North Carolina will choose its new governor Tuesday, bringing an end to an election in which neither Republican candidate Pat McCrory nor Democratic candidate Bev Perdue has ever been more than 5 percentage points above the other, according to Pollster.com.
Individual polling agencies have reported wide margins of approval for Perdue — one PPP survey showed Perdue at 45 percent approval while McCrory was at 35 percent — and others for McCrory — SurveyUSA reported McCrory up 49 percent to Perdue’s 41 percent in early September. But when averaged over time, the two have nearly parallel approval ratings about 3 percentage points apart.
This is the first year since the state could have a Republican governor since 1985, when North Carolinians elected Jim Martin. Eight years before he was elected, James Holshouser, Jr. broke a 72-year-long Democratic gubernatorial streak.
Each of these governors played a part in changing the way North Carolina did politics, and an exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of History is highlighting their work with the state.
According to the Web site, the exhibit shows how governors have “helped shape North Carolina through contributions to areas such as agriculture, industry, and education, while defining their roles as leaders.”
Here’s a look at some of North Carolina’s previous governors — their focus while in office, what they’re remembered for — and what McCrory, Perdue and Libertarian candidate Michael Munger plan to accomplish if elected to office. All have focused some of their main points on the economy.
Mike Easley, Democrat
Mike Easley, who has been in office since 2001, is the state’s second Catholic governor. He attended UNC-Chapel Hill and North Carolina Central University School of Law. He was elected District Attorney in 1982.
Some believe Easley’s election was largely in part to an endorsement from Andy Griffith in a television advertisement.
Easley has focused on education reform.
He was the first governor to use the power of the veto — over the course of his seven years, he used the power nine times.
His wife, Mary, is an executive in residence at the Provost’s Office. An audit of her trip to France and Russia accuses her of improperly handling state funds.
Source: North Carolina General Assembly, newsobserver.com
James Holshouser, Republican
James Holshouser was elected in 1973 and served until 1977. He served as an attorney and, on some occasions, represented Watauga County in the North Carolina General Assembly. He was the state’s youngest governor in the 20th century, and while Republican U.S. Senator supported Ronald Reagan for president in 1976, Holshouser supported Gerald Ford.
Holshouser consolidated the UNC school system under a central Board of Governors, created statewide enrollment for children entering kindergarten and built health clinics in rural areas.
He now serves as a member emeritus of the Board of Governors.
source: unctv.org
W. Kerr Scott, Democrat
William Kerr Scott, for whom a building on the State Fairgrounds and a dam in Wilkes County are named, served as governor from 1949 until 1952. As a farmer, Scott was an advocate for other state farmers and the agricultural issues that supported them. Scott was first elected as Commissioner of Agriculture earlier, but resigned from the job to run for governor.
He had a group of followers called the “Branchhead Boys,” who supported him in all campaigns.
He served as a U.S. Senator from 1954 until 1958.
source: findagrave.org
Bev Perdue, Democratic candidate
Bev Perdue, a former public school teacher and hospital administrator, served as the Lieutenant Governor under Gov. Mike Easley. If elected, she will be North Carolina’s first female governor.
She served in the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1986 to 1990, and in the state Senate from 1990 to 2000.
One of her main points as a gubernatorial candidate is the economy.
“I’ve laid out extensive policies that outline pathways to economic growth, infrastructure development and job training” for North Carolina, she said in an e-mail. She said that, as a legislator, she “fought to get North Carolina to make critical early investments in biotechnology.”
She said she will continue to make investments in sectors like the military, homeland security, aerospace engineering and green technology, which create new jobs. She said she led the creation of the North Carolina Military Foundation and Green Business Fund.
source: Bev Perdue; bevperdue.com
Pat McCrory, Republican candidate
Pat McCrory, who has served as mayor of Charlotte for 11 terms, is the longest-serving mayor the city has had. He served as student body president of his high school, graduated from Catawba College and worked with Duke Energy Corporation.
He was elected at-large city councilman in 1989.
One of his platform points is technical education, which he said will fulfill the “labor needs of North Carolina. My number one goal is to create jobs.”
He said he is trying to build up the economy so students can get jobs after they graduate from college.
He also said he is planning to “reintroduce North Carolina to the energy business: nuclear energy, clean fossil fuels, wind, solar and also off-short drilling for both natural gas and oil.” He said the state will have to reduce North Carolina’s income tax to keep jobs in the state.
News Editor Chris Allred contributed to this report.
source: Pat McCrory; patmccrory.com
Michael Munger, Libertarian candidate
Michael Mungher, an economist and chair of the political science department at Duke University, graduated from Davidson College and Washington University in St. Louis. He worked as a staff economist for the Federal Trade Commission under the Reagan Administration. He has also taught at Dartmouth, University of Texas at Austin and UNC-Chapel Hill.
He said students and their families have been squeezed economically, and his economic development plan would rebuild the state’s small businesses. He advocates an education system that “focuses on the 21st-century workplace.”
He said he wants to reduce taxes and regulatory burdens.
source: Michael Munger; munger4ncgov.com
