Margaret Harper, who ran twice for lieutenant governor and was a pioneer among female political figures in North Carolina, died Sunday at Duke Hospital. She was 92.

Harper unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, first losing in the 1968 primary to Pat Taylor and in 1972 to Jim Hunt, who would become governor.

Harper, of Southport, was a businesswoman who ran an insurance agency and headed a statewide coalition of women's organizations. During World War II, she stepped in to edit the State Port Pilot newspaper while her husband James served in the military.

During the 1968 campaign, she told a Meredith College audience: "I want to look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man and work like a dog."

After her defeat, she became vice chair of the state Democratic Party. At the time, she predicted it would be "right many years before a woman is elected on the state level."

In a 1981 interview, she said would run again if she were younger. And, she said, she'd win. "I was born 20 years too soon, I think."

Did Republicans Jim Holshouser and Jim Martin become governor because of Democratic infighting?

That's the argument made by D.G. Martin in a column in the Chatham Journal Weekly. He says that splits between Democrats in the 1972 and 1984 primaries led to acrimony in the general elections, allowing the Republican candidates to win.

In '72, the split was between Lt. Gov. Pat Taylor and Skipper Bowles. Though Bowles won, Taylor backers were disinclined to vote for him, Martin argues.

In '84, former Charlotte Mayor Eddie Knox bitterly fought Attorney General Rufus Edmisten. Though Edmisten won, Knox and some of his supporters did not back the winner, Martin says.

Martin makes the case that the same could happen because of the fierce battle between Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and state Treasurer Richard Moore for the Democratic nomination.

A couple quibbles: 1) The analysis is a bit blue-centric. Democrats lost, but Republicans also won. 2) In both cases, Martin's own history suggests the key test was after the primary, when Bowles failed to reach out and Knox refused to endorse. 3) With four candidates, the GOP may also split.

Hat Tip: Tom Jensen

Will Democratic in-fighting hand the Governor's Mansion to the GOP?

Some Democrats are concerned about the precedent set by the only two Republican governors elected in the 20th century in North Carolina: Jim Holshouser and Jim Martin.

Both won elections after brutal Democratic primaries. (Holshouser in 1972 over Skipper Bowles, who fought Pat Taylor in a tough primary; Martin in 1984 over Rufus Edmisten, who fought Eddie Knox in a crowded Democratic primary.)

With Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and state Treasurer Richard Moore already getting down and dirty, some Democrats fear and some Republicans hope that history will repeat itself.

Not so fast, says Ferrell Guillory, a former political reporter who now heads the program on public life at UNC-Chapel Hill.

More after the jump.

   Comments (0)