Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina

"President of the North Carolina Senate" redirects here. For the political leader of the Senate, see President Pro Tempore of the North Carolina Senate.

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.

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 North Carolina 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.

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.

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 most recently was the case from 1985 to 1989.

List of Lieutenant Governors

Parties

      Democratic       Republican

#	Lt. Governor	Term of Office	Political Party	Governor(s)
1	Tod R. Caldwell	1868-1870	Republican
Office vacant 1870–1873
2	Curtis H. Brogden	1873-1874	Republican
3	Thomas J. Jarvis	1877-1879	Democratic
4	James L. Robinson	1879-1885	Democratic
5	Charles M. Stedman	1885-1889	Democratic
6	Thomas M. Holt	1889-1891	Democratic
Office vacant 1891–1893
7	Rufus A. Doughton	1893-1897	Democratic
8	Charles A. Reynolds	1897-1901	Repbulican
9	Wilfred D. Turner	1901-1905	Democratic
10	Francis D. Winston	1905-1909	Democratic
11	William C. Newland	1909-1913	Democratic
12	Elijah L. Daughtridge	1913–1917	Democratic
13	Oliver Max Gardner	1917–1921	Democratic
14	William B. Cooper	1921–1925	Democratic
15	Jacob E. Long	1925–1929	Democratic
16	Richard T. Fountain	1929–1933	Democratic
17	Alexander H. Graham	1933–1937	Democratic
18	Wilkins P. Horton	1937–1941	Democratic
19	Reginald L. Harris	1941–1945	Democratic
20	Lynton Y. Ballentine	1945–1949	Democratic
21	Hoyt Patrick Taylor	1949–1953	Democratic
22	Luther H. Hodges	1953–1954	Democratic
Office vacant 1954–1957
23	Luther E. Barnhardt	1957–1961	Democratic
24	Harvey Cloyd Philpott	1961	Democratic
Office vacant 1961–1965
25	Robert W. Scott	1965–1969	Democratic
26	Hoyt Patrick Taylor, Jr.	1969–1973	Democratic
27	Jim Hunt	1973–1977	Democratic
28	James C. Green	1977–1985	Democratic	Jim Hunt (D)
29	Robert B. Jordan, III	1985–1989	Democratic
30	James Carson Gardner	1989–1993	Republican
31	Dennis A. Wicker	1993–2001	Democratic	Jim Hunt (D)
32	Beverly Perdue	2001–2009	Democratic	Mike Easley (D)
33	Walter H. Dalton	2009–2013	Democratic	Beverly Perdue (D)
34	Dan Forest	2013-	Republican	Pat McCrory (R)

Notes

See also

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

Living former lieutenant governors

As of August 2014, seven former lieutenant governors were alive, the oldest being Hoyt Patrick Taylor, Jr. (1969–1973, born 1924). The most recent death of a former lieutenant governor was that of Robert W. Scott (1965–1969), on January 23, 2009.

Lt. Governor	Lt. Gubernatorial term	Date of birth (and age)
Hoyt Patrick Taylor, Jr.	1969–1973	(1924-04-01) April 1, 1924
James B. Hunt, Jr.	1973–1977	(1937-05-16) May 16, 1937
Robert B. Jordan, III	1985–1989	(1932-10-11) October 11, 1932
James Carson Gardner	1989–1993	(1933-04-08) April 8, 1933
Dennis A. Wicker	1993–2001	1952 (age 72–73)
Beverly Eaves Perdue	2001–2009	(1947-01-14) January 14, 1947
Walter H. Dalton	2009–2013	(1949-05-21) May 21, 1949

External links

• Office of the Lieutenant Governor
• NC History Project