Pat McCrory

Patrick Lloyd McCrory (born October 17, 1956) is an American politician, businessman, and radio host who served as the 74th governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2017.

McCrory was active in the Student Government Association and was part of a conservative backlash to the growing "hippie" culture at Catawba in the mid-1970s.

He graduated in 1974 from Ragsdale High School in Jamestown, North Carolina.

He attended Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina, where he received degrees in political science and education in 1978.

McCrory became the first Mayor of Charlotte to win the state's highest office, as well as the first Republican to win the governorship of North Carolina since 1988.

McCrory began his political career in Charlotte in 1989 when he was elected an At-Large City Councilman.

He was re-elected in 1991 and 1993; McCrory served as Mayor Pro Tem from 1993 to 1995.

A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 53rd mayor of Charlotte from 1995 to 2009.

In 1995, he was elected mayor of the city of Charlotte, succeeding Richard Vinroot, who ran unsuccessfully for the 1996 Republican gubernatorial nomination.

At the age of 39, McCrory was the city's youngest mayor.

McCrory gained a reputation as a very popular, affable mayor.

In 2001, McCrory gave the graduation keynote address at his alma mater, Catawba College.

The college awarded him an honorary doctorate of legal letters.

He has served as a member of Catawba College's board of trustees.

While serving as mayor of Charlotte, McCrory served on the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council from 2002 to 2006 under President George W. Bush.

In the 2007 mayoral election, he defeated seven-term Democratic state Rep. Beverly Earle, 61 to 39 percent.

He was the Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina in the 2008 general election and was defeated by Lieutenant Governor Bev Perdue, the Democratic nominee.

In January 2008, after 28 years with Duke Energy, he retired from the company to run full-time for governor.

McCrory announced in late 2008, shortly after his gubernatorial campaign, that he would not seek an eighth term.

McCrory is the city of Charlotte's longest-serving mayor.

McCrory helped develop Charlotte's 25-year transportation and land-use plan.

Working closely with U.S. Senator Jesse Helms, McCrory made efforts to secure $200 million in federal funds for the city's new Lynx Light Rail system.

In January 2009, McCrory was named a partner with Charlotte-based McCrory & Company, a sales consulting firm.

In January 2010, he was named a Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives for Charlotte-based law firm Moore & Van Allen PLLC.

McCrory was again the Republican nominee in the 2012 gubernatorial election and won with 55 percent of the vote.

He is a 2014 Young Leader Alumni member of the American Swiss Foundation.

In 2016, McCrory came to national attention after signing the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act ("HB2"), sometimes called the transgender bathroom bill.

Among other provisions, HB2 prevented local governing bodies from establishing their own anti-discrimination statutes.

It declared that in government buildings, individuals may use only the restrooms that correspond to the sex on their birth certificates, preventing transgender people who have not altered their birth certificates from using the restroom consistent with their gender identity.

The United States Department of Justice, in addition to several private citizens, filed lawsuits against McCrory and the state regarding HB2.

Over 100 corporations voiced their opposition to HB2, notably to the elements that limited protections for LGBT individuals.

McCrory lost his bid for a second term as North Carolina's governor in the 2016 gubernatorial election, conceding to Democrat Roy Cooper a month after the election but continuing to make voter fraud allegations.

Court injunctions blocked his attempts to limit Cooper's power during a lame-duck special session.

In 2022, McCrory ran for the U.S. Senate and lost the Republican primary to U.S. Representative Ted Budd.

McCrory was born in Columbus, Ohio, the son of Audrey Mona (née Herzberg) and Rollin John McCrory.

His family moved to North Carolina when he was a child.

He was raised Presbyterian and his family attended First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro.

In 2017, economists estimated that HB2 had negatively impacted GDP in the state of North Carolina by an amount between $450 and $630 million, or 0.1% of the state's annual gross domestic product.

HB2 was partially repealed on March 30, 2017, after McCrory's reelection loss in 2016.

Since 2017, he has hosted the "Pat McCrory Show with Bo Thompson" on WBT 1110AM in Charlotte, NC.