GOP voters pick nominees for NC lieutenant governor, auditor

Hal Weatherman is Republican voters’ choice in the runoff election for lieutenant governor.

The Associated Press called the race for Weatherman Tuesday about 20 minutes after polls closed in North Carolina’s second primary election, held statewide to select the Republican nominees for lieutenant governor and state auditor.

In the runoff for auditor, Dave Boliek, a member of the Uncchapel Hill Board of Trustees, defeated Jack Clark, a staffer for a budget chair in the N.C. House, AP projected.

And former federal prosecutor

Brad Knott won his 13th Congressional District GOP runoff.

Democrats made their picks in the March 5 primary, but Republican candidates in those races did not gain enough votes to win the primary outright. So Republican voters, and those unaffiliated voters who voted in the first Republican primary, headed back to the ballot box to narrow the field to one.

Weatherman was chief of staff for former Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest. His opponent, Jim O’neill, is the district attorney for Forysth County.

The job of lieutenant governor has few official duties, but significant ones: they preside over the Senate and vote if there is a tie. They also serve on the State Board of Education and State Board of Community Colleges.

O’NEILL VS. WEATHERMAN

Weatherman has been on the campaign trail for well over a year, visiting Republican groups across the state. He was not just

Forest’s chief of staff when Forest was lieutenant governor, but also ran his campaigns. Forest was defeated in 2020 by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who won a second term.

Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein are running for governor. Stein narrowly defeated O’neill in the 2020 election.

Weatherman, 54, of Wake Forest, was endorsed by Forest and Robinson. O’neill, 58, was endorsed by law enforcement groups. O’neill has been fo