In anticipation of Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory’s formal bid for governor n Jamestown, the HPE’s Paul Johnson talks to some of the mayor’s ol’ buddies:

The boy at Jamestown Elementary School that Marty Cline nicknamed “Yank” has come far – and full circle.

Cline, who runs a local print­ing press company, sat next to Pat McCrory in fifth grade in the school building that’s now the Jamestown Public Library. Cline nicknamed his friend “Yank” because his family had relocated from Columbus, Ohio, and McCrory’s accent set him apart from his fellow pupils.

McCrory, now the Republican mayor of Charlotte, and his fam­ily made lifelong friends in the Jamestown area. As he formal­ly launches his bid for governor this afternoon, McCrory is com­ing back to the place where he made his first connections in North Carolina.

The seven-term mayor is ex­pected to become the fourth Re­publican candidate for gover­nor during a press conference at the library at 1 p.m. James­town isn’t normally the center of the state’s political nexus, but it will be today.

Jamestown, the center of the state’s political nexus? Goes to show that everyone does indeed get their 15 minutes of fame.