Jim Baxter Hunt, a towering name in North Carolina politics and a key driver of national education reform in the late 20th century, passed away on Thursday at the age of 88. His daughter, Lieutenant Governor Rachel Hunt, announced the news.
Hunt’s 16‑year tenure set a benchmark for “education governors.” During his time in office, the state swung from a textile‑and‑tobacco base to a burgeoning high‑tech economy. He died peacefully in his Wilson County home, according to his daughter’s office.
“He devoted his life to serving the people of North Carolina, guided by a belief that public service should expand opportunity, strengthen communities, and always put people first,” Rachel Hunt wrote in a statement that also referred to her “beloved daddy and hero.”
A business‑savvy progressive, Hunt reshaped state government and helped lead the national push for educational change. He first won the governorship in 1976 and, after a constitutional amendment, became the first North Carolina leader to win four consecutive four‑year terms.
After losing a U.S. Senate race to Republican icon Jesse Helms in 1984, Hunt returned to politics eight years later, securing a third term as governor and winning re‑election in 1996. Even after stepping down in 2001, he stayed active in Democratic circles, rooting for figures like former Gov. Roy Cooper and late Sen. Kay Hagan. He campaigned for President Barack Obama in 2012 and for Hillary Rodham Clinton and Cooper in 2016.
Governor Josh Stein, the current Democratic leader, called Hunt “I can think of no one who shaped North Carolina’s recent successes as much as Governor Jim Hunt,” while Cooper dubbed him “the greatest Governor in North Carolina history.”
In his 80s, Hunt urged Republicans in the legislature to prioritize large investments in public education over tax cuts.
“I’m proud of what we’ve done together,” he told reporters in a May 2017 interview. “But I’m far from satisfied about where we are and determined to keep doing my little bit, I guess, to help us keep changing things and improving things in North Carolina. And I know you do it mainly through education.”
A Life Dedicated to Public Schools
Hunt never wavered from his focus on public schooling, always linking educational achievement to competitiveness in the global market. In the 1970s, as lieutenant governor, he partnered with Republican Gov. Jim Holshouser to bring North Carolina first in the nation with full‑day kindergarten.
During the 1980s he helped establish the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and advocated for nationwide standardized testing so states could benchmark each other.
Back as governor in the 1990s, he pushed the Smart Start early‑childhood initiative—now a national model—and fought for higher teacher pay. After leaving office, the Hunt Institute in Durham trained up‑and‑coming political leaders on public‑education policy across the country.
Former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes told a 2009 interview that “If there is one person that is responsible for remaking and reforming education in the nation, particularly in the Southeast and starting with North Carolina, it is Jim Hunt,” adding that his influence would feel for generations.
Hunt was an unrelenting advocate, often dialing lawmakers into the night to secure their support. If that approach stalled, he enlisted key constituents to call legislators all weekend.
Gary Pearce, a long‑time staffer and biographer, remembered that Hunt “really had a way of pushing you to do things you never thought you could do.” Pearce said the governor made people feel they were genuinely making the world a better place.
The Early Years and Rapid Rise
James Baxter Hunt Jr. was born on May 16, 1937, in Greensboro and grew up on his family’s tobacco and dairy farm in Wilson County. After law school, he and his wife Carolyn, along with their children, spent two years in Nepal working for the Ford Foundation.
Hunt quickly rose through the Democratic ranks, becoming president of the state Young Democrats in 1968 and winning the lieutenant‑governor’s seat a year later.
During his first governorship, he faced controversy over the “Wilmington 10,” nine black men and one white woman convicted in 1971 for a grocery store firebombing amid a tense period that included a police shooting of a black teenager. Some witnesses later recanted, and full pardons were not granted until 2012.
After the Helms Loss: Return to Power
His second term culminated in a hard‑fought battle against the conservative “Senator No” Jesse Helms. Helms’ attack ads painted Hunt as inconsistent on key issues, and Hunt lost the Senate race.
Although he returned to law practice, Hunt stayed in the public eye and re‑entered state politics in the early 1990s, helping halt an increasingly Republican surge in North Carolina.
Even GOP leaders admitted they were impressed by his skill to navigate shifting political tides. In the mid‑1990s he convened a special session to address crime and proposed larger tax cuts than Republicans initially offered.
Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis—a former state House speaker—called Hunt “one of the most consequential public servants in North Carolina’s history” on Thursday.
Rachel Hunt served in the state legislature and was elected lieutenant governor in 2024. Jim Hunt proudly watched his daughter take the gavel as Senate president in the Legislative Building in early 2025, continuing his lineage 52 years later.
Details of memorial services for Jim Hunt will be announced at a later date.
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