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Jim Gardner (North Carolina politician)

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James Carson "Jim" Gardner

30th Lieutenant Governor
of North Carolina
In office
January 7, 1989 – January 9, 1993
Governor James Grubbs Martin
Preceded by Robert B. Jordan
Succeeded by Dennis A. Wicker
U.S. Representative for North Carolina's 4th congressional district
In office
January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1969
Preceded by Harold D. Cooley
Succeeded by Nick Galifianakis
Born April 8, 1933
Rocky Mount, North Carolina
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Marie Tyler Gardner

Parents:
James Cuthrell (1908-1992) and<br< Sue Girardeau Trenholm Gardner (1909-1967)

Alma mater North Carolina State University
Military Service
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service 1953-1955

James Carson Gardner, known as Jim Gardner (born April 8, 1933), is a businessman and former politician who served a single term from 1967 to 1969 as a Republican U.S. Representative for his native North Carolina and as his state's 30th lieutenant governor from 1989 to 1993.

Background

Gardner was born in Rocky Mount, a city of more than 50,000 population in Edgecombe and Nash counties in the Atlantic coastal plain of northeastern North Carolina. He completed public schools and attended North Carolina State University in the capital city of Raleigh. He served in the United States Army from 1953 to 1955.[1]

In May 1961, Gardner and Joseph Leonard Rawls, Jr. (1931-1982), opened in Rock Mount the first franchise store of the fast-food restaurant Hardee's, which now has more than 1,800 outlets across the country. He later formed Gardner Foods.[2]

Political life

Gardner was a Republican before his party was competitive in state races against the then majority Democrats. Gardner ran in the 4th congressional district in 1964, but he was defeated by the 30-year incumbent, Harold Dunbar Cooley, I (1897-1974), when North Carolina supported Lyndon B. Johnson in the presidential election against U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona. In 1966, in a year more favorable to House Republican candidates, Gardner unseated Cooley by 13 percentage points.[3] Prior to his House service, Gardner had been the state Republican chairman in 1965 and 1966.[2]

Gerrymandered by the North Carolina Democrat legislature, Gardner did not run for reelection to the U.S. House in 1968. Instead, he was an unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate that year as well as in 1972, and 1992. In both 1968 and in 1992, he won the Republican nomination, but lost to Democrats Robert Walter "Bob" Scott (1929-2009)[4] and James Baxter Hunt, Jr. (born 1935),[5] respectively.

In 1972, he lost his party's gubernatorial nomination to the Moderate Republican, James Eubert "Jim" Holshouser. Jr. (1934-2013), who coincidentally had earlier succeeded Gardner as state party chairman.[6] Holshouser and James Grubbs Martin (born 1935) were the only Republican governors of North Carolina in the 20th century.

In 1988, more than two decades after his congressional service, Gardner defeated Democrat Anthony Eden "Tony" Rand (1939-2020)[7] and became the first Republican elected lieutenant governor since1896. He served during James Martin's second term as governor, 1989 to 1993. In response to the election of Gardner, the Democrats in the state legislature transferred many of the powers of the lieutenant governor to the President Pro Tempore of the state Senate.

Later years

In September 2011, Gardner endorsed the ultimately unsuccessful candidacy of Wake County Commissioner Tony Gurley for lieutenant governor. [8] In January 2013, Gardner was the master of ceremonies at the inauguration of newly elected Republican Governor Patrick Lloyd "Pat" McCrory and Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest.[9] The ceremony celebrated the return of Republicans to the governor's office for the first time since Gardner's defeat in 1992. Forest, the son of former Charlotte Mayor Sue Wilkins Myrick, also became the first Republican lieutenant governor since Gardner.

After taking office, Governor McCrory appointed Gardner, then seventy-nine years old, as the chairman of the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.[10]

References

  1. ↑ James C. Gardner. Our Campaigns.com. Retrieved on August 2, 2021.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress - Retro Member details, accessed August 3, 2021.
  3. ↑ Our Campaigns - NC District 4 Race - Nov 08, 1966, accessed August 3, 2021.
  4. ↑ NC Governor. OurCampaigns: 1968. Retrieved on August 3, 2021.
  5. ↑ James C. Gardner. OurCampagns (1992).
  6. ↑ OurCampaigns: 1972
  7. ↑ NC Lt. Gov.. OurCampaigns: 1988. Retrieved on August 3, 2021.
  8. ↑ Rob Christensen, "Gardner backs Gurley for lt. gov.," Charlotte News and Observer, September 26, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Jim Gardner gets another day in the sun," Charlotte News and Observer, January 6, 2013.
  10. ↑ "McCrory appointed ex-Lt. Gov. Gardner to ABC chair," wral.com, February 2, 2013.