The State of North Carolina is slated to elect a new governor in 2024. Current Democratic Governor Roy Moore is not allowed by law to run for another consecutive term in office. Making the race an open one.
Said race is anticipated to be a hotly contested one. Early polling has given further oxygen to that expectation. A number of candidates have already entered party primaries in the contest. That category is apparently soon to included at least one former member of the United States Congress.
Walker planning to officially enter the fray
Mark Walker is set to run for governor of North Carolina, WCNC and WRAL report.
He has been giving indications for a time that he was interested in pursuing the governorship. Evidently, he will make that official later this month.
Walker would be the first candidate to formally join the Republican primary. Following State Treasurer Dale Folwell and highly controversial Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson. Other Republicans may also yet join in. Including U.S. Senator Thom Tillis, State House Speaker Tim Moore and State Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler.
One Democrat has thus far launched a gubernatorial campaign, State Attorney General Josh Stein. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, among others, has been mentioned as another possible entrant.
A single member of the Libertarian Party has also declared their candidacy so far.
Walker was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2014. He won his seat from the 6th District of North Carolina. In ensuing years, Walker would be re-elected twice. Along the way, he joined party leadership and became vice ranking member of the Committee on House Administration.
His other Committee assignments included Homeland Security, as well as Oversight and Government Reform.
In 2020, Walker did not run for another term in the House. The race for what was by then recently re-drawn 6th District was won by Democrat Kathy Manning.
Two years later, Walker was a candidate in the Republican primary for that year's United States Senate race in North Carolina.
Prominent Republican incumbent Richard Burr had opted for retirement. The nomination ultimately went to U.S. Representative Ted Budd, who later won the general election. Budd, like Walker, has a background that includes a theological education.
Is an ordained Southern Baptist minister
Mark Walker is a native of Dothan in southeastern Alabama. His father worked as an Independent Baptist minister and as a chaplain at a local prison. The Walker family later moved to Houston, Texas.
The younger Walker would attend Trinity Baptist College in Jacksonville, Florida. He later obtained a degree from what is now Carolina University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Eventually, he would settle in Greensboro.
