McCrory Leads GOP Triumphs in North Carolina

North Carolina Gov.-elect Pat McCrory is calling for a 25-year transportation and infrastructure plan "to send a clear signal to the business community of the state's future investment in roads, railroads, bridges, ports, airports, and other infrastructure," according to a report by the News & Observer.

McCrory, a Republican and former mayor of Charlotte, won 54.7% of the vote on Nov. 6 in the race for the governor's office against Democrat Walter Dalton.

McCrory will become North Carolina's first Republican governor since 1988. Democrat Bev Perdue chose not to seek a second term in office.

In his platform, McCrory said he would bring private sector and government leaders together to create a "descriptive" transportation and infrastructure plan, which will include a "specific action plan to allocate money based on project worthiness" that would also require performance metrics to measure improvement over time.

"Our state must also become a better steward of the highway trust fund, which has been grossly mismanaged because of cronyism and pay-to-play politics," McCrory said. "Billions have been allocated based on political logrolling and the fund has been raided repeatedly for other expenditures."

McCrory said he will separate politics from transportation needs.

Republican Dan Forest captured 50.13% of the vote in the lieutenant governor's race against Linda Coleman. With voting slow close there was speculation that a re-count could occur.

Incumbent Janet Cowell, a Democrat, bucked the trend to win re-election as Treasurer.

The GOP also swept the majority of seats to control both chambers in the Legislature for the first time in decades.

Of the 120 House seats, 77 are now Republican. Of the Senate's 50 seats, 32 are held by the GOP.

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Transportation industry North Carolina
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