Ugh, Pat McCrory (facepalm). Never met a sales or hotel/motel tax to fund an arena, train line, or museum he didn’t like. There has to be someone in the NC GOP more conservative than him.
There are plenty who are more conservative than him. But not many who are better candidates. His 2008 campaign was possibly the best effort by a Republican gubernatorial candidate in NC history, even though he came up short.
Plus, he's a genuinely nice and honest person, as far as I can tell, which is incredibly rare in politics.