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Easley, Mike

CANDIDATE DETAILS

Affiliation

Democratic

Name

Mike Easley

Address

P.O. Box 2686
Raleigh, North Carolina 27602, United States

mikeeasley@mikeeasley.org

Website

[Link]

Born

March 23, 1950 (74 years)

Contributor

ArmyDem

Last Modifed

Barack O-blame-a
Feb 23, 2013 09:52pm

Tags

Caucasian - English - Irish - Married - Convicted - Catholic - Christian - Straight -

Info

Since becoming the Governor of North Carolina in 2000, Gov. Mike Easley has made education a top priority of his administration. Despite a tough economy, class sizes are being reduced in grades K-3. Under Easley's leadership, North Carolina's first statewide pre-kindergarten program called More at Four is helping at-risk four-year-old children who are not currently receiving any pre-kindergarten guidance get the extra instruction they need to prepare for school. Easley has also implemented character education programs and school accountability report cards in public schools. His efforts at real progress in education are paying off. North Carolina leads the southeast in the most recent national exams in 4th and 8th grade math, and has made more progress in academic performance than any other state in the United States in the past decade.

Gov. Easley is working to ensure quality health care for all North Carolinians. To protect North Carolina's seniors and to ensure that they get the best possible health care, Easley has created Senior Care, which provides a prescription drug benefit to low-income seniors. In addition, he has fully funded Health Choice, the state-federal program that provides low cost or no cost health insurance for children in North Carolina. Gov. Easley crafted one of the strongest patients' bill of rights protection plans in the nation, protecting the doctor-patient relationship and ensuring that the doctors, not administrators or bureaucrats, make decisions regarding health-care treatment.

To preserve our valuable natural resources, Gov. Easley developed the Clean Smokestacks legislation to reduce pollution in North Carolina without raising utility rates. The law, enacted in 2002, is serving as a national model and will cut the state's coal-fired power plants emissions of multiple air pollutants that cause smog, haze and other pollution problems by 70 percent.

Gov. Easley is working to bring new jobs and investments to North Carolina. He created the N.C. Economic Stimulus and Job Creation Act and combined with the state's investments in education, infrastructure and health care, this new tool will be a vital resource in attracting quality industry to the state.

Easley's inauguration as Governor followed nearly two decades of public service spent fighting crime, protecting children and the elderly, and standing up for working families.

Easley was elected North Carolina's Attorney General in 1992, recording the highest-ever vote total for any North Carolina candidate. When he was re-elected to the state's top law enforcement position in 1996, Easley was again the top vote-getter, receiving nearly 60 percent of votes cast. As Attorney General, Easley waged an aggressive and high-profile fight against consumer fraud, restored meaningful punishment to North Carolina's criminal justice system, spearheaded efforts to reach a national tobacco settlement, and pushed new laws through the General Assembly that created "weapon-free" state school zones, removed the spousal defense for rape, ensured "truth in sentencing," attacked telemarketing fraud and predatory lending, and prevented youth access to tobacco products. During Easley's eight years as Attorney General, North Carolina's violent crime rate fell by 15 percent and its murder rate dropped by 21 percent.

Easley was first elected to public office in 1982 when, at age 31, he became District Attorney for the 13th Judicial District in Brunswick, Bladen and Columbus counties. He was one of the state's youngest District Attorneys, and he used his youthful energies to battle drug trafficking and public corruption along the District's coastline, achieving one of the highest drug conviction rates in the state.

Born in 1950 in Nash County, just outside of Rocky Mount, Easley was raised on a tobacco farm, the second of seven children. His parents, Huldah and Alex, instilled in their children the importance of a good education and hard work. After graduating from Rocky Mount High School in 1968 Easley received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina in 1972 with honors. In 1976, he earned his law degree from North Carolina Central University School of Law, where his wife Mary now serves as a professor of law. He graduated cum laude from law school and also served as Managing Editor of the Law Review.

Easley is an avid hunter and sailor, and an accomplished woodworker. He and his wife Mary have one child, Michael, Jr., age 18.

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