Former NC congressman Mark Walker plans announcement in 2024 governor's race

Former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker will announce his plans for North Carolina's 2024 governor's race May 20, according to a political advisor.

Walker, a Republican who served three terms in Congress and ran an unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign last year, has teased a run for governor in recent months, recently telling WRAL News that many had asked him to run.

A statement Tuesday from Tim Murtaugh with National Public Affairs said Walker "is looking forward to seeing hundreds of friends and supporters" at the announcement.

"He and his wife, Kelly, have heard from pastors, officials and groups across North Carolina, all encouraging him to run, and have been discussing it and praying about it with their close friends and family," the statement reads. "Because Democrats will be putting everything they have into the coming race, it's essential that Republicans nominate a candidate who can withstand the scrutiny of a gubernatorial election. Mark looks forward to sharing his decision with the voters on May 20th."

Walker didn't provide comment beyond the announcement. The Greensboro pastor would be the third Republican in the race, following Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and state Treasurer Dale Folwell, both of whom announced earlier this year.

On the Democratic side Attorney General Josh Stein is the only known candidate, and he has already targeted Robinson in campaign materials as the likely Republican nominee.

Walker is a conservative who voted with then President Donald Trump 94% of the time in Congress. Walker was in the U.S. House 2014 to 2020 and decided against running for re-election after his district was redrawn into one that leaned Democratic. He campaigned during the 2022 Senate race as a bridge builder, and he launched that campaign alongside civil rights activist Clarence Henderson, who protested segregation in 1960 with a sit-in at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro.

Walker's entry into the race will probably help Robinson, Western Carolina University political science professor Chris Cooper said Tuesday. The lieutenant governor has dominated early polling in the race, but he frequently insults large swaths of the population. Republicans who fear he can't win a general election now look like they'll have two options, Cooper said.

"Ideologically I know know that there's a dime's worth of difference between any of them," he said. "But rhetorically there's a Fort Knox worth of difference."

Walker and Robinson have been close in the past and appeared together at multiple events early in Walker's 2022 U.S. Senate campaign. Robinson spoke glowingly about Walker but stopped short of an endorsement. After U.S. Rep. Ted Budd became the race's clear front runner, Robinson endorsed Budd, who went on to win the seat.

Walker finished third in the race's Republican primary, at about 9%, putting him behind Budd and former Gov. Pat McCrory.