North Carolina GOP governor expects former congressman Mark Walker to join
Former U.S. Representative Mark Walker is expected to officially join next year’s race for North Carolina governor this weekend
KERNERSVILLE, North Carolina — Former U.S. Representative Mark Walker is expected to officially join next year’s race for North Carolina governor this weekend, entering an already packed Republican primary for lieutenant governor and state treasurer.
Walker, a former pastor, scheduled an announcement Saturday morning at a K-12 Christian school in Kernersville to reveal his plans for the governor’s race. A spokesperson for a political consulting firm advising Walker said last month that the Guilford County Republican was preparing to enter the race.
Walker, who served six years in Congress until 2020, finished third in the 2022 U.S. Senate Republican primary ahead of eventual general election winner Ted Budd.
Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson and State Treasurer Dale Folwell announced their candidacies for governor earlier in the spring. On the Democratic side, Attorney General Josh Stein announced his candidacy for governor in January. Primary elections are scheduled for March.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is barred by the state constitution from seeking a third consecutive term in the nation’s ninth-largest state.
While Republicans hold veto-proof majorities in the Legislature and hold the most seats on the state Supreme Court, they have only served as governor four years since 1993. The only electoral victory during this period occurred in 2012 with Pat McCrory.
