- "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. North Carolina's
current Lieutenant Governor is
Walter
Dalton, a
Democrat.
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. Like the
Vice-President of the United
States, 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 but still carries no official power
beyond voting to break a tie in the Senate. Lieutenant Governors
typically must depend on governors to assign them high-profile
tasks. Much of the Lieutenant Governor's power in the state Senate
was reduced by legislators in 1989, giving more power to the
Senate
President pro tempore.
By virtue of the office, the lieutenant governor is a member of the
North
Carolina Council of State, the
North Carolina Board of
Education, the
North Carolina
Capitol Planning Commission and the North Carolina Board of
Community
Colleges.
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
- Tod R. Caldwell (R), 1868-1871 1
(Acting Governor from December 20, 1870)
- Curtis H. Brogden (R), 1873-1874 1
- Thomas J. Jarvis (D), 1877-1879 1
- James L. Robinson (D), 1881-1885
- Charles M. Stedman (D), 1885-1889
- Thomas M. Holt (D), 1889-1891 1
- Rufus A. Doughton (D), 1893-1897
- Charles A. Reynolds (R), 1897-1901
- Wilfred D. Turner (D), 1901-1905
- Francis D. Winston (D), 1905-1909
- William C. Newland (D), 1909-1913
- Elijah L. Daughtridge (D), 1913-1917
- Oliver Max Gardner (D),
1917-1921
- William B.
Cooper (D),
1921-1925
- Jacob E. Long (D), 1925-1929
- Richard T. Fountain (D), 1929-1933
- Alexander H. Graham (D), 1933-1937
- Wilkins P. Horton (D), 1937-1941
- Reginald L. Harris (D), 1941-1945
- Lynton Y. Ballentine (D), 1945-1949
- Hoyt Patrick Taylor (D),
1949-1953
- Luther H. Hodges (D), 1953-1954 1
- Luther E. Barnhardt (D), 1957-1961
- Harvey Cloyd Philpott (D),
1961-1961 2
- Robert W. Scott (D), 1965-1969
- Hoyt Patrick Taylor,
Jr. (D), 1969-1973
- James B. Hunt, Jr. (D), 1973-1977
- James C. Green (D), 1977-1985 3
- Robert B. Jordan, III (D), 1985-1989
- James Carson Gardner (R),
1989-1993 4
- Dennis A. Wicker (D), 1993-2001
- Beverly Eaves Perdue (D),
2001-2009 5
- Walter H. Dalton (D), 2009-
Notes
- Succeeded to the office of Governor.
- Died in office.
- First Lt. Governor to serve two terms.
- First Republican
elected since Reynolds in 1896.
- First female Lt. Governor.
See also
References
- News & Observer: Homeless lt. governors, next
on Oprah?
- News & Observer: Forty-seven words for the lt.
governor
- News & Observer: The man who (could) matter
(someday)
- News & Observer: Pittenger's bully
pulpit
- News & Observer: A curse on lieutenant
governors?