Wicker is a regular panelist on the television show NC Spin discussing various current issues in North Carolina politics.

Wicker proposed a bill to call for a referendum to amend the state constitution and eliminate gubernatorial succession, whereby a governor could serve two consecutive terms.

[4] The following year he supported Dan Blue's nomination to become Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives.

[3] Once he became Lieutenant Governor, Wicker kept his residence in Sanford and drove to Raleigh and back every day for work.

[7] In 1999 Wicker began fundraising for a campaign to secure the Democratic nomination for the 2000 North Carolina gubernatorial election.

Wicker was endorsed by the N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers, the leaders of the N.C. Association of Educators[8] and most of North Carolina's black political organizations.

[9] Both Wicker and Ealsey pledged to reduce the size of public school classes, eliminate hog waste lagoons, and create a state lottery.

As a result, his doctor examined him and discovered clotting in his bloodstream, so he underwent quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery.

[13] In 2009 Wicker mulled challenging Richard Burr in the 2010 United States Senate election, but decided against it after determining that fundraising would be difficult and campaign would leave him without time to spend with his family.