Republican Pat McCrory will become North Carolina’s 74th governor on Jan. 5 in a low-key ceremony in the old Senate chamber in Raleigh, and deliver his inaugural address in a more public forum a week later.
McCrory wants to get sworn in and his leadership team in place before the legislature opens its new session on Jan. 9, according to a statement from his transition team.
According to the statement, additional public and official events may be added, but so far the schedule includes enough parties to delight a debutante.
The events include:
• Jan. 5: prayer service at Christ Episcopal Church in Raleigh, followed by his swearing-in ceremony at noon.
• Jan. 7: 5 p.m., open house at the Governor’s Western residence in Asheville.
• Jan. 8: 11 a.m., Piedmont open house at a site that’s still being worked out; 5 p.m., Eastern North Carolina open house at Tryon Palace.
• Jan. 9: 4 p.m., open house at a still undetermined site in Charlotte.
• Jan. 10, Rock-the-Ball at Lincoln Theater in Raleigh
• Jan. 11, reception, followed by a gala, followed by the Inaugural Ball at the Raleigh Convention Center.
The week of festivities culminates on Saturday, Jan. 12, with a parade in downtown Raleigh, McCrory’s inaugural speech, an open house at the Executive Mansion and a “Governor’s Inauguration Celebration” at the mansion that evening.
Sympathy for Gov. Christie
Gov.-elect Pat McCrory and N.J. Gov. Chris Christie shared a tender moment last week at the Republican Governors conference in Las Vegas, according to a story in The New York Times.
Christie has felt some resentment from members of his own party who think his embrace of President Barack Obama after superstorm Sandy hurt Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. But McCrory apparently isn’t one of those, The Times reports:
“People keep asking me why you were so nice to the president,” Governor-elect Pat McCrory of North Carolina told Mr. Christie when they encountered each other beneath a gem-studded chandelier at the hotel.
“I tell them you are doing your job,” Mr. McCrory said.
“That’s right,” Mr. Christie replied, patting him on the back.
Forest making up for lost time
On his first full day as North Carolina’s lieutenant governor-elect Tuesday, Dan Forest met with advisers and visited his new offices for a briefing with a top aide to the incumbent.
Still to come: learning parliamentary procedure before the state Senate reconvenes on Jan. 9.
Forest, 45, was an architect before deciding to run for office, and his political experience before that consisted mostly of working on the election campaigns of his mother, U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, who will have served nine terms when she retires in January.
Staff writer Mary Cornatzer and Charlotte Observer staff writer Jim Morrill
Send tips to dome@newsobserver.com.
