 Prior to being elected lieutenant governor, Jordan ran his family's lumber company and served in the North Carolina Senate as a Democrat from 1976–84.In 1984, he defeated state House Speaker Carl J. Stewart, Jr. in a hard-fought Democratic primary, then defeated Republican John H. Carrington in the general election to become North Carolina's 29th lieutenant governor.He easily won the 1988 gubernatorial nomination but lost the general election to incumbent James G. Martin.