Opinion

With DG Martin's passing, North Carolina loses a class act

By JOHN HOOD, Published: December 15, 2025

In 1984, the first year I was eligible to vote, North Carolina had 11 congressional districts. Most were hotly contested by the majority-party Democrats and up-and-coming Republicans. (Yes, it was a different era.)

Having followed politics closely since I was 10 years old — thanks to my educator parents’ penchant for news subscriptions and used books — I was entranced by President Ronald Reagan’s reelection campaign, the now-legendary Senate slugfest between Republican incumbent Jesse Helms and Democratic superstar Jim Hunt, and GOP congressman Jim Martin’s insurgent bid for governor against Democratic Attorney General Rufus Edmisten.

Still, as a native of Martin’s Charlotte-area 9th District, I also kept a close eye on the race to succeed him in the U.S. House. It pitted Republican Alex McMillan, a former Harris-Teeter supermarkets CEO and county commissioner, against Democrat D.G. Martin, a Charlotte attorney and son of a former Davidson College president.

When voters went to the polls on Nov. 6, 1984, they boosted North Carolina Republicans to electoral heights not seen since Reconstruction. The GOP more than doubled its seats in the state legislature (to 49 out of 170) and majorities on county commissions (to 23 out of 100). Ronald Reagan, Jesse Helms, and Jim Martin all won, the latter two with larger-than-expected margins.

Our state’s closest major race in 1984 was, in fact, the 9th District. Alex McMillan got 50.1% to D.G. Martin’s 49.9%. Five other congressional races went down to the wire, as well. Republicans won three of them: Bill Cobey (50.6%) in a Triangle district, Howard Coble (50.6%) in a Triad seat, and Bill Hendon (51%) in western North Carolina. The other two victors were Democrats Stephen Neal (50.7%) in the Triad and Bill Hefner (50.9%) in the Sandhills.

Shortly after losing his hard-fought squeaker to McMillan, D.G. Martin decided to channel some of his energies into a new endeavor: a weekly column for North Carolina newspapers. From its debut in 1985 until just a few weeks ago, his “One on One” column has informed, challenged, and entertained generations of grateful readers.

If you haven’t already heard the news, I suppose you can guess it: D.G. Martin passed away a few days ago, at the august but still-too-early age of 85.

I launched my own newspaper column a year after his, in 1986. It wasn’t in response. I hadn’t yet read D.G.’s work. And I wouldn’t meet him until a few years later, in Raleigh, where he was lobbying for the University of North Carolina system and I was editing the John Locke Foundation’s newly established magazine, Carolina Journal.

He bowled me over. D.G. did that to virtually everyone he met. His broad smile and deep knowledge of North Carolina were an irresistible combination. If electoral politics had remained a contest of handshakes, debates, and personal endorsements, he might well have beaten McMillan in 1984, or won their 1986 rematch (he got 48.7% to McMillan’s 51.3%). D.G. Martin might also have been the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in 1998 rather than trial lawyer John Edwards. But the advent of big-money campaigns, conducted largely through attack ads, did not play to his strengths.

By which I do not mean to suggest D.G. was unsuited to broadcasting. After leaving campaigns behind, he began a long stint as host of Bookwatch on UNC-TV (now PBS North Carolina) as well as various radio shows on WCHL in Chapel Hill. I had the honor of appearing on his programs, for which he was always well-prepared and unfailingly cordial.

Offline, he and I conversed many times about matters of common concern, including the craft of column-writing and the importance of community journalism. We also exchanged political rumors and debated our many differences.

Back in June, for one of his last radio shows, D.G. interviewed former Supreme Court Justice Willis Whichard. They had a fascinating conversation about the history of UNC. Whichard, another class act, passed away last month. Time marches on — but not necessarily forward.

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John Hood is a John Locke Foundation board member. His books Mountain Folk, Forest Folk and Water Folk combine epic fantasy with American history (FolkloreCycle.com).