N.C. Governor-Elect Pat McCrory gives his acceptance speech as his wife, Ann McCrory, looks on. Photo by Julia Wall / Reese News Lab
Former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory (R) will be North Carolina’s 74th governor. He defeated opponents Lieutenant Governor Walter Dalton (D), Libertarian Barbara Howe and independent write-in candidate Donald Kreamer for the position.
McCrory said in his acceptance speech that he ran his campaign to show the younger generation “that running for office can be honorable. I do want to remind all of you that our goal was not just to become governor and to get elected to this great office,” McCrory said. “It was to be a governor to lead. That’s what we plan to do when we start tomorrow.”
During Dalton’s concession speech, he thanked his wife and his political team for their constant support and for their best efforts during the election process. He said he plans on helping North Carolina prosper in the future.
“To you in this room, education matters, jobs matter, equality and justice matter,” he said. “I will continue in my private life to live fully and care about those things that matter.”
McCrory is North Carolina’s first Republican governor in more than 20 years. Republican James Grubbs “Jim” Martin was elected mayor in 1984 and served two consecutive four-year terms until 1992, when James “Jim” Hunt Jr. took office. McCrory’s victory marks only the seventh time a Republican has taken office since 1776.
Donna Williams of Raleigh, N.C., celebrates after Robin Hayes, Chariman of the North Carolina Republican Party, announced McCrory as the next governor of the state. Emily Bowe/Reese News Lab
McCrory’s headquarters was a joyful place after McCrory’s victory. Frank Manson, a party attendee, said he was extremely happy for the governor-elect.
“I feel great!” Manson said. “I think he’s going to be a great governor.”
Shelby Rogers, from Nightdale, NC, is an administrative assistant in the Underground Storage Tank Section in the North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources. She said she has been supporting McCrory since 2008.
“I have been pulling for McCrory for a long time,” Rogers said. “Back when he was running against Bev Perdue, I was pulling for him and I’m pulling for him now. He is going to straighten out our state government.”
In 2008, McCrory unsuccessfully ran for governor against Beverly Perdue.
Earlier in the night, the N.C. Democratic Party was giving away free Beanie Baby versions of the donkey, the party’s icon. But the plushy animals were not enough for Dalton to clinch a victory.
N.C. Democratic Party was giving away free Beanie Baby versions of the donkey, the party’s icon. Kathryn Carlson/Reese News Lab
Beverly Perdue, the current governor, announced in January that she would not run for re-election. According to the News and Observer, she said she was retiring because she didn’t want to jeopardize the improvements of the state’s education system.
“We live in highly partisan times, where some people seem more worried about scoring political points than working together to address the real challenges our state faces. And it is clear to me that my race for re-election will only further politicize the fight to adequately fund our schools. A re-election campaign in this already divisive environment will make it more difficult to find any bipartisan solutions,” Perdue said in a statement.
Dalton and McCrory met for two televised debates in October. The first debate was on Oct. 3, and the final debate was on Oct. 24. Howe, the Libertarian candidate, was not invited to participate in the debates. According to the Independent Political Report, Howe “believes North Carolina voters deserve to have the full picture when submitting their ballots this November and the NCAB did a great disservice to the public by not inviting her.”
Samantha Harrington, Lilly Knoepp and Nick Sanford contributed to this story.