Mark Walker joins race for NC governor, setting up competitive GOP primary

The 2024 race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination just got a little more crowded.

Former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker, a Baptist preacher who represented the Greensboro area in Congress from 2015 to 2021, said Saturday that he’s entering the race for governor.

“We live in a great state but we need to fight for it." Walker said during an event at a Baptist church in Kernersville. “Fight the agenda that wants to take down our state and fight the rhetoric that makes us callous and hard-hearted.”

He told WRAL last month that people have been asking him to run but he was still praying over what to do. At the time he included a veiled swipe at Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the apparent favorite in the GOP primary, who some Republicans believe is too extreme to win a general election.

He pressed that theme Saturday, presenting himself as the most electable Republican for the general election.

“Here’s an important fact to remember,” Walker told reporters after his speech. “Only 30% of the state’s registered voters are Republicans. You better have somebody that can hold the line on our conservative principles, but somebody that can build bridges to unaffiliated voters, and to new communities. … as opposed to just somebody up there throwing bombs, going after this minority group, or going after this community. That’s not my style.”

Walker’s wife Kelly also urged GOP primary voters to vote for a candidate for governor based on their ability to get things done, not just their ability to give a viral speech.

“On one hand, we have radical progressive ideology being crammed down our throats,” she said. “And on the other, we have a good ol’ boy network, with their provocative speeches and rhetoric — but never any solutions. Mark Walker brings solutions whether as a business leader, a pastor or a leader in Congress.”

State Treasurer Dale Folwell is also seeking the GOP nomination with similar themes of focusing on the economy and refraining from the sorts of explicit personal attacks that have won Robinson a large following on the right.

"I welcome Mark to the race," Folwell said Saturday in a post on Twitter. "His decision doesn’t change the fact that as state treasurer and keeper of the NC public purse with actual executive experience, I remain uniquely qualified and trusted to lead as NC’s 76th governor."

Robinson's campaign, meanwhile, said his story will best connect with voters. "Robinson's story of overcoming the challenges of his life, and his vision for the state is something that the people of North Carolina respond to, and will make him victorious in the general election," Conrad Pogorzelski, Robinson's chief campaign strategist, said in a statement.

While Walker in his speech included more veiled shots at Robinson, his pitch Saturday also reflected elements of Robinson’s campaign, which has focused on Robinson’s background as a factory worker and son of a single mom. In a campaign video, Walker portrayed himself as an everyman from humble beginnings who arrived in the Triad with little money and a cheap suit. He met his wife Kelly at church. He also talked about his faith in God, which has been a cornerstone of Robinson’s public life.

Walker said he would cut taxes for working families, rein in government spending and fight “open border policies and ensure police are protecting our citizens and not the law-breakers.” He also said he would seek to expand educational opportunities. And he touched on a highly partisan issue — transgender rights — that GOP state legislators have focused on in recent years, calling transgender health procedures for children an abomination. “I will be ceaseless in my fight against the intellectual pursuit of our elites promoting child mutilations,” he said.

Entering race as an underdog

Earlier this month, a poll commissioned by the conservative John Locke Foundation found that 43% of registered Republicans would back Robinson for governor, while 9% would back Walker, 12% would back other candidates and 37% were undecided. In a December poll by campaign consultancy The Differentiators, Robinson was the favorite over Folwell.

Walker acknowledged Robinson’s status as the favorite, but he said he hopes Republican voters come to realize Robinson is not the best candidate to beat a Democrat in November.

Walker hasn’t won an election since 2018 but has remained active in state politics.

He decided not to run for reelection to his U.S. House district in 2020, after a gerrymandering lawsuit forced Republican state lawmakers to redraw the districts to be more fairly representative of the state. He was one of two Republicans left in unfavorable political territory that year, when the new court-ordered maps dropped the state’s Congressional delegation from a 10-3 Republican advantage to an 8-6 split.

He then sought the open U.S. Senate seat vacated by Sen. Richard Burr’s retirement in 2022. Walker seemed to have momentum in the early months of that GOP primary, winning a poll taken of the hundreds of conservative activists who attended the Republican Party’s annual convention in 2021. But that momentum shifted after former President Donald Trump endorsed the eventual victor, Ted Budd, over Walker and the other candidate, ex-governor Pat McCrory.

Walker had hoped to win Trump’s endorsement that year; Trump is coming back to North Carolina next month, to yet again speak at the state GOP convention. Walker said he’s not expecting to win Trump’s endorsement this time around, but he’s not counting it out either.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever met anybody that can predict exactly what President Trump will do,” said Walker, who was in Congress for the entirety of Trump’s presidency.

Despite his relatively short time in Congress, Walker took on several leadership roles — and not the kinds normally associated with one another.

Walker was chosen to lead the right-wing Republican Study Commission group in 2017. And in 2019 he joined a group, largely made up of Black Democrats and led by Charlotte Rep. Alma Adams, to restart a Congressional caucus focused on historically Black colleges and universities.

Walker was introduced Saturday by Florida state Rep. Chase Tramont, a fellow pastor who has known Walker for years. Tramont said Walker’s time in Congress proved that voters can be sure Walker will stand by his values, and not bend to political pressure.

“He has been in the swamp, but he is not of the swamp,” Tramont said. “He has a proven record of fighting to uphold those rights and liberties which we all adhere to day in and day out. He didn’t just go to D.C. to win an argument. He went there to make a difference.”

When he was in Congress he represented North Carolina A&T, the nation’s biggest HBCU, and other historically Black colleges and universities in the Triad. He’s married to a graduate of Winston-Salem State University, another HBCU, and earned a reputation as someone who would fight for extra HBCU funding in Congress.

Walker played that up Saturday, noting that it’s not typical for Republicans to work as closely with Black constituents as he did when in Congress. Fellow Republicans in Congress even told him he was wasting his time, Walker said, but he dismissed that criticism — as he stood on stage Saturday with a number of Black supporters.

“Our job is to build bridges,” he said. “I’ve traveled the state. And these Republican echo chambers, they’re important. But somebody’s got to start talking about, ‘How are we going to take this message to places and communities that don’t hear it?’”

The GOP is trying to diversify its ranks in a state that is closely split ideologically and has a sizable number of unaffiliated voters — and an increasingly diverse population. Of the state’s 7.3 million voters, unaffiliated voters make up 35.9%, Democrats make up 33.2% and Republicans make up 30.2%.

Black voters remain overwhelmingly Democratic-leaning, yet there is a growing number of Black Republicans in North Carolina — including, notably, Robinson, the first Black lieutenant governor in state history and the first Black Republican elected to any prominent position since Reconstruction.

The North Carolina GOP has become slightly more diverse in recent years, dropping from 91% white in 2020 to 89% white in 2022, according to public voting records analyzed by Carolina Demography.

Robinson is best known for his fiery speaking style, which captivates audiences and enamors conservatives — and which has featured explicit anti-gay, antisemitic and misogynistic themes. It has won him fans on the far right but at the same time has led to concerns within the GOP of whether he can appeal to moderate or undecided voters needed to win an election for governor in a closely divided swing state like North Carolina.

Like Walker, Folwell also has a strong conservative resumé and is trying to position himself as the more responsible choice in the primary for GOP voters who want a Republican to end up in the governor’s mansion. Folwell has made the theme of his campaign for governor that he will attack problems, not people.

Whoever wins is likely to face Democrat Josh Stein in the general election. The state’s attorney general since 2016, Stein is so far the only Democrat to enter the race to replace Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper — who is term-limited and can’t run again next year.

During his campaign video, Walker denounced Democrats, blaming them for high inflation, immigration problems, high taxes — and called out Stein, saying he's looking the other way on immigration enforcement and "ignoring a mental health crisis in order to take away our guns."

North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton released a statement following Walker’s announcement, saying his positions were out-of-touch with most voters.

“Mark Walker joins a growing field of GOP candidates that are all missing the mark for North Carolinians with extreme agendas that would ban abortion with no exceptions, gut our public schools, and set off job-killing culture wars that put working families in harm's way," Clayton said. "While they’re caught up in a messy and chaotic primary that is sure to leave a mark, voters will be wising up to the reality of their dangerous policies and ready to mark the end of their career in politics next November.”

It’s a long way to November 2024, and Walker said Saturday that the governor’s race will, in the end, likely attract over $50 million in funding from inside the state as well as national groups, who see North Carolina as having potentially the most important governor’s race in the nation next year.

Immediately after Walker’s speech, a local businessman took the stage and started soliciting donations for Walker’s campaign, setting a goal of $500,000 in the next 40 days.