Former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker is expected to announce his plans to enter next year's North Carolina governor's race at an event later this month, according to a spokesperson for a political consulting firm that is advising him.
Walker, a Republican who served six years in Congress through 2020, will make the announcement on May 20 at a Christian school in Kernersville, Tim Murtaugh, the spokesperson, said in a news release.
Last month, Murtaugh had said Walker was preparing to enter the race. Murtaugh said on Tuesday that has not changed.
Walker would enter a Republican primary field that already includes and . On the Democratic side, announced his gubernatorial bid in January. Primary elections are scheduled for March.
Current Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is barred by the state constitution from seeking a third consecutive term.
Walker, a former pastor, finished third in the 2022 Republican U.S. Senate primary to eventual general election winner Ted Budd.
Walker's distribution of a video of Robinson's 2018 gun-rights speech to the Greensboro city council helped bring attention to Robinson, who was later elected lieutenant governor in 2020 in his first bid for elected office.
