Two NC governors, two parties and ‘mutual respect’: Jim Martin on the late Jim Hunt
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- NC Gov. Martin praised Hunt's leadership and said they maintained mutual respect.
- Republican Martin served as governor between Democrat Hunt’s terms
- Martin recalled Hunt's counsels on scheduling and maintaining family time.
The Republican who served as governor between the late Democratic Gov. Jim Hunt’s terms says he had “great admiration” for his predecessor and successor.
Hunt, whose death was announced Dec. 18 by his daughter Rachel Hunt, the current lieutenant governor, served a historic four terms as governor. Hunt served from 1977 to 1985, and again from 1993 to 2001. In between those years was Republican Gov. Jim Martin, who served two terms from 1985 to 1993.
North Carolina’s constitution limits governors to two consecutive terms.
“I have enjoyed having great admiration for my colleague. We were different parties. And as you might imagine, he didn’t come to my rallies and I didn’t go to his, but we worked together — when, especially when the battles were over, the electioneering, all of that,” Martin told The News & Observer in a phone interview on Thursday evening.
Even as members of opposing parties, Martin said he and Hunt worked together as issues came up.
More significant than that, however, Martin said, was that Hunt “was a very capable and a celebrated leader for our state, and was one who did not carry offense any more than I did. I think we were both mutually respectful and appreciative of each other in that way.”
Martin said that when he took office Hunt handed Martin a large bronze state seal, and when Hunt became governor after Martin, Martin handed it back.
He said Hunt gave him good advice on a personal level too, when he took office: make sure that gubernatorial schedulers do not set his schedule on Sundays.
“They’re going to control you every other day of the week. Don’t let them get that one,” Hunt told Martin, as Martin recalled. “And when he came back (in 1993) and was after me, I told him I’d improved on that good advice. I put my wife, Dottie, on the scheduling committee,” Martin said.
Martin, 90, said he and Hunt had disagreements from time to time, but were always respectful of each other.
“So we got along fine,” he said. “That was a good standard. I know that’s changed a lot these days.”
