Forest makes pitch for lieutenant governor

Dan Forest

By Karissa Minn

kminn@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — A Raleigh architect says he wants to design a better plan for North Carolina’s future as its next lieutenant governor.

Dan Forest, a Republican, has worked in architecture for 23 years. He was formerly a senior partner and office president with Little Diversified Architectural Consultants.

“I decided to leave that behind a couple years ago to get into public service and serve the people of North Carolina,” Forest said in a recent stop by the Salisbury Post. “I felt we had a leadership crisis in America and a leadership crisis in our state.”

Forest has never run for office, but he has served behind the scenes in politics for many years with his mother, U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick.

He said people suggested he run for lieutenant governor because the position is well-suited for someone with business experience.

“My background... brings to the table a creative problem-solving mentality to politics that we really need,” Forest said. “The changes we face are pretty daunting, and we really need creative solutions to those problems.”

As lieutenant governor, Forest said he will focus on three areas of responsibility — education, job creation and immigration.

He said he wants to set up a voucher system to give parents a choice in where to send their children to school.

“We need to break the state government-controlled education monopoly,” Forest said. “When you break a monopoly in the business world, you get competition, increased quality, decreased costs and innovation.”

The state’s community colleges should be encouraged to offer more four-year degrees, he said, because not everyone wants or can afford to go to a university.

In North Carolina, the lieutenant governor presides over the Senate and serves on the State Board of Education and the State Board of Community Colleges.

To promote job creation, Forest said the state should eliminate its corporate income tax, lower its gas tax and reduce its regulatory burden.

Finally, Forest said the lieutenant governor’s law enforcement appointment powers could open up a way to deal with illegal immigration at the state level.

“The federal government has been ignoring this for years,” he said. “North Carolina needs to do its job to protect its citizens.”

He said he wants to require the use an E-Verify system to check the status of workers, and to give sheriff’s deputies the power to identify and report illegal immigrants who show up in their jails.

Forest faces Tony Gurley, a Wake County commissioner and pharmacist, and N.C. House Speaker Pro Tem Dale Folwell in the Republican primary election.

Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton said Tuesday he will run for governor, after Gov. Bev Perdue announced she is not seeking a second term. This leaves the race for second-in-command with no incumbent and, as of Tuesday, no announced Democratic candidates.

Contact reporter Karissa Minn at 704-797-4222.

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