Jim Gardner | |
|---|---|
 Gardner in the 1960s | |
| 30thLieutenant Governor of North Carolina | |
| In office January 7, 1989 – January 9, 1993 | |
| Governor | Jim Martin |
| Preceded by | Robert B. Jordan |
| Succeeded by | Dennis A. Wicker |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNorth Carolina's4th district | |
| In office January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1969 | |
| Preceded by | Harold Cooley |
| Succeeded by | Nick Galifianakis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | James Carson Gardner (1933-04-08)April 8, 1933 (age 91) Rocky Mount,North Carolina,U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic (before 1962) Republican (1962–present) |
| Education | North Carolina State University |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1953-1955 |
James Carson "Jim" Gardner (born April 8, 1933) is an American businessman and politician fromNorth Carolina who served as a Republican member of theUnited States House of Representatives for just one term from 1967 to 1969 and served as the 30thLieutenant Governor of North Carolina 1989 to 1993. In 1962, he changed parties from theDemocratic Party to theRepublican Party.
Gardner was born inRocky Mount, North Carolina. He attended public schools andNorth Carolina State University. Gardner served in theUnited States Army from 1953 to 1955.[1]
In May 1961, Gardner, along with Joseph Leonard Rawls Jr., opened the first franchise store of the fast food restaurantHardee's inRocky Mount, North Carolina.[2] Later, in 1968, he bought the troubledHouston Mavericks of theAmerican Basketball Association and after finishing their second season in the ABA, moved them to North Carolina a year later as theCarolina Cougars.[3][4] He would also be named an interim commissioner of theAmerican Basketball Association following the resignation of former star centerGeorge Mikan.
Active inRepublican politics from the days the party barely existed in North Carolina, Gardner first made a splash when he ran for Congress in 1964 and nearly defeated 30-yearDemocratic incumbentHarold D. Cooley, the powerful chairman of theUnited States House Committee on Agriculture.[5] Gardner was a former Democrat in his early life,[6] but took advantage of the time at American politics where the GOP were gaining momentum in the South. In 1966, Gardner (by then chairman of theNorth Carolina Republican Party) toppled Cooley by a shocking 13-point margin to represent a district that includedRaleigh, North Carolina as well as his home in Rocky Mount.[7]
He was an unsuccessful candidate forGovernor of North Carolina in 1968, 1972, and 1992. In both 1968 and in 1992, he won the Republican nomination, but lost to DemocratsRobert W. Scott[8] andJim Hunt,[9] respectively. In 1972, he lost the nomination toJames Holshouser,[10] the first of only two Republican governors of North Carolina in the 20th century.
In 1988, Gardner defeated DemocratTony Rand[11] and became the first Republican elected lieutenant governor sinceCharles A. Reynolds, who served from 1897 to 1901. Gardner served from January 1989 to January 1993, during the second term of Republican GovernorJames G. Martin. In response to the election of Republican Gardner, the Democratic-controlledNorth Carolina General Assembly transferred many of the powers of the Lieutenant Governor over to thePresident pro tempore of the North Carolina Senate.[12]
In September 2011, Gardner endorsed the (ultimately unsuccessful)2012 candidacy ofWake County CommissionerTony Gurley forlieutenant governor.[13] As an "elderpolitician," Gardner has been called one of the "Four Jims" of the North Carolina Republican establishment, the others being former Governors Holshouser and Martin and formerUnited States House of Representatives memberJim Broyhill. (Holshouser and Broyhill have since died).[14] In January 2013, Gardner served asmaster of ceremonies at theinauguration ceremony for newly elected Gov.Pat McCrory, Lt. Gov.Dan Forest and other members of theNorth Carolina Council of State.[15] The ceremony celebrated the return of Republicans to the governor's office for the first time since Gardner's defeat in 1992. Forest also became the first Republican Lieutenant Governor since Gardner (DemocratsDennis A. Wicker,Bev Perdue, andWalter H. Dalton served in the post after Gardner).
At age 79, Gardner came out of retirement when McCrory appointed him chairman of theNorth Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission in 2013.[16] He retired from the position on February 8, 2017.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNorth Carolina's 4th congressional district 1967–1969 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forGovernor of North Carolina 1968 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forLieutenant Governor of North Carolina 1988 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forGovernor of North Carolina 1992 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina 1989–1993 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former US Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former US Representative | Succeeded byas Former US Representative |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
