Dan Forest
Dan Forest is an architect and the current strongly conservative lieutenant governor of North Carolina, having been elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. He is currently running for governor in 2020 to unseat the incumbent left-wing officeholder of the position, Roy Cooper.
| Dan Forest | |
|---|---|
| Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina From: January 7, 2013 – present | |
| Governor | Pat McCrory (2013 – 2017) Roy Cooper (2017 – present) |
| Predecessor | Walter Dalton |
| Successor | Incumbent (no successor) |
| Information | |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Alice Forest |
| Religion | Christian |
Early life and education
Dan Forest was born in Harrisonburg, Virginia and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina. His mother was the conservative U.S. representative Sue Myrick who represented North Carolina's 9th district from 1995 to 2013. Forest graduated from the University of North Carolina, obtaining a bachelor's and master's degree in architecture. He was later a senior partner in Charlotte at an architectural firm.
Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina
2012 election
Despite not having previously held any political office, Forest ran for lieutenant governor in 2012, and won the general election over Democrat Linda Coleman by less than half of one percent of the vote.[1] Concurrent with Forest's election was the gubernatorial election that year, where Republican Pat McCrory won by over 10% of the votes casted.[2] It is important to note that under North Carolina law, gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial elections are separate.
2016 election
Facing Linda Coleman again in his re-election efforts, Forest handily won the lieutenant gubernatorial election by a greater margin of 6.6% of the vote this time, although Pat McCrory lost to leftist then-attorney general Roy Cooper by a margin of less than 1%.[3]
Tenure
After Governor Pat McCrory had signed H.B.2 into law to restrict public bathroom use to biological sex,[4] a nationwide left-wing outrage followed, with many liberal states such as California prohibiting state travel to North Carolina over the legislation.[5] Lt. Gov. Forest firmly supported the measure,[6] correctly pointing out that transgenderism is merely a feeling and not biological factuality.[7] Forest also later correctly pointed out in March 2017 that, despite the economic backlash following the bill, North Carolina's annual GDP had only fallen by 0.1%.[8]
See also
- Jenean Hampton, former lieutenant governor of Kentucky
References
- ↑ North Carolina Election 2012 Results
- ↑ 2012 Gubernatorial General Election Results
- ↑ North Carolina Election Results
- ↑ HB 2 - Requires Individuals to Use Bathroom of Biological Sex - North Carolina Key Vote
- ↑ California limits state travel to North Carolina over its ‘bathroom bill’
- ↑ NC Lt Gov Dan Forest Urges Lawmakers to Stand Firm on HB2
- ↑ 'Transgenderism' Is a 'Feeling,' Explains Dan Forest, Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina (Warning: Article uses foul language)
- ↑ Dan Forest stated on March 6, 2017 in a press conference in Texas: Says HB2 has hurt North Carolina’s economy by "one-tenth of 1 percent of our annual GDP."