James G. Martin

For other people named James Martin, see James Martin (disambiguation).

James G. Martin
70th Governor of North Carolina
In office January 5, 1985 – January 9, 1993
Lieutenant	Robert B. Jordan (1985-1989) James C. Gardner (1989-1993)
Preceded by	Jim Hunt
Succeeded by	Jim Hunt
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina's 9th district
In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1985
Preceded by	Charles R. Jonas
Succeeded by	Alex McMillan
Personal details
Born	December 11, 1935 (1935-12-11) Savannah, Georgia
Political party	Republican
Residence	Charlotte, North Carolina
Alma mater	Davidson College Princeton University
Profession	Chemist, Professor

James Grubbs "Jim" Martin (born December 11, 1935) is the 70th Governor of the state of North Carolina. He served from 1985 to 1993. He was the second Republican elected to the office after Reconstruction, and the fifth overall. He is also the only Republican to serve two full terms as governor.

Early Life & Education

Martin was born in Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia. He was subsequently raised in South Carolina, and now calls Charlotte home.

Martin served as professor of chemistry at Davidson College, after receiving his doctorate in chemistry from Princeton University in 1960. An avid tuba player, he was a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity and Beta Theta Pi Social Fraternity while an undergraduate at Davidson.

Political life

Local

Martin was active in the Republican Party even when it barely existed in North Carolina. As a professor at Davidson, he advised the school's tiny Young Republicans chapter. In 1966, he was elected to the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners. He served for seven years, chairing the body from 1967 to 1968 and briefly in 1971. He was a president of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners.

National

He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1972 representing the Charlotte-based 9th Congressional district. He served there for six terms. He served as a Ways and Means Committee member, and as a House Republican Research Committee chairman. He became the first elected official to receive the Charles Lathrop Parsons Award, given by the American Chemical Society for outstanding public service by an American chemist.

State

In 1984, with incumbent governor Jim Hunt leaving office due to the term limit, Martin ran for the Republican nomination and won. He defeated state attorney general Rufus Edmisten by a surprisingly wide nine-point margin. He was undoubtedly helped by Ronald Reagan's landslide reelection victory. He was also helped when Lieutenant Governor Jimmy Green endorsed him after being defeated by Edmisten in the Democratic primary. Green was from eastern North Carolina, and his endorsement helped Martin win support among conservative Democrats in that part of the state.

Gubernatorial Accomplishments

One Promise

While most political figures running for office were prone to make promises covering a wide range of issues from education to health care, Martin made one promise that garnered a lot of attention; he said he would address all of the priorities in the state, but his only promise (and no small task) was that construction on Interstate 40 from Raleigh to Wilmington, North Carolina would be finished before he left office. The long-neglected and last leg of I-40 from Barstow, California would open up the southeastern coastal area to the rest of the state. He was true to his promise; the last unfinished leg of I-40 was finished before the end of his first term.

Reelection

Martin was easily reelected in 1988, defeating Lieutenant Governor Bob Jordan by 13 points. In so doing, he became the only member of his party to have been elected to two terms as governor of North Carolina. He was part of a 28-year trend of Governors of North Carolina who were named James, having been preceded and succeeded by Jim Hunt, who in turn was preceded in his first term by James Holshouser.

Controversy

In 1988 Martin commuted convicted murderer Jon Benson from death row to a life sentence. Benson was released on December 21, 2007.

Subsequent political career

In 1993 he retired from political life and became chairman of the board of the James Cannon Research Center of Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, NC.

As of 2010 he was the last Republican elected governor of North Carolina. Martin is one of two living former governors of North Carolina, along with Jim Hunt, to have a school named after him. James Martin Middle School is part of the governor's village located in Charlotte, NC off IBM Drive.

The eastern half of Interstate 485, a partially completed loop around Charlotte, bears the name Governor James G. Martin Freeway.

External links

• News & Observer: An odd path to the top
• Congressional Biography

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Charles R. Jonas	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina's 9th congressional district 1973–1985	Succeeded by Alex McMillan
Political offices
Preceded by Jim Hunt	Governor of North Carolina 1985–1993	Succeeded by Jim Hunt