About Pat McCrory
Patrick Lloyd McCrory (born October 17, 1956) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 74th governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 53rd mayor of Charlotte from 1995 to 2009. To date, he is North Carolina's most recent Republican governor, and the last Republican mayor of Charlotte. While serving as mayor of Charlotte, McCrory served on the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council from 2002 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He was the Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina in the 2008 general election and was defeated by Lieutenant Governor Bev Perdue, the Democratic nominee. McCrory was again the Republican nominee in the 2012 gubernatorial election and won with 55 percent of the vote. McCrory became the first Mayor of Charlotte to win the state's highest office, as well as the first Republican to win the governorship of North Carolina since 1988. In 2016, McCrory came to national attention after signing the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act ("HB2"), sometimes called the transgender bathroom bill. Among other provisions, HB2 prevented local governing bodies from establishing their own anti-discrimination statutes. It declared that in government buildings, individuals may use only the restrooms that correspond to the sex on their birth certificates, preventing transgender people who have not altered their birth certificates from using the restroom consistent with their gender identity. The United States Department of Justice, in addition to several private citizens, filed lawsuits against McCrory and the state regarding HB2. Over 100 corporations voiced their opposition to HB2, notably to the elements that limited protections for LGBT individuals. In 2017, economists estimated that HB2 had negatively impacted GDP in the state of North Carolina by an amount between $450 and $630 million, or 0.1% of the state's annual gross domestic product. HB2 was partially repealed on March 30, 2017, after McCrory's reelection loss in 2016. McCrory lost his bid for a second term as North Carolina's governor in the 2016 gubernatorial election, conceding to Democrat Roy Cooper a month after the election but continuing to make voter fraud allegations. Court injunctions blocked his attempts to limit Cooper's power during a lame-duck special session. In 2022, McCrory ran for the U.S. Senate and lost the Republican primary to U.S. Representative Ted Budd. McCrory refused to endorse Donald Trump in 2024, although he endorsed him in 2016. At the age of 39, McCrory was the city's youngest mayor.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.