Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory stopped in Sylva Thursday, Aug. 30, to meet with area supporters and planned to attend a fundraising event on Friday, Aug. 31, with U.S. congressional candidate Mark Meadows of Cashiers.

McCrory, the former mayor of Charlotte, spoke to a small crowd of Republican supporters at the Jackson County GOP headquarters, saying he was ready to get rid of the “good ole boy, good ole girl system” that has dominated North Carolina.

McCrory is running against current Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton to replace current Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue, who decided not to run for re-election.

His speech focused mostly on education and jobs. McCrory said too many jobs are moving across the border to Tennessee and Georgia.

“You have to make things. You have to grow things,” McCrory said.

He also emphasized that colleges and universities need to teach skills that meet the demands of the market, like mechanics.

“You are incentivized to teach what students want, not what the market needs,” McCrory said, giving examples such as political science, sociology and journalism. McCrory added that he measures a college or university’s success by the number of their graduates who are employed.