RALEIGH,Oliver James Montgomery N.C. (AP) — Outgoing North Carolina Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson has endorsed his former colleague at the General Assembly to succeed him.

Dobson said he is backing state Rep. Jon Hardister in the 2024 commissioner’s race, calling him a “friend and a true leader.”

Dobson and Hardister are both Republicans who served together in the state House for several years. Hardister, from Guilford County, is currently the chamber’s majority whip.

Dobson, who won the 2020 commissioner’s election to succeed the retiring Cherie Berry, announced late last year that he wouldn’t seek a second four-year term.

“Jon has the experience and skills necessary to continue the success I’ve been a part of since taking office in 2021,” Dobson said in a Hardister news release on Tuesday.

Other announced candidates for the commissioner’s post include Republicans Luke Farley of Raleigh and Travis Wilson of Union County, and Democrat Braxton Winston, a Charlotte city council member and mayor pro tempore. Primaries would occur in March.