DURHAM, N.C. (Associated Press) - Margaret Taylor Harper, a former candidate for lieutenant governor as the women's movement burgeoned in North Carolina who also made marks in journalism, business and charitable work, died Sunday. She was 92.

Harper died at Duke Hospital in Durham from complications related to a stroke she suffered last week, said her son, Ed Harper, editor of the family-owned State Port Pilot newspaper in Southport.

A Brunswick County native, Harper ran for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in 1968, finishing second to Pat Taylor. She ran again four years later, finishing third to eventual winner and later four-time Gov. Jim Hunt.

Ed Harper said his mother's bids for statewide office were a natural extension of her political interests. She had been a leader in the North Carolina Democratic Women and was past president of the North Carolina Federation of Women's Clubs.

The two election defeats actually made her more well-known, her son said, allowing her to later become a trustee at both the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina.

She operated her family's local insurance agency, and also edited The State Port Pilot while her husband, James, served during World War II.

Margaret Harper also was executive secretary of the North Carolina Press Association from 1969 to 1978 and was inducted into the North Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame.

Later in life, she was involved in the development of the Croasdaile Village retirement community in Durham.