Part Two of a Series
Statewide filing for offices begins Dec. 4 for the March 4 primary elections.
The governor, lieutenant governor, and all council of state positions are on the ballot in 2024, and a variety of candidates have made their intentions known even before the December filing date.
Four candidates have made public their plans to replace state Attorney General Josh Stein in the March primary. Three of those announced candidates are Democrats.
Tim Dunn of Fayetteville is Marine Corps veteran who helped prosecute Saddam Hussein. He holds degrees from Campbell University and UNC-Chapel Hill.
Charles Ingram was a member of the Naval Reserve’s Judge Advocate General cadre for 40 years, but most of his legal work has been in his native Duplin County.
Former Charlotte State Sen. Jeff Jackson opted to run for attorney general after his district was redrawn this year. He has promised to pursue action against the legislators who he says redrew district lines to eliminate his chances in Congress.
On the Republican side, only Dan Bishop has announced his intentions to run. Bishop has held the Ninth District U.S. House seat since 2019, and opted out a run for reelection to Congress for a shot at the AG’s post. He served in the state house and senate, where he was attacked by Democrats for co-authoring the state law prohibiting people of different sexes from using bathrooms, locker rooms and other facilities that are gender specific.
In the secretary of state race, Republicans Jesse Thomas, Darren Eustance and John Gouch have said they are running for the office. Chad Brown has filed paperwork announcing his intention to form a fundraising committee for the office. Incumbent Elain Marshall, a Democrat respected on both sides of the political aisle, has not officially announced her plans.
The commissioner of labor race features a familiar local face: Columbus County native Chuck Stanley. A former contractor and public works employee, Stanley has spent most of his adult life “down in holes or on the roads,” as he put it. He was the first candidate to announce a run for the office. Stanley narrowly missed the Republican nomination in 2020 after a barnstorming campaign that took him to nearly every Walmart and Lowes store in the state.
Incumbent Republican Josh Dobson has not announced if he will run for reelection, but Luke Farley and Jon Hardister are vying for the nomination. Travis Wilson, a Union County commissioner, announced his plans to run. Ben Moss, another Republican, has withdrawn from the race.
Democrat candidate Braxton Winston II announced that he intends to file. Currently, the Charlotte mayor is the only declared Democrat hopeful.
The Superintendent of Public Instruction race is expected to be a hotly contested race this coming year. A number of social issues that are being fought over from the General Assembly to the national stage are expected to play a role in the contest.
Incumbent Republican Catherine Truitt is expected to file for reelection.
On the Democrat side, college teacher Kate Eddings and former Guildford County Schools superintendent Mo Green in the primary.
The previous installment of this series covered the gubernatorial and lt. Governor’s races, along with the positions of state auditor, treasurer, and commissioners of agriculture and insurance. Both reports will be updated as more candidates announce their primary runs.
