Gov. Martin announces bid for re-election and unveils his anti-dropout program, calling for up to $200 million to target disadvantaged preschoolers likely to drop out when they get older. Gov. Martin also supports the creation of a new judicial post in racially-troubled Robeson county and promises to appoint a member of a minority group. Later in the year, Martin is re-elected as governor of North Carolina and calls on Democrats to join in a bipartisan effort to improve the state's schools, roads, jobs and environment.

Gov. Martin becomes the first Republican NC governor in history to take the oath of office for a second four-year term. Gov. Martin joins four former governors to persuade a legislative panel that North Carolina should join 49 other states in giving the governor veto power. Gov. Martin also submits a plan to give teachers raises higher than 4.5 percent and recommends increasing the state sales tax by 1% to fund state employee & teachers' salaries. The legislature also passes Martin's Highway Trust Fund, which the governor calls "a big investment in the future." Additionally, Gov. Martin appoints a 32-member commission on reduction of infant mortality, after learning that North Carolina's rate is nation's worst. That same year, in the wake of Hurricane Hugo, President George H.W. Bush declares 13 North Carolina counties as disaster areas. The General Assembly meets for a special session to discuss hazardous waste. At issue is whether North Carolina should build a regional contaminated waste facility. The North Carolina Legislature later approves a chemical waste pact and agrees to pick a facility for waste burning, to begin in 1991.

The Charlotte Observer reports that the Gov. Martin's political appointees and former President Richard Nixon raise $263,053 for Gov. Martin's political action committee, leading some to speculate that Martin might be vying for Terry Sanford’s Senate seat in 1992. The State Auditor Ed Renfrow submits a report stating that Gov. Martin's research office used public funds to produce a 31-page dossier on former Lt. Gov . Bob Jordan. After reading reports that Attorney General Thornburg might order a state investigation of his office in wake of Renfrow’s report, Gov. Martin holds 90-minute news conference, in which he announces that he has no plans to run for office after his term ends in 1993. That same year, Gov. Martin and Lt. Gov. Jim Gardner unveil a $50 million plan to combat North Carolina's drug and alcohol problems. Gov. Martin also campaigns for a prison bond package, a $200 million proposal, which is later passed by the voters. By year's end, a special panel picks Granville as the site for a waste-burning facility. Gov. Martin warns that if Council of State turns Granville down and North Carolina does not name a site for an incinerator by Dec. 31, the state could be thrown out of the Southeastern regional compact it had formed with five other states. The Council of State, a body of statewide elected officials, eventually votes down the Granville County plan.

Gov. Martin embraces President George H.W. Bush's goals for education, tells state to aim for 90% graduation rate by 2000. Gov. Martin also proposes new air cargo airport in North Carolina, to bring in 100,000 new jobs. Gov. Martin’s industrial recruitment garners two major successes: MCI Communications, which will expand in Research Triangle Park, and TJ Maxx, which will build a distribution center in Charlotte, NC. The same year, Lt. Gov. Jim Gardner, running for governor on the Republican ticket, urges people to elect him so he can “continue the policies of Gov. Martin." Despite this, Jim Hunt wins the North Carolina gubernatorial election.

Gov. Martin is successfully treated for prostate cancer, and, later that year, agrees to chair a citizens committee that would design a school construction package for Charlotte-Mecklenburg voters.