Dan Forest | |
---|---|
34th Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina | |
Assumed office January 7, 2013 |
|
Governor |
Pat McCrory Roy Cooper |
Preceded by | Walter Dalton |
Personal details | |
Born |
Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S. |
October 15, 1967
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Alice Forest |
Parents | Sue Myrick (Mother) |
Education |
University of North Carolina, Charlotte (BArch, MArch) |
Website | Government website |
Dan Forest (born October 15, 1967) is the 34th Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina. A Republican, Forest is an architect by trade. Prior to his run for lieutenant governor, he was the senior partner and office president of North Carolina’s largest architectural firm, Little Diversified Architectural Consulting. He is also the son of former U.S. Representative and former Charlotte Mayor Sue Myrick. Forest lives in Raleigh with his wife, Alice, and his four children.
Forest holds a degree in architecture from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and formerly served on the UNC Charlotte College of Architecture Advisory Board. He is the former chair of Wake Forest Pregnancy Support Services and former chair of The Triangle Leadership Forum in Raleigh.
In 2012, in his first run for office, Forest placed first (with a 67,000 vote margin of victory) in a crowded May primary election, which included Speaker Pro Tempore of the North Carolina House of Representatives Dale Folwell, Representative Gray Mills, and Wake County Commissioner Tony Gurley. Forest went on to defeat Gurley in a July 17 runoff election, winning 96 of 100 counties, to become the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor. His candidacy was heavily backed by both the Republican Party and the Tea party movement.
In November, Forest defeated former State Representative Linda Coleman in the general election for lieutenant governor. After a provisional ballot recount, Forest's margin of victory was only about 7,000 votes, or .16%. Upon his swearing-in on January 7, 2013, Forest became the first Republican lieutenant governor since James Carson Gardner left office in 1993, and only the second Republican elected to the office since 1897.