The North Carolina Lieutenant Governor may have very little power, but eight candidates want the job.

Republican candidates

N.C. Senator Robert Pittenger of Mecklenburg County heads a real estate investment firm. He won his Senate seat in 2002 by defeating Fountain Odom, one of the leading liberal Democrats in the legislature. Pittenger has a solidly conservative voting record and is articulate and very well informed on the issues.

Jim Snyder is a Lexington attorney who was the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 2004. He ran for the U.S. Senate in 2002, placing second to Elizabeth Dole in the primary. Snyder is an excellent public speaker, a strong conservative, and the author of several books.

Greg Dority heads a security consulting firm. He was the Republican nominee for Congress in the First Congressional District in northeastern North Carolina.

Timothy Cook is a political unknown who has done little campaigning.

In our opinion either Robert Pittenger or Jim Snyder would be a good choice. We do not know much about the two other candidates.

Democrat Candidates

Dan Besse is a Winston-Salem City Councilman. We recall that he was very liberal when he was active in student government at UNC back in the 1970s. It appears that he has not changed. In a campaign ad he bills himself as “The Real Progressive Democrat.”

Walter Dalton is a N.C. Senator from Rutherford County. Pat Smathers is Mayor of the Town of Canton. Hampton Dellinger of Buncombe County has the endorsement of the AFL-CIO.

Other State Races

Both parties have primaries for Superintendent of Public Instruction, which we will cover in a separate article.

There are Democrat primaries for state Auditor, Treasurer, Commissioner of Labor, and Commissioner of Insurance.