N.C.’s Long Won’t Run For Seventh Term as Insurance Chief

Last-minute surprises closed out North Carolina’s candidate filing period Feb. 29, as hundreds of candidates began their official runs for elected office.

Former House co-Speaker Richard Morgan, a Republican insurance executive voted out of office amid party infighting in 2006, unexpectedly emerged as a candidate for superintendent of public instruction.

Also among the surprises was who decided not to run. Insurance Commissioner Jim Long, best known for keeping automobile insurance rates among the nation’s lowest and referring to himself as the ‘oldest rat in the barn,” declined to run for a seventh term.

The State Board of Elections listed 666 candidates vying for federal and statewide offices, the General Assembly, appellate and trial court judgeships, and local district attorneys. The filing period began Feb. 11.

Long, a Democrat who turns 68 next month, was first elected commissioner in 1984, regulating health, automobile and other insurance and serving as the state fire marshal. He also is the longest serving member of the Council of State, a panel of 10 statewide elected officials.

“I felt it was time to ‘pass the torch’ to a new generation of leadership for the department,” Long said in an e-mail to Insurance Department workers. “It has been my honor to work side by side with you in service to the people of North Carolina.”

Long also was a state House member in the 1970s from Alamance County, serving in the same legislative seat once held by his father and grandfather.

Instead of filing his own candidacy papers, Long joined Assistant Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin who put his name on the ballot before the filing deadline.

Goodwin, a former state House member from Richmond County, ran unsuccessfully for state labor commissioner in 2004. Goodwin’s wife, Melanie, now serves in the House.

Two other candidates for insurance commissioner also filed. Democrat David Smith is a Durham attorney and president-elect of the North Carolina Association of Health Underwriters. Republican John Odom is a former Raleigh city councilman who owns three muffler repair shops.

Meanwhile, Morgan filed for the state superintendent’s post Friday just before noon.

“This is a different entry into public service for me,” Morgan told reporters.

Morgan, a Moore County insurance executive, joined the House in 1991 and served eight terms, chairing the powerful Rules Commission during GOP Speaker Harold Brubaker’s reign in the mid-1990s.

Morgan entered a historic shared House speakership with Democrat Jim Black in 2003, when the two parties were locked in a stalemate. He was elected speaker pro tempore in 2005 when the Democrats returned to the majority.

The speaker deals earned him the ire of conservative Republicans who said he betrayed the party. The GOP infighting led to brutal legislative primaries in 2004 and 2006 between conservative candidates and those loyal to Morgan. Morgan lost his House seat in the 2006 primary. For the next year, Morgan said he “really resisted politics.”

“I put everything else first,” said Morgan, who has lost more than 75 pounds since leaving the House.

His wife, Cindy, is running for the state Senate.

Former Labor Commissioner John C. Brooks filed to get his old job back. Brooks, 71, said current Republican Commissioner Cherie Berry hasn’t been paying enough attention to workplace injuries or advocating for worker safety.

Three other Democrats also have filed to run for labor commissioner.

Brooks served as commissioner from 1977 to 1993, and led the Labor Department in the aftermath of a 1991 fire at a chicken-processing plant in Hamlet that killed 25 workers. He lost in a 1992 primary to Democrat Harry Payne.

North Carolina’s 13 U.S. House members filed for re-election during the filing period. All face opposition in the general election while some face primary opponents.

Eight candidates are competing to succeed Gov. Mike Easley, who is barred by state law from seeking a third consecutive term.