NC House Speaker Moore says he won’t run for state House in 2024, will finish out term
North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore, who said over the summer that he won’t run for another term as speaker, said Thursday that he won’t run for another term in the state House, either.
The Republican speaker said that he will, however, finish his term in the General Assembly, which runs through the end of 2024. And Moore will also continue to serve as House speaker in the short session, which convenes in spring 2024. The long session isn’t quite over yet, but is expected to finish its work after redistricting in October.
Moore mentioned his political future in answering a question from The News & Observer about a $40 million earmark in the state budget for the Cleveland County courthouse, which is in his district.
“That’s something that’s really been important for a long time for our community, and the county cannot afford to build it just alone. And so it’s a way that I can help secure the funding to bring back. I’m not going to be here forever,” Moore said on Thursday at the Legislative Building.
“Whoever replaces me will likely be sitting somewhere toward the back of the room and a new member and probably not be able to leverage projects like that. So I wanted to try to bring as much back for worthy causes,” he said.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has said that he’ll let the clock run out on the deadline to take action on the budget that passed the General Assembly this past Friday, meaning that it will become law without Cooper’s signature after 10 days, or on Oct. 2.
Will Moore run for Congress?
Moore told reporters that he doesn’t “plan to seek reelection to the statehouse.” Asked what he’ll run for instead, Moore demurred, saying “I don’t know.”
There has been speculation that Moore may run for Congress and wouldn’t finish his term, but he said he “absolutely” will.
“I don’t know where that got started. I’m gonna serve the balance of my term, and (I’ve) got a lot of good work to do. I’m looking at next steps. Don’t know what those will be yet, I’m looking at a number of great options out there,” he said.
Lawmakers’ redistricting work in October includes the redrawing of the state’s congressional maps.
Moore considered running for Congress in the last election, but at the last minute decided not to announce after former U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn switched districts in November 2021. Cawthorn, then a freshman, switched back to his home district but then lost the Republican primary to Chuck Edwards, who went on to win the general election.
In June, Moore was the subject of an “alienation of affection” lawsuit that said, among other things, that he traded political favors for sexual favors, which the speaker denies. The parties to the case later said that the lawsuit had been “resolved.” Moore confirmed that he had an “on again, off again” relationship with Jamie Liles Lassiter, who was then married to Scott Riley Lassiter, a former Apex Town Council member who filed the lawsuit.
Moore is the longest serving House speaker in North Carolina history. He took on the role in 2015 and served previously as the House Rules Committee chair.
This story was originally published September 28, 2023 at 12:28 PM.
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