[upbeat music] - Joining me now is the GOP nominee for Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina, Hal Weatherman, how good to see you on this show.

Thanks for taking time off the campaign trail for a conversation.

- Thanks for having me.

- We've done this with you as a campaign advisor, manager, and now as a candidate, but this state's a lot different and a lot larger.

Who's Hal Weatherman?

- Hal Weatherman is 54 years old, been married for 20 years to my wife, Shelly.

We have three kids, all teenagers.

One in college, two in the home.

We live in Wake Forest, North Carolina.

I'm the former Chief of Staff to the previous Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest, and the previous Chief of Staff, to his mother, Sue Myrick, retired member of Congress, first female mayor of the city of Charlotte and 18 years in Congress and I was with her for all 18 years.

- And a Republican mayor of Charlotte.

- Yeah.

- Much like Pat McCrory, but you know, the state's changed then politically.

How is it different in this, as you've traveled this state, and how has it changed over the years since you were able to elect a Republican as mayor of Charlotte?

- I mean, the influx of out-of-staters is fairly significant, especially the more urban you go.

The rural areas are shrinking, by and large, and the urban areas are getting large, and to be specific, Raleigh and Charlotte are getting larger and it's bringing a new influx of people, a lot of 'em from the Northeast, a lot of 'em younger, and even among the Republican Party, there's a significant amount of Republicans coming in, but it's a different breed of Republican than the old school traditional Southern Republican.

Same thing with the Democrats.

And I think that's what's actually fueling the rise of unaffiliated increasing as a percentage of the voter registrants.

It's really out-of-staters coming in with no loyalty to one party or the other.

- Is it healthy for most voters statistically to not have a loyalty to one party or the other?

It's one thing to be in Camp Weatherman or Camp Hunt or Camp Cooper or Camp McCrory.

What's healthy for our society?

- I mean, I don't know if it's healthy or unhealthy, I just think it is the way it is, is you know, parties used to wield great influence in politics and really with the change of campaign finance laws maybe 20 years ago, McCain-Feingold, he who has gold makes the rules and the party influence waned because the candidates started really raising more money than the parties did at the county level and even at the state level, and so really that's what's fueled the change as far as I'm concerned.

It's just the decline of the old school party.

We used to have ward bosses and party bosses, and those days are long gone.

Candidates run their own campaign, they have their own staff, they're not necessarily dependent on their parties, but still, you have an advantage.

You still have an advantage if you're a member of one party or the other, only because you have a primary system that gets your name out there.

You have the infrastructure of the party itself broken all the way down to the county level, and so it's a disadvantage as an affiliate, as a candidate, but yeah.

- Let's talk about this lieutenant governor's race.

What's your approach to elevating this position?

It's technically the number two highest position in North Carolina politics.

I think legislators have peeled back power and influence, maybe not influence, but certainly the tactical legislative power.

How have you elevated this role and your own identity during the '24 cycle?

- I mean, I followed the lead of the office, the office, you know, if I win, I'll serve on the State Board of Education.

If I win, I'll serve on the State Board of Community Colleges and I'm very interested in those positions because of what it'll allow me to do.

I wanna bring a new generation of people into the trades.

I go all around the state and I talk about we've lost as a society what I call the basic concept of the dignity of work itself and so I wanna drive, you know, I tell young people today the quickest way to make six figures, the quickest way to be your own boss, the quickest way to build a business that you can literally sell for seven plus figures and retire is to work with your hands and so I actually like the assignments that the lieutenant governor has 'cause those two pedestals of the Board of Education and the Board of Community Colleges would allow me to drive a new generation.

I've got several ideas to drive a new generation of people into working with your hands and removing that stigma we put on people who work with their hands.

- But if you're on that committee or that board, you're just one of many on that board as a standalone lieutenant governor out on the stop eating 100 pounds of barbecue and 58 dozen fried fish.

- Rubber chicken, yeah.

- Dignity of work, we're gonna hear that out of you on the trail, and if you're elected, in office.

I mean, what does that mean?

I can surmise what it means, but in your opinion.

- So I'd like to create what I just call right now a two-and-two degree.

It's a new degree for kids who are gonna go to college.

I'd like 'em to go to the first two years if they want to a trade school, one of the 58 community colleges, get their certification, get their degree in HVAC or plumbing or commercial welding, whatever it is, electrical work, and then transfer to the one of the UNC school systems, get their degree from there, but it's a stripped down degree.

They've already decided what they wanna do.

They wanna be an entrepreneur, they wanna be a business owner in the trades, and so I give 'em a degree in graphic design, marketing, budget, finance, business.

Couple those two things together.

Like I said, the quickest way to make $100,000 a year, the quickest way to build a seven-plus figure business, in my opinion in today's world, is to work with your hands.

I'm tired of seeing generation after generation of kids be really pushed into a four-year university system.

I'm not against college, I have a college degree, I have a master's degree, but I'm sick of seeing generation after generation being pushed into the system where they're coming out with degrees in Egyptian poetry, $100,000 in debt, they can't find a job afterwards.

All the while, all the tradesmen and women are retiring or dying or both and wages are going up and it's a great place to go.

But you hear parents say all the time, "Well, that's a great profession, but not for my kid.

I want my kid to go to college."

And I really think people are starting to, in today's economy, they're looking and saying, "Why are we doing that?"

And so, if I could accomplish one thing as lieutenant governor, that's really one of the main things I wanna do is create a new degree program that drives a whole new generation of people into understanding there's dignity in working with your hands.

- You said stripped down degree, and when you go to college, you want that four year bachelor's degree.

It sounds big, it sounds fancy and it will get you a job.

When you say stripped down, do you mean stripped down- - Well, will it get your job?

I would argue there's a lot of people out there where it won't get you a job.

- Are you saying it's a focused degree where you go on campus the final two years, you get that exact, you get the complimenting skills that helps you in that business.

- Put it like this.

Education's evolving anyway.

A kid today in North Carolina, in any county in this state, can go out of high school through dual enrollment, graduate high school as a sophomore in college through what's called the Articulation Agreement, they can already go to a community college, take their first 40 core credits, and those credits must transfer now into the four-year university system.

They can't deny them like they used to, right, so connect all those dots.

What is a four-year university worth?

If I can graduate high school as a sophomore, do first two years at a community college, then go to a college for one year, a four-year degree today is worth one year.

And so that's why a lot of people are starting to say, "Why are we doing a four-year degree coming out $150,000 in debt?"

And then they can't find a job, when all the while, I know plenty of people that work with their hands that are making six figures at young ages.

- Do you see yourself articulating that vision directly to the UNC system of which this station is a part?

Or do you start that journey through the North Carolina Senate, presumably with senate leader- - I think I start it- - Where do you go?

- I think I start it on the two boards that I'll be assigned to.

Right off the bat I'll be on the K-12 board.

Number two, I'll be on the State Board of Community Colleges.

I personally, if Mark Robinson is elected governor, I'm gonna lobby him, either through executive order, or I'll lobby the General Assembly.

I think the lieutenant governor should also serve on the Board of Governors.

Like education, the evolution of education is partnership between all of these entities, yet we have no entity that serves on all three.

And had Dan Forest been the governor, we would've done that because that was one of our platform items that we wanted to do that, put the lieutenant governor on all three entities to get them to work together more strongly.

- Have you given any thought to what it would be to be lieutenant governor under Mark Robinson versus under Josh Stein?

Presumably you can do business with both if you're elected.

- There's no ambiguity to me because I've served in that.

Remember, I was Chief of Staff for Dan Forest for all eight years, and so first term we were under Republican Pat McCrory.

Second term, we were under Democrat Roy Cooper.

It is exponentially better to be under the party that you're under.

Reminder, the state constitution grants the governor the authority to assign duties to the lieutenant governor.

That has really not been the case historically over the last however many years, 100 years.

I would like to be a force multiplier for the governor, but clearly only if we agree ideologically and agree on the projects we wanna work on.

So it'd be better if I could work under a Republican, but all the projects that I lift up, like the two-and-two degree are irregardless of who is actually the governor, so I feel like the projects that I lift up on my platform and my campaign, I can accomplish regardless of who the governor is, but I would like to serve under to serve under Mark Robinson, clearly.

- You've told me off camera you've traveled all 100 counties as part of the Republican primary.

What are voters telling you and what is their understanding of the lieutenant governor's role in this state?

- Well, yeah, I went to all 100 counties.

I went to 35 counties five times or more.

I went to 10 counties 10 times or more.

I feel very strongly that a governor and lieutenant governor, if they wanna lead a state, they need to intimately know the state.

I feel a lot of angst from people, that's what I hear, angst in general, a lot of people struggling with inflation, high price of groceries, high cost of gas, healthcare.

People are concerned with fentanyl and fentanyl's not always in the urban areas.

In fact, it's shocking how much it's penetrated the rural areas.

Crime, the more urban you get, the higher the concern about crime 'cause we are seeing crime rates go up.

It's just a combination of everything that, hey, we don't like the direction the country is going right now and that filters all the way down to the state level and below, and you know, people are restless, they want a change.

- What tone are you feeling out of Raleigh?

You spent several years here a few years ago, but what's the tone right now?

You have Democrats versus Republicans, Republican super and majorities and Republicans can't get deals done, even with a super majority.

- I'm not gonna lie to you.

I'm gonna be as honest as I can be.

I haven't been in, I live in Raleigh, live right outside of Raleigh.

I haven't been in Raleigh in 18 months.

I'm serious when I say this.

I've literally been on the road for five and six days a week for 18 straight months.

That's it, so you know, I've spent very little time in Raleigh, and to be clear, if I'm elected, I've made this pledge.

Yes, I'll have an office in Raleigh.

Yes, I'll preside over the state senate as President of the Senate.

I preside when they're in session, I'll be there and I'll do my board appointments when they meet in town.

Other than that, I'm gonna govern on the road.

We've never had a lieutenant governor that spent, a lot of people campaign for it, but once they get in office, do they keep their ear to the ground?

Are they accessible to the people?

And I wanna be a lieutenant governor who's accessible to all people, regardless of the county, regardless of the size of the county.

I spend as much time in Jackson County, in Swain County, in Pasquotank or Perquimans than I do in Raleigh or Charlotte, way more time because their needs are greater and they're so thankful that someone from Raleigh shows up.

That's the number one thing.

If I'm east of 95, if I am west of Asheville, the number one thing I hear is, "Nobody comes here."

And I go and go back and keep coming back.

- Is it your job to, if you wanna travel as lieutenant governor and you come back to the Senate, is it your job to tell senate leaders this is what I'm hearing across this state because they're locally elected, yet when they're in Raleigh, they're statewide figures.

Do you feel an obligation to let 'em know, hey, this is what- - Yeah, of course.

- Makes people happy or sad or angry.

- Yeah, of course.

I think that would only make sense, right?

I'm not just traveling to travel.

I wanna travel so I can hear the problems and I can try to solve it.

- I've got less than one minute.

How partisan does the lieutenant governor's role need to be once you're past the campaign season where party nominees have to distinguish themselves from their opponents?

- The vast majority of the role of lieutenant governor is education-based and so I'm not gonna be hypocritical.

I campaign all over the state saying, "We need to get politics out of the classroom."

And so, you know, when I'm elected, I'm not overly partisan right now.

When I'm elected, I'm gonna delve into education issues and I'm gonna be true to the very thing I'm advocating right now.

Let's get politics out the classroom.

Let's return to basics, to reading, writing, arithmetic, get back to basics, and I think we're losing that as a society and so I'm not gonna be guilty of doing that myself.

- This is Hal Weatherman, GOP nominee for North Carolina Lieutenant Governor.

Mr. Weatherman, thank you so much for your time.

- Thank you.

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