Walker to reveal N. Carolina governor race plans this month

Former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker is expected to announce his plans to enter next year's North Carolina governor's race at an event later this month, according to a spokesperson for a political consulting firm that is advising him.

Walker, a Republican who served six years in Congress through 2020, will make the announcement on May 20 at a Christian school in Kernersville, Tim Murtaugh, the spokesperson, said in a news release.

Last month, Murtaugh had said Walker was preparing to enter the race. Murtaugh said on Tuesday that has not changed.

Walker would enter a Republican primary field that already includes Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and State Treasurer Dale Folwell. On the Democratic side, Attorney General Josh Stein announced his gubernatorial bid in January. Primary elections are scheduled for March.

Current Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is barred by the state constitution from seeking a third consecutive term.

Walker, a former pastor, finished third in the 2022 Republican U.S. Senate primary to eventual general election winner Ted Budd.

Walker's distribution of a video of Robinson's 2018 gun-rights speech to the Greensboro city council helped bring attention to Robinson, who was later elected lieutenant governor in 2020 in his first bid for elected office.