Gary Dunn is a 57-year-old full-time student at UNC-Charlotte, majoring in English. Gardenia Henley is a retired Inspector General Auditor in Charge for the State Department. And both are running for N.C. Governor.
Neither has ever been elected to a political office before but both filed to enter the crowded gubernatorial race as Democrats last Friday. Today is the last day to file for candidacy.
Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton and N.C. Rep. Bill Faison, D-Orange, have also filed to run for governor on the Democratic ticket, and Bob Etheridge has announced his candidacy but has not yet filed. Pat McCrory, former Charlotte mayor, is the presumed Republican gubernatorial nominee.
Former Superior Court Judge Paul Wright and Charles Moss, the owner of Moss Real Estate, joined Jim Harney, who has no former political experience, and McCrory in the Republican primary.
Sarah Treul, a professor of political science at UNC, said it is surprisingly common for people with no prior experience to run for offices such as governor.
Under the state’s primary system, a candidate must get more than 40 percent of the vote in order to avoid a runoff, she said.
“Clearly, the more candidates involved, the more likely a runoff is,” Treul said. “Some of the most important factors that contribute to a campaign’s success are fundraising, positive name recognition and sticking to clearly articulated positions.”
Both Dunn and Henley seem to have a clear set of principles.
The student
Dunn, who ran for governor in the Republican primary 20 years ago, is a firm believer in letting the people, instead of the politicians, decide on the issues.
“When an issue comes up on whether we should have a policy change, we should poll the audience,” Dunn said. “That’s what it should be — that’s a democracy.”
Dunn said he thinks the governor should be responsive to the people and promote an open forum. He said the general public has a responsibility to tell the governor their opinions.
“The governor’s job would be to defend the forum, to discuss (the issue), not to take sides with individual factions,” he said. “I represent the forum that allows you to discuss it. I defend your right to be here.”
Dunn said he decided to run for governor after talking to a professor about politics.
“He said, ‘Gary, you write very good papers, you’re very opinionated, you’re a genuinely good person, you’re fair and honest about things — why don’t you run for an office?’ And I said, ‘okay,’ and I decided that that was a good thing to do.”
*The auditor *
Henley, who has more than 22 years of experience managing budgets, said she plans to examine the state’s budget and then do what she does best — find cost-saving opportunities and figure out the most efficient use of tax dollars.
“I have never conducted an inspection or an audit and not found savings based on that review,” Henley said.
Her priority as governor would be education, and the first thing she would tackle would be the education lottery.
She emphasized the importance of making sure the funds from the lottery are allocated properly before raising taxes.
“If we’ve got enough money to give out millions of dollars, then we should have enough money in the system to fund education.”
She said she doesn’t believe in increasing taxes, and said a proposed sales tax increase that would fund education — a hot topic in the race so far — would have adverse effects on everyone, including educators and students.
“This is second nature to me. I’m just so comfortable with managing your tax dollars,” Henley said. “I’ve got a proven record — over 22 years of managing tax dollars and cost savings for the government.”
“There is nothing about North Carolina that cannot be fixed.”
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