Mark Walker begins a 40-day sprint toward relevancy

Former Congressman Mark Walker laid out a gubernatorial campaign Saturday that's light on policy and heavy on electability

Mark Walker understands he’s a long shot to win the Republican nomination for governor. So his first goal is a much smaller one: relevancy.

Walker, a former congressman and Southern Baptist pastor from the Triad, launched his bid for North Carolina governor on Saturday with an unusually transparent look into his campaign strategy and a heavy emphasis on electability next November.

In front of a modest crowd of supporters at a church in Kernersville, he laid out a 40-day sprint to cement his place in the race.

By the time campaigns file finance reports on June 30, Walker said he’ll need to show at least $1 million in the bank — $500,000 for his campaign and $500,000 for independent PACs who support him.

That would still leave him far behind Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, whose polling numbers show him in a dominant position to win the primary. But it might give Walker some momentum to keep raising money and give Robinson a real competitor in the race.

“People across this state, from the busines…