Weatherman leads O’Neill in GOP runoff for NC lieutenant governor

Political strategist Hal Weatherman defeated Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill in a runoff for the Republican nomination for North Carolina lieutenant governor — earning a chance to compete for a position with a big title but fewer responsibilities than many other elected state government leaders.

Weatherman and O’Neill emerged from the March 5 primary as the top vote-getters in a GOP field of 11 candidates, but neither received enough support to secure the Republican nomination outright. That triggered Tuesday’s runoff.

With 99% of precincts reporting, Weatherman had 74% of the vote. O’Neill had 26%.

Weatherman will now face Democrat Rachel Hunt in the November contest to replace Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is the GOP nominee for governor.

In a statement, North Carolina GOP Chairman Jason Simmons described Weatherman as a “strong candidate who will work seamlessly with our Council of State candidates to deliver for North Carolina families.”

In a social media post Tuesday night, Hunt described Weatherman as an extremist who wants to “take away fundamental rights.”

A spokesperson for Weatherman didn’t provide a comment when reached. The O’Neill campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Weatherman aims to become the third Republican elected lieutenant governor since 2012, when Dan Forest started the first of his two terms. Hunt — a state Senator from Mecklenburg County and the daughter of former Gov. Jim Hunt — hopes to be the first Democrat elected lieutenant governor since Walter Dalton in 2008.

The lieutenant governor presides over the state senate, calling on senators when they ask to speak. The job calls for sitting on various boards and is first in line to succeed the governor but can’t issue executive orders, or even cast a vote in the senate unless there’s a tie. The lieutenant governor also doesn’t run a department, unlike the commissioners of agriculture or labor or other elected officials on the council of state.

What the job lacks in power, it makes up for in opportunity. It’s a high-profile position that allows the office-holder to build name recognition by traveling the state and weighing-in on North Carolina’s most pressing issues. Every lieutenant governor since 1961 has also run for governor.

Robinson has used the lieutenant governor’s office as a bullhorn for the party’s right wing. He often rails against abortion and LGBTQ issues with a blunt, thunderous speaking style that helped him rise from obscurity to stardom in a matter of months.

Weatherman, 54, has spent his career in North Carolina politics and is endorsed by Robinson. Weatherman has said he said he wants to advocate for school choice policies and workers in blue collar jobs. “My primary goal in seeking the office of lieutenant governor is to use the authority of the office to fundamentally remove the stigma our society has placed on men and women who work with their hands,” Weatherman said in a statement to WRAL this month.

He noted that the lieutenant governor has a seat on the State Board of Education and the State Community College Board of Directors, adding that he wants to use those seats to fight the “woke agenda.”

“I want to drive a new generation of people into the trades and restore the basic concept of the dignity of all types of work,” Weatherman said. “And I want to prepare our state for the precarious days that I believe are ahead of us as a country.”

Hunt, meanwhile, has prioritized investment in public schools, expanding access to health care and economic development in small towns. She describes herself as an advocate for domestic violence victims, maternal healthcare and affordable child care. She says she’ll push for healthcare access, lower prescription drug costs and reproductive healthcare, as well as broadband access in rural parts of the state. She also supports laws that would allow a judge to temporarily confiscate guns from people who pose a risk to themselves or others. She also touts her efforts to remove barriers to voting.

Weatherman worked as chief of staff for former Lt. Gov. Dan Forest and former U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick. He also worked on Forest’s campaigns for lieutenant governor, winning in 2012 and 2016, as well as Forest’s campaign for governor in 2020, when he lost to incumbent Democrat Roy Cooper.

O’Neill, 58, who was endorsed by North Carolina’s Police Benevolent Association and ran his lieutenant governor campaign as an advocate for law enforcement who would help legislators tackle crime in the state.

Tuesday’s result was the latest statewide loss for O’Neill. He previously ran for attorney general in 2020 and came just 14,000 votes shy of defeating incumbent Democrat Josh Stein. He also lost to Buck Newton in the 2016 Republican primary for attorney general.