No gubernatorial run for McCrory, but he's eyeing US Senate in 2022

Former Gov. Pat McCrory will stay on Charlotte radio and "seriously consider" running for U.S. Sen. Richard Burr's seat.

Posted 1:55 p.m. Dec 19, 2019 — Updated 3:32 p.m. Dec 19, 2019

Travis Fain

, WRAL statehouse reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — Former Gov. Pat McCrory will not seek a return to the governor's mansion in 2020 but will "seriously consider" running for the U.S. Senate in two years.

That's when Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr plans to retire, leaving an open seat. On his Charlotte-area radio show Thursday morning, McCrory said he considered running for governor but didn't want to contribute to society's division.

The former Charlotte mayor said he was heartened by recent polling showing him with a good chance in the race but that North Carolina Republicans already have strong gubernatorial candidates in Lt. Gov. Dan Forest and state Rep. Holly Grange, R-New Hanover.

“Maybe it’s time for someone from outside of Washington to come be a problem-solver inside of Washington,” McCrory said.

Between now and the 2022 campaign, McCrory said he would seek to expand his morning radio show on WBT. He said some people asked him to run for governor this cycle, some for Congress, and that at least one person approached him in a restaurant this week and told him he was "much better on the radio ... stay out of politics."

"I wasn’t sure how to take that, but I listened," McCrory said.

McCrory also said he'll focus on re-electing North Carolina Republicans and defeating Gov. Roy Cooper next year.

“Gov. Cooper has been a big disappointment," he said. "He says little and does even less. ... Gov. Cooper can be beaten, and he should be beaten."

Asked for a response, Cooper's lead campaign consultant Morgan Jackson simply said "we haven’t given Pat McCrory a thought in years."

McCrory's announcement makes him the second prominent Republican this week to signal serious interest in Burr's seat, joining 6th District Congressman Mark Walker. Walker issued a statement after McCrory's announcement, saying he hoped the former governor would "join me in recognizing Dan Forest is a strong conservative leader and the best candidate to win back the governor’s mansion in 2020."

"North Carolina wants fresh candidates who have consistently won their elections," Walker said in his statement.

Had he run for governor, this would have been McCrory's fourth try in a row. He ran unsuccessfully against former Gov. Bev Perdue in 2008, served as governor from 2012 to 2016, then lost three years ago to Cooper.

McCrory said positive things about both Forest and Grange during his Thursday announcement, which leaked the night before from an unusual source: The North Carolina Democratic Party, which sent the word out Wednesday night without revealing its source.

"He’s kept things purposefully vague presumably to drive traffic to his radio show and boost ratings – but the NCDP has the scoop," party spokesman Robert Howard said in an email to reporters. "Tomorrow morning, Pat McCrory will announce his plan to form an exploratory committee for a run for the United States Senate in 2022."

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