Forest, Gurley campaign for lieutenant governor; Folwell enters race

Dan Forest, 44, and Tony Gurley, 55, both of Raleigh, have been campaigning across the state for months. They were the only two Republican candidates until N.C. House Speaker Pro Tem Dale Folwell from Forsyth County announced Tuesday at a news conference that he was also running for the office. Forest, an architect, spoke with the Times-News last week to begin a three-day tour through Western North Carolina. Gurley, a pharmacist, attorney and three-term commissioner in Wake County, did the same in early December.The role of the lieutenant governor revolves around what Forest called a "three-legged stool" job creation, education and law enforcement. According to Forest, the lieutenant governor sits on the N.C. Economic Development Board, the State Board of Education and State Board of Community Colleges, and is in a position to be the point person for the state with regard to immigration matters.All three are issues that currently resonate most with voters, Forest said, which makes the position an especially important one. Gurley added that it's the only elected position that has authority in both the legislative and executive branches of government, and that "half of your time is free to pursue special projects that will benefit the citizens of North Carolina.""I want to make use of that time to become the champion of small business for North Carolina and travel throughout the state identifying ways to reduce the cost of doing business," Gurley said.A business owner since 1984, Gurley said recent studies show North Carolina is dead last in the nation in regard to the speed with which it's recovering from the current recession."So something has got to be done to help improve the economy, and I believe that we recover through small-business growth," he said. "I want to travel throughout the state finding small-business owners that can tell me what government needs to do to get out of their way to reduce the bureaucratic burdens and red tape; what we need to change in order for them to grow, hire ! people a nd improve the overall economy."Forest, who is entering the political arena for the first time, said the reason behind the state's economic struggles is that it has one of the worst business-tax climates in the U.S., "so we end up playing the (economic) incentives game." He said such incentives may be fine at the local level, but is counterproductive at the state level."I think, first and foremost, we should build a solid business-tax foundation to create a good, level playing field for businesses looking to locate here or that are already here," said Forest, who served as senior partner and office president for the state's largest architectural firm. Forest added that he would also support a "Buy North Carolina" mandate for all government purchases.Gurley said he's proud of his conservative leadership on the Wake County Board of Commissioners, which, during his tenure, has become "probably the most transparent local government in the country." When Gurley was chairman of the board, he said, he began a program called Wake Watch that made Wake the first county in the nation to put its entire budget online.Meanwhile, Forest said his 23 years as an architect required him to be the kind of creative problem-solver needed in government."That's what we do in the business world every day; we take large groups of people together with differing opinions and try to solve problems for them every single day," he said, "and that's really what's going on in politics."Folwell, meanwhile, kicked off his "Dale Can Fix NC" tour at a press conference in Winston-Salem that featured numerous speakers."It's not enough to know what has to be done," Folwell said, according to a news release. "Someone has to act on it. I am applying for the job of Lt. Governor of North Carolina because we need serious solutions to the real problems facing the people of our state."Reach Glancy at 828-694-7860 or gary.glancy@blueridgenow.com.