Mike Easley

Biography

Mike Easley is the governor of the state of North Carolina, a Democrat now in his second term. Previously, he was a two-term state attorney general and a prosecutor. 

Early Life and Education

Michael Francis Easley was born March 23, 1950, in Rocky Mount to Henry Alexander Easley, Jr. and Huldah Marie Easley. He grew up on a 60-acre tobacco farm in Nash County.

He attended parochial school before transferring to public schools.

He studied at Belmont Abbey College in Charlotte before transferring to UNC-Chapel Hill, where he graduated in 1972.

He then went to N.C. Central University, where he graduated with a law degree in 1976. He served as managing editor of the law review. 

Professional Career

After law school, Easley worked as an assistant prosecutor in the Thirteenth Judicial District, including Brunswick, Columbus and Bladen counties. 

While there, he met a Wilmington prosecutor, Mary Pipines. They later married.

They have one son, Michael Jr.

Political Career 

In 1982, Easley was elected district attorney, gaining notice for his convictions agianst drug dealers and a handful of corrupt public officials, including a sheriff and a clerk of court.

In 1990, he ran for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, losing to former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt, who went on to lose the general election to Sen. Jesse Helms.

In 1992, Easley was elected state attorney general. He was re-elected in 1996.

As attorney general, he started a pilot program of drug courts and helped craft a settlement with the tobacco industry that will bring the state $5 billion over 25 years.

In 2000, he was elected governor. He was re-elected in 2004.

His major accomplishments in office have been starting a lottery, creating the More at Four program for at-risk pre-schoolers and using incentives to lure new businesses to the state.

Veto Record

Although Gov. Jim Hunt was the first North Carolina governor to have the power of the veto, Easley was the first to use it. During his two terms in office, he vetoed eight bills.

The first, on Nov. 3, 2002, was on a Senate bill making a host of obscure but also politically important appointments to state boards and commissions. He pointed out two appointees had died, five were not qualified and six were improperly made.

Post-Governor Career?

Under the state Constitution, Easley cannot run again when his term ends in 2008.

In an interview on "The Charlie Rose Show" in February of 2007, he ruled out running against U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, despite being the only Democrat to have polled better than Dole in pre-campaign surveys.

In the interview, Easley said he prefers being in "executive positions."

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