We are giving you another preview of the North Carolina primaries. The field of candidates for lieutenant governor is wide open in the Tar Heel state.
Sitting Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is making a run for governor in North Carolina, and that means the race for the next lieutenant governor is on ahead of the primaries on March 5.
A long list of candidates with a wide range of experience and backgrounds are vying for the mostly ceremonial position. However, the lieutenant governor does preside over the state Senate and serves as a tie-breaking vote on legislation.
The Republican field is crowded with eleven candidates on the ballot.
They include former state Sen. Deanna Ballard, “Gays For Trump” founder Peter Boykin, Mooresville business owner and evangelist Rivera Douthit, state Rep. Jeffrey Elmore, paramedic and firefighter Marlenis Hernandez Novoa, pastor Allen Mashburn, Forsyth District Attorney Jim O’Neil, Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, Army veteran Ernest Reeves, former congressional chief of staff Hal Weatherman, and attorney Seth Woodall.
There are three candidates on the Democratic ticket. They include state Sen. Rachel Hunt, who is the daughter of former North Carolina Gov. Jim Hunt, former state Senator and Air Force vet Ben Clark, and retired Navy Cpt. Mark H. Robinson, of no relation to the sitting lieutenant governor of the same name.
A Democrat hasn’t won an election for lieutenant governor in North Carolina in more than a decade.
There is one Libertarian candidate for lieutenant governor. Because she is running uncontested, UNC Chapel Hill graduate Dee Watson automatically advances to the general election.