Candidates set for gubernatorial race

Less than eight months after Gov. Mike Easley secured four more years in the governor’s mansion, candidates are already lining up out the door to replace him.

Rep. Bill Faison, D-Orange, said this week that he’s considering adding his name to a pool that includes several of the state’s most prominent politicians.

Some of them, like Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, have already started hiring a campaign staff.

“We’re in an era of course when campaigning takes place all the time, so it’s hard to tell when a governor’s race or a senator’s race begins and ends,” said Ferrel Guillory, director of UNC’s Program on Southern Politics, Media and Public Life.

“Clearly there are folks in both parties who have begun looking beyond the Easley years.”

Along with Faison and Perdue, Attorney General Roy Cooper and State Treasurer Richard Moore also are said to be mounting runs.

As relatively young, moderate-to-progressive, emerging leaders, each fits the mold of the traditional successful candidate for the post, Guillory said.

On the Republican side, Fred Smith of Johnston County and Robert Pittenger of Mecklenberg County are assembling resources.

“They are rivals to put it lightly, and they are already on the air essentially,” said John Hood, president of the John Locke Foundation.

The state hasn’t seen a Republican governor since 1994.

“They’re really going to be hungry for it,” Hood said. “However, they’re going to probably face a Democratic nominee who is at least as strong as Mike Easley was.”

They also could be fighting an uphill battle due to the 16-year gap.

“The Republicans are going to have a challenge when it comes to fund raising and talent because they’ve been out of the game for so long,” Hood said.

But no matter the party, it’s important that candidates begin the process soon.

“Now is the time when candidates raise money, when they raise their visibility,” Guillory said.

Although he hasn’t decided if he will run, Faison said he’s already formulating a plan to do just that.

His likely opponent Democrats have all won statewide elections twice, while he has only run in his district.

But Faison isn’t intimidated.

“I don’t see that as a detriment,” he said. “I see that as somewhat of a challenge.”

The freshman state senator said health care would be the main focus of his campaign. If he runs, Faison will try to capitalize on the benefits of a nonincumbent race.

Said Guillory: “You have a situation in which candidates are trying to carve out for themselves their own distinctiveness.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.