(The Center Square) – Fulfilling a long-expected move, North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore on Tuesday filed to run for Congress.
Moore, R-Cleveland, will seek the District 14 seat. His announcement came within hours of U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., saying he would not seek reelection. McHenry would have run in District 10.
Republican Pat Harrigan, who earlier said he was running for the District 14 seat, announced his switch to run for District 10 within an hour of McHenry’s announcement. Moore had announced earlier he would not seek to be House speaker again and then followed that with confirmation he would not seek reelection to the chamber.
Moore, elected to the state House in November 2002, is in his record fifth term as speaker.
Filing opened Monday and runs through next Friday at noon.
North Carolinians will elect 14 members to the U.S. House of Representatives for two-year terms. The U.S. Senate seats are not on the ballot again until 2026 (Sen. Thom Tillis) and 2028 (Sen. Ted Budd).
All 10 Council of State offices (four-year terms) are on the ballot, as are all 170 seats in the General Assembly (two-year terms). The council includes the governor; lieutenant governor; attorney general; commissioners of agriculture and insurance; the secretaries of state and labor; auditor; treasurer; and superintendent of public instruction.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is in his second four-year term, the limit of consecutive terms allowed.
There will be at least six people in new positions within the Council of State. In addition to the governor, the lieutenant governor, attorney general, treasurer, and labor commissioner are either not running for reelection or are running for different offices.
The 2024 election primary is part of Super Tuesday on March 5, along with 12 other states. The general election is Nov. 5.
All filings are available to the public through the state Board of Elections website. The following are notable filings from Tuesday through the 1:35 p.m. update:
• Governor: Democrat Mike Morgan. He’s a former state Supreme Court justice and considered a co-favorite along with Attorney General Josh Stein, who has yet to officially file. Stein was the first gubernatorial candidate to announce intentions.
• Agriculture commissioner: Republican Steve Troxler.
• Secretary of state: Republican Chad Brown.
States that join North Carolina in holding primaries for both parties on Super Tuesday are Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia. Iowa, which has the Republican caucus on Jan. 15, has the Democratic primary on March 5.