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Democrat Dalton beats 2 others in the race for lieutenant governor
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Published: November 5, 2008
Updated: 11/05/2008 02:49 am
RALEIGH
Democratic state Sen. Walter Dalton defeated two other candidates to succeed Beverly Perdue as North Carolina's next lieutenant governor and let Democrats keep the office.
Dalton, of Rutherfordton, captured nearly 51 percent of the vote, while former Republican state Sen. Robert Pittenger had 46 percent, and Libertarian candidate Philip Rhodes had 3 percent.
Perdue, who was barred from running for a third term, ran for and won the governor's office.
The race to determine who would follow her was considered a referendum on both Democrats and her performance during her two terms in office.
In North Carolina, the lieutenant governor is elected independently of the governor and the post is largely ceremonial. The officeholder presides over the Senate, casts tie-breaker votes and serves on some state boards, including two education panels.
Despite that, all three candidates said they wanted to use the position to influence policy and set the state's agenda.
Dalton spent six terms in the Senate, where he worked with party leaders to draft North Carolina's state-government budget. He said that, if elected, a top priority would be continuing the Democrats' initiatives in education, such as raising teacher pay and reducing class sizes.
Pittenger, a Charlotte Republican and three-term legislator resigned his state Senate seat in May to focus on the campaign.
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