[2][3] 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 to 1984.

[citation needed] 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.

On May 20, 2009, Jordan was elected chairman of the Trustees of North Carolina State University to serve the remaining term of McQueen Campbell, who resigned in conjunction with the investigation of Mike Easley.

[citation needed] Jordan Hall at North Carolina State University was named after his family.