By Staff
Becomes GOP candidate for lieutenant governor
By CLAUD HODGES
Senior Reporter
Republican Greg Dority of Washington filed Tuesday as a candidate for lieutenant governor of North Carolina.
Unless another Republican files by noon Feb. 29, he will face Robert Pittenger of Charlotte in the Republican primary May 6. Pittenger also filed Tuesday.
Dority filed at the Beaufort County Board of Elections office in Washington. Dority’s filing documents will be forwarded to the State Board of Elections in Raleigh.
As he filed for office, he bashed the current state government.
Illegal immigration is another issue on which Dority is taking a firm stand.
Kellie Harris Hopkins, Beaufort County’s director of elections, certified and notarized Dority’s filing documents. She said the filing will not be official until it is accepted by the State Board of Elections. Hopkins said the documents would be mailed Tuesday.
Dority’s filing fee was $1,199.
Beaufort County commissioners Stan Deatherage and Hood Richardson observed Dority’s filing. They talked with Dority, offering their support.
Ashley Woolard, Beaufort County Republican Party chairman, also watched as Dority filed. He’s supporting Dority. Approximately 20 other supporters watched as Dority filed.
Dority has run for office before. In 2002, he lost to Democrat Frank Ballance in the race for the state’s 1st Congressional District seat. In 2004, he lost to G.K. Butterfield in the race for the same seat.
Dority labels himself a fiscal conservative. He wants to lower taxes paid by working people and small businesses. Dority said he has been working hard and traveling the state to get his name and message out before the public.
He said improving education is a big part of his campaign. Dority said U.S. schools should place an emphasis on foreign languages so American students can be better prepared for global competition.
Dority was born in 1958 in Goldsboro, son of Tom and Joyce Dority. His father worked for the U.S. Treasury Department, and his mother worked at a bank.
Dority graduated from Washington High School in 1976. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from N.C. State University in 1981.