Dan Forest
This photo belongs to Wikimedia Commons user Andrew Dunn013 and is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.Bio | Dan Forest serves as the Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina. He earned his architecture degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is running for Governor of North Carolina in the 2020 election. |
Status and Position | Former Lieutenent Governor of North Carolina |
Political Party and Jurisdiction | Republican, North Carolina |
Elections | Election Jurisdiction | Started Campaign | Campaign Status | Poll Rankings (of the vote) |
| 2020 Governor Election North Carolina | North Carolina | Yes | Running | 41.0% |
Campaign Financing | In total, Forest has raised almost $7 million—his biggest donor is the North Carolina Republican Committee, but the majority of his funds have come from individual donations. |
Voting Rights | Forest is a proponent of stricter voter ID and has pushed for it to be included in the state constitution. |
Opinions on Issues
Issues | Stance | Summary |
| Universal Healthcare | Against | Forest opposes expanding healthcare. He opposes measures to expand healthcare like expanding Medicaid in the state and the Affordable Care Act. |
| Socialized Healthcare | Against | Forest opposes measures to expand socialized health like expanding Medicaid and the ACA. |
| Private Healthcare | For | Forest supports lowering costs of healthcare through private industry and not through government-run healthcare. |
| LGBT Rights | Against | Forest has pushed bills which discriminate against LGBT+ citizens. He was a proponent of the NC "bathroom bill" that prohibited transgender people from using bathrooms that matched their gender identity rather than birth certificate, and backed another bill allowing magistrates to refuse to marry same-sex couples. |
| Taxes | Against | Forest supports lowering the tax rate. He is a supporter of the 2017 tax cut, and his platform calls for lowering the corporate tax rate in NC. |
| Flat Tax Rate | Unknown | He does not have a public position on a flat tax rate. He is a supporter of the 2017 tax cut, and his platform calls for lowering the corporate tax rate in NC. |
| Abortion | Against | Forest is pro-life. He has backed bills making it harder for women to get abortions in North Carolina. |
| Gun Control | Against | Forest does not support stricter gun control measures. He has called it the "religion of the left" and has a 92% rating from the NRA. |
| Assisted Suicide | Unknown | He does not have a public stance yet on assisted suicide. He has called it the "religion of the left" and has a 92% rating from the NRA. |
| Government Interference | Against | Forest does not support government interference in the economy or trade. |
| Planned Parenthood | Against | Forest is against Planned Parenthood and has made false statements about their founder's beliefs and purpose in creating the organization. |
| Welfare | Against | Forest opposes most forms of welfare. When first elected, he had a campaign video attacking Social Security (along with the FDA and a supposed threat of 'Sharia law'. |
| Welfare | Against | A strange nonprofit founded by Forest rates companies poorly if they support stem cell research. |
| Death Penalty | Unknown | He does not have a public stance yet on the death penalty. N/A |
| Mandatory Prison Sentence | Unknown | He does not have a public position yet on mandatory prison sentences. |
| Military Spending | For | Forest supports increased military spending and has called to make NC the most "military-friendly" state. |
| War on Terrorism | Unknown | He does not have a public stance yet on the War on Terror. |
| Foreign Policy International Interaction | For | Forest supports international economic cooperation. He has called for lowering the NC tax rate in order to entice international companies. |
| United Nations power | Unknown | He does not have a public stance yet on the United Nations. |
| Nationalism | For | Forest has attacked diversity and multiculturalism in the United States in similar language by that of Iowa Rep. Steve King. |
| Free Markets | For | Forest supports reducing government intervention in free markets. He sees unregulated markets as a path to economic prosperity and has called for reduction of government intervention within them. |
| Brexit | Unknown | He does not have a public stance yet on Brexit. |
| Affirmative Action | Unknown | He does not have a public position yet on affirmative action. |
| Government Spending | Against | He opposed a 2014 spending bill for raising the government's debt. |
| Charter Schools | For | Forest supports charter school and parents' choice in picking schools. |
| Common Core | Against | Forest opposes the Common Core. He states that he has opposed it as Lt. Governor but that "unfortunately" NC schools are still using it. |
| Clean Energy | Nuance | Forest does not believe in climate change but supports some renewable energy incentives. Forest has stated that "“I think the jury’s out on it. This whole notion of climate change and global warming is very new to the world of science," but also supports energy independence in NC which requires some movement to renewables. |
| Religious Freedom | For | Forest has stated his support for 'religious freedom'. He was a backer of a state religious freedom restoration act, and has told Christian pastors that COVID-19 restrictions were an attack on their religious freedom (sic). |
| Separation of Church and State | Against | Forest has stated that the country was founded on "the principles of Jesus Christ", which opposes the Founder's inclusion of separation of church and state. |
| Slavery Reparations | Unknown | He does not have a public position yet on slavery reparations. |
| Border Control | For | Forest supports stricter border control measures. Forest states that "A nation that can’t protect its borders isn't much of a nation at all." and has pushed for harsher measures. |
| Passenger Profiling | Unknown | He does not have a public position yet on passenger profiling. |
| DACA | Unknown | He does not have a public stance yet on DACA. |
| Sanctuary Cities | Against | Forest accuses "Democrat [sic] sheriffs" of creating sanctuary cities and arguing that they pose a danger to NC communities. |
| Legalizing Marijuana | Unknown | Forest appears open to legalizing marijuana but does not have a stance on this issue. |
This photo belongs to Wikimedia Commons user Andrew Dunn013 and is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.