Under the Lords Proprietors direct rule of the Colony (1670-1719), there was no office called Lieutenant Governor. For most of that time, the Governor of Carolina resided in Charles Town (SC), and there was a Deputy Governor that resided in Albemarle (NC).

When the Crown purchased the Lords Proprietors interests in the Colony in 1729, the British Government appointed a Governor and a Lieutenant Governor for South Carolina, but this was not the case for North Carolina.

The North Carolina Constitution of 1776 made no provision for a Lieutenant Governor, apparently following the same tradition that the Crown had made in 1729. After the US Civil War, the new 1868 NC Constitution created an elective office for the Lieutenant Governor.

Between 1868 and 1970, the Lieutenant Governor was a part-time official with very limited authority. He served only when the General Assembly was in session or in the absence of the Governor.

Today, the office is a full-time position and the Lieutenant Governor is no longer limited to one four-year term. Unlike any other State official, the Lieutenant Governor straddles both the executive and legislative branches of the State government.

Under the current Constitution, the Lieutenant Governor is first in line to succeed the Governor should that office become vacant. The Lieutenant Governor is President of the Senate, and as chief presiding officer, directs the debates of bills on the Senate floor.

The Lieutenant Governor is also a member of the Council of State and serves on the State Board of Education and the NC Capitol Planning Commission, as well as serving on the NC Board of Community Colleges and the Board of Economic Development.