the death, impeachment, or resignation of the previously sitting governor.

Lieutenant governors have often run for governor, but few have been successful. Jim Hunt, elected governor in 1976, and Beverly Perdue, elected governor in 2008, are the two most recent exceptions.[5]

The lieutenant governor is elected on a separate ballot from the governor; therefore, it is theoretically possible that the governor and lieutenant governor may be of different political party affiliations. This has happened twice in North Carolina since the 1977 constitutional amendment, once from 1985 to 1989, and during the present 2017 to 2021 term.

List of lieutenant governors

Parties

  Democratic (29)   Republican (5)

#ImageLt. GovernorTerm of OfficePolitical PartyGovernor(s)
1Tod R. Caldwell[lower-alpha 1]1868–1870RepublicanWilliam W. Holden (R)
Office vacant 1870–1873
2Curtis H. Brogden1873–1874RepublicanTod R. Caldwell (R)
Office vacant 1874–1877
3Thomas J. Jarvis1877–1879DemocraticZebulon B. Vance (D)
Office vacant 1879–1881
4James L. Robinson[lower-alpha 2]1881–1885DemocraticThomas J. Jarvis (D)
5Charles M. Stedman1885–1889DemocraticAlfred Moore Scales (D)
6Thomas M. Holt1889–1891DemocraticDaniel Gould Fowle (D)
Office vacant 1891–1893
7Rufus A. Doughton1893–1897DemocraticElias Carr (D)
8Charles A. Reynolds1897–1901RepublicanDaniel Lindsay Russell (R)
9Wilfred D. Turner1901–1905DemocraticCharles Brantley Aycock (D)
10Francis D. Winston1905–1909DemocraticRobert Broadnax Glenn (D)
11William C. Newland1909–1913DemocraticWilliam Walton Kitchin (D)
12Elijah L. Daughtridge1913–1917DemocraticLocke Craig (D)
13Oliver Max Gardner1917–1921DemocraticThomas Walter Bickett (D)
14William B. Cooper1921–1925DemocraticCameron A. Morrison (D)
15Jacob E. Long1925–1929DemocraticAngus Wilton McLean (D)
16Richard T. Fountain1929–1933DemocraticOliver Max Gardner (D)
17Alexander H. Graham1933–1937DemocraticJohn C. B. Ehringhaus (D)
18Wilkins P. Horton1937–1941DemocraticClyde R. Hoey (D)
19Reginald L. Harris1941–1945DemocraticJ. Melville Broughton (D)
20Lynton Y. Ballentine1945–1949DemocraticR. Gregg Cherry (D)
21Hoyt Patrick Taylor1949–1953DemocraticW. Kerr Scott (D)
22Luther H. Hodges1953–1954DemocraticWilliam B. Umstead (D)
Office vacant 1954–1957
23Luther E. Barnhardt1957–1961DemocraticLuther H. Hodges (D)
24Harvey Cloyd Philpott[lower-alpha 3]1961DemocraticTerry Sanford (D)
Office vacant 1961–1965
25Robert W. Scott1965–1969DemocraticDan K. Moore (D)
26Hoyt Patrick Taylor, Jr.1969–1973DemocraticRobert W. Scott (D)
27Jim Hunt1973–1977DemocraticJames Holshouser (R)
28James C. Green[lower-alpha 4]1977–1985DemocraticJim Hunt (D)
29Robert B. Jordan1985–1989DemocraticJames G. Martin (R)
30James Carson Gardner[lower-alpha 5]1989–1993RepublicanJames G. Martin (R)
31Dennis A. Wicker1993–2001DemocraticJim Hunt (D)
32Beverly Perdue[lower-alpha 6]2001–2009DemocraticMike Easley (D)
33Walter H. Dalton2009–2013DemocraticBeverly Perdue (D)
34Dan Forest2013–RepublicanPat McCrory (R) (2013–2017)
Roy Cooper (D) (2017–)
Notes
  1. ↑ Became Governor on December 20, 1870.
  2. ↑ Robinson is often referred to as "acting Lieutenant Governor" from 1879 through 1881, because, as President Pro Tempore of the Senate at the time that Jarvis succeeded to the governorship, he became President of the Senate, putting him next in line to succeed the governor. However, technically, there is no such office as "acting" lieutenant governor, meaning that the office was vacant, just as it had been in periods such as 1874-1877. Robinson was elected lieutenant governor in his own right in 1880.
  3. ↑ Died in office.
  4. ↑ First Lt. Governor to serve two terms.
  5. ↑ First Republican elected since Reynolds in 1896.
  6. ↑ First female Lt. Governor.

See also

North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Elections: 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016

Living former Lieutenant Governors of North Carolina

As of April 2018, six former lieutenant governors of North Carolina were alive, the oldest being Robert B. Jordan, III (served 1985–1989, born 1932). The most recent death of a former lieutenant governor of North Carolina was that of Hoyt Patrick Taylor Jr. (served 1969-1973), on April 22, 2018. The most recently serving lieutenant governor to die was James C. Green (1977-1985), on February 4, 2000.

Lt. GovernorLt. Gubernatorial termDate of birth (and age)
James B. Hunt, Jr. 1973–1977 May 16, 1937
Robert B. Jordan, III 1985–1989 October 11, 1932
James Carson Gardner 1989–1993 April 8, 1933
Dennis A. Wicker 1993–2001 June 14, 1952
Beverly Eaves Perdue 2001–2009 January 14, 1947
Walter H. Dalton 2009–2013 May 21, 1949

References

  1. ↑ "CSG Releases 2013 Governor Salaries". The Council of State Governments. June 25, 2013. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  2. ↑ News & Observer: Homeless lt. governors, next on Oprah? Archived 2009-02-28 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ eLearningNC
  4. ↑ NC Government Records Branch
  5. ↑ News & Observer: A curse on lieutenant governors? Archived 2008-10-23 at the Wayback Machine.
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