Opinion: How former Gov. Jim Hunt transformed North Carolina

A lot of people have come to North Carolina since Gov. Jim Hunt left office 25 years ago. They may not know it, but he’s a big reason they came here.

[Editor’s Note: The following was originally published at “Talking About Politics.” It was written by Gary Pearce, one of the late Gov. Jim Hunt’s longtime staff workers.]

He’d call you first thing in the morning or last thing at night.

Or he’d grab you by the elbow, or sit you down knee to knee and nose to nose, and fix you with that steely stare.

“Now, looka here,” he’d say, “this is what we need to do.”

And you’d walk through a wall for him.

North Carolina’s ‘education governor,’ Jim Hunt, dies at 88

That’s how he raised teacher pay to the national average – and to the top 20 in the states. (We’re 50th now.)

That’s how we got Smart Start.

The School of Science and Mathematics.

The N.C. Biotech Center and Microelectronics Center.

Veto and succession for governors.

National Board certification for teachers.

The Centennial Campus and the Emerging Issues Forum at N.C. State University.

FILE – Former North Carolina Gov. Jim Hunt speaks to the media at the Marriott hotel, in downtown Greensboro, N.C., Jan. 28, 2012, before The North Carolina Democratic Party’s Sanford-Hunt-Frye Dinner, a fundraising event. (AP Photo/Ted Richardson, File)

The Hunt Institute on education research, policy and leadership, with Duke University’s Sanford School – named for Terry Sanford, whom Hunt worked to elect governor in 1960.

Statewide public kindergartens, the East Carolina University School of Medicine and the Coastal Area Management Act – all passed when he was Lieutenant Governor and President of the Senate.

That’s how he led North Carolina’s transformation from a state that was – as UNC President Bill Friday said, “poor, rural and segregated to the core” – to a leader in public education, economic growth, technology and research.

A lot of people have come to North Carolina since he left office 25 years ago. They may not know it, but he’s a big reason they came here.

Since yesterday afternoon, I’ve heard from many colleagues who were lucky enough to work with and for him.

We remember his passion, his seemingly limitless energy and, above all, the kindness and concern he always showed – no matter how hard he was pushing you.

We remember his positive, optimistic spirit – no matter how dark and negative politics turned.

We could use that spirit today.

In 2024, I was raising money for Rachel Hunt’s campaign for Lieutenant Governor, and someone asked me, “How long did you work for Governor Hunt?”

“Forty-eight years so far,” I said.

It’s been almost exactly 50 years since I started work in his first campaign for Governor – on January 1, 1976.

I saw what great leadership is.

I saw what drove him to drive us.

He believed in what North Carolina could be.

He believed in our potential and our future.

He believed in us.

We can best honor him by making North Carolina what it can be and should be.

That is the memorial he would want most.