Pat McCrory

Pat McCrory
McCrory in 2015
74th Governor of North Carolina
In office
January 5, 2013 – January 1, 2017
LieutenantDan Forest
Preceded byBev Perdue
Succeeded byRoy Cooper
53rd Mayor of Charlotte
In office
December 7, 1995 – December 7, 2009
Preceded byRichard Vinroot
Succeeded byAnthony Foxx
Personal details
Born
Patrick Lloyd McCrory

(1956-10-17) October 17, 1956 (age 68)
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
​
(m. 1988)​
[1]
EducationCatawba College (BA)

Patrick Lloyd McCrory (born October 17, 1956)[2][3] is an American politician, businessman, and radio host who served as the 74th governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2017. McCrory is the only Republican elected as governor of North Carolina in the 21st century. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 53rd mayor of Charlotte from 1995 to 2009.

While serving as mayor of Charlotte, McCrory served on the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council from 2002 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He was the Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina in the 2008 general election and was defeated by Lieutenant Governor Bev Perdue, the Democratic nominee.[4][5][6] McCrory was again the Republican nominee in the 2012 gubernatorial election and won with 55 percent of the vote.[7] McCrory became the first Mayor of Charlotte to win the state's highest office, as well as the first Republican to win the governorship of North Carolina since 1988.

In 2016, McCrory came to national attention after signing the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act ("HB2"), sometimes called the transgender bathroom bill.[8] Among other provisions, HB2 prevented local governing bodies from establishing their own anti-discrimination statutes. It declared that in government buildings, individuals may use only the restrooms that correspond to the sex on their birth certificates, preventing transgender people who have not altered their birth certificates from using the restroom consistent with their gender identity.[9] The United States Department of Justice, in addition to several private citizens, filed lawsuits against McCrory and the state regarding HB2. Over 100 corporations voiced their opposition to HB2, notably to the elements that limited protections for LGBT individuals.[10] In 2017, economists estimated that HB2 had negatively impacted GDP in the state of North Carolina by an amount between $450 and $630 million, or 0.1% of the state's annual gross domestic product.[11] HB2 was partially repealed on March 30, 2017, after McCrory's reelection loss in 2016.

McCrory lost his bid for a second term as North Carolina's governor in the 2016 gubernatorial election, conceding to Democrat Roy Cooper a month after the election but continuing to make voter fraud allegations. Court injunctions blocked his attempts to limit Cooper's power during a lame-duck special session. In 2022, McCrory ran for the U.S. Senate and lost the Republican primary to U.S. Representative Ted Budd.

  1. ^ Gordon, Michael; Paynter, Marion (January 11, 2013). "Ann McCrory, a private woman, moves into a public role". The Winston-Salem Journal.
  2. ^ "Patrick McCrory - Biography". VoteSmart.org. 2018. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference McCrory at Carolana was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Gary Robertson (November 4, 2008). "Democrat Perdue becomes NC's 1st female governor". Associated Press.
  5. ^ Morrill, Jim (November 6, 2008). "Losing is new for McCrory". Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
  6. ^ "Pat McCrory joins Moore & Van Allen". Moore & Van Allen PLLC. January 2010. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
  7. ^ "Mayor Patrick McCrory of Charlotte, N.C., advocates Bay area rail". Tampa Bay Business Journal. November 3, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
  8. ^ Anderson, Bryan (October 30, 2021). "Ex-NC Gov. McCrory eyes political comeback with Senate bid". AP NEWS. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  9. ^ "North Carolina Bans Local Anti-Discrimination Policies". The New York Times. March 24, 2016. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  10. ^ Dalesio, Emery P. (September 8, 2016). "McCrory: Chamber Helped Shape HB2". Blue Ridge Public Radio. Additional reporting from Associated Press. Western North Carolina Public Radio, Inc. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  11. ^ Doran, Will (March 7, 2017). "HB2 has cost North Carolina hundreds of millions of dollars. Dan Forest says that isn't very much". PolitiFact. Poynter Institute for Media Studies. Retrieved December 15, 2018.