State school superintendent wants lieutenant governor job

Mark Johnson, North Carolina's superintendent of public instruction, declared his candidacy Tuesday for lieutenant governor.

Posted 3:06 p.m. Nov 12, 2019 — Updated 5:17 p.m. Nov 12, 2019

Kelly Hinchcliffe

, WRAL education reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — Mark Johnson, North Carolina's superintendent of public instruction, declared his candidacy Tuesday for lieutenant governor.

Johnson, a Republican, has served a single term as the head of the state education agency.

Johnson began hinting at a run for higher office last week. His spokesman, Jonathan Felts said, "Change was needed at [the state Department of Public Instruction] in 2016, and Mark Johnson stood up to the challenge when no one believed he could win. Now, as we approach 2020, it’s clear that change is needed at the top here in North Carolina. Read into that what you will."

Johnson enters a crowded field to succeed Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, who is running for governor next year.

Seven other Republicans have already declared as candidates for the office, including former Congresswoman Renee Ellmers, state Sen. Andy Wells, R-Catawba, and former state Rep. Scott Stone. On the Democratic side, state Sen. Terry Van Duyn, D-Buncombe, and Reps. Yvonne Holley, D-Wake, and Chaz Beasley, D-Mecklenburg are among five declared candidates.

Candidate filing opens on Dec. 2, but that could be pushed back if judges hearing a challenge to North Carolina's congressional district map choose to delay state primaries, currently set for March 3.

The lieutenant governor, who is elected separately from the governor, presides over the state Senate and serves on State Board of Education and the North Carolina Community College System board.

Johnson ousted Democrat June Atkinson, the longest-serving state superintendent in the nation, in 2016. At the time of his election, the 33-year-old was the second-youngest statewide elected official in the country. He won with 50.6 percent of the vote.

In announcing his run for lieutenant governor, Johnson issued a statement emphasizing his relative newness on the political scene:

"Establishment folks were quick to tell me that I should wait my turn or that I couldn’t win because I wasn’t old enough. But waiting was not an option because I recognized what North Carolina parents and educators already knew, more of the same wasn’t working for public education in North Carolina!

"The more I campaigned on a message of change, the more pushback I encountered from the political system. Media Elites and Establishment Insiders, Republican and Democrat alike, were scared of the prospect of someone in office who would not just go along to get along. I ignored the naysayers and focused on the concerns working families shared with me about their children’s education. And together on Election Night, we proved the Establishmentarians wrong, and they were terrified."

Rep. Craig Horn, R-Union, and Catherine Truitt, chancellor of Western Governors University North Carolina, have expressed interest in the office of superintendent should Johnson not seek re-election.

Republican lawmaker considering running for state superintendent in 2020

"I was not going to run against an incumbent. So now, it's really, I've got to make the final decision," Horn said Tuesday morning. "It's just a matter of what do I really want to do with my life."

Horn, who heads the House K-12 Education committee and is the top education budget writer in the House, said he was surprised by Johnson's decision not to seek re-election.

"We all make decisions based on what's in our best interest," he said, adding that he will announce his own decision this week.

Five Democrats are already actively campaigning for Johnson's seat:

James Barrett, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools board member
Constance Lav Johnson, education consultant and president of Johnson Burton Learning Center
Michael Maher, assistant dean of professional education at North Carolina State University
Jen Mangrum, associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro's school of education
Keith Sutton, vice chairman of the Wake County Board of Education

The state superintendent oversees 1.5 million students and 180,000 full-time public school employees across the state.

"After years of making bad decisions for our public school students and educators, we are glad that Mr. Johnson has realized that the role of state superintendent was not a good fit for him personally or professionally," Mark Jewell, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, said in a statement. "NCAE looks forward to having conversations with candidates for the office who have the passion and experience to lead North Carolina’s public schools in a more productive direction."

Cooper vetoes 4 bills, calls for 'middle ground' in education funding

Johnson has criticized Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, for vetoing bills that would increase teachers' pay and said "it’s more and more apparent every day that North Carolina needs a governor who is truly pro-teacher instead of pro-politics."

Suggest A Correction