Mary Fant Donnan

SEANC gave $194k in '08 races

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:18:48 -0500

SEANC gave $194,800 in North Carolina races this year.

The State Employees Association of North Carolina gave $89,300 to 53 state House candidates, $79,000 to 28 Senate candidates an $16,000 to four statewide candidates. Seventy-six recipients were Democrats, and nine were Republicans.

The largest donations went to House challenger Jimmy Garner and Sen. Floyd McKissick, who each received $8,000; and House challenger Betty Mangum and Sens. Fletcher Hartsell, Steve Goss, Ellie Kinnaird, who received $5,000 apiece.

Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue, Lt. Gov.-elect Walter Dalton, agriculture commissioner candidate Ronnie Ansley and labor commissioner candidate Mary Fant Donnan, all Democrats, each received $4,000.

Fifty-five of the candidates were incumbents, 19 were challenging an incumbent and 11 were running for open seats.

The state workers group also gave $4,000 to the state House Republican committee, $1,000 to the Senate Democratic committee and $500 to the House Democratic committee.

In addition, SEANC gave $5,000 to the Alliance for North Carolina.

UAW gave $9k in '08 races

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:06:42 -0500

The UAW gave $9,000 in 2008 races.

The auto workers union gave $4,000 to Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue and $1,000 each to Lt. Gov.-elect Walter Dalton, labor commissioner candidate Mary Fant Donnan and state Rep. Lorene Coates, according to campaign finance reports.

It also gave $500 each to Insurance Commissioner-elect Wayne Goodwin, Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson, Treasurer-elect Janet Cowell and Rep. Tricia Cotham.

Goodwin's donation came while he was participating in public financing program for campaigns and would have had to be returned, but there is no record of a refund.

NCAE gave $267k in '08 races

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:40:03 -0500

The N.C. Association of Educators gave $267,230 to state candidates this year.

The state teachers association contributed $129,230 to 84 candidates for state House, $94,850 to 39 candidates for state Senate and $20,000 to six statewide candidates.

It also gave to heavily to Democratic committees: $23,000 to the Democratic House committee, $22,150 to the N.C. Democratic Party and $22,000 to the Democratic Senate committee.

A smaller amount went to GOP groups: $1,500 to the Republican House committee, $1,000 to the Republican Women's Caucus and $500 to the Republican Senate committee.

Half the money went to incumbents. Sixteen of the 18 candidates who were challengers to an incumbent were Democrats. One-hundred and eleven Democrats and 18 Republicans received money.

The largest recipients were House Speaker Joe Hackney ($7,500), Senate leader Marc Basnight ($6,500), Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue ($6,500) and Sens. Vern Malone and Martin Nesbitt ($4,500 each).

Attorney General Roy Cooper, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, Labor Commissioner candidate Mary Fant Donnan received money, as did David Young, who ran in the Democratic primary for state treasurer, and Eddie Davis, the NCAE head who ran in the primary for superintendent of public instruction.

Teamsters spent $334k in '08

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:10:44 -0500

The Teamsters spent $334,117 on North Carolina races in 2008.

The DRIVE political action committee of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters gave to 37 candidates for state offices, including eight running for Council of State positions, according to campaign finance reports.

The largest individual recipients were state Treasurer-elect Janet Cowell, who received $8,067, and unsuccessful labor commissioner candidate Mary Fant Donnan, who received $6,000. Both positions are considered important to labor, with the treasurer overseeing the state pension fund.

Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue, Lt. Gov.-elect Walter Dalton and primary rival Hampton Dellinger, Attorney General Roy Cooper, Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson and Secretary of State Elaine Marshall also received significant donations.

The Teamsters also gave $202,500 to the N.C. Democratic Party, $30,000 to the Democratic Senate Caucus and $15,000 to the Democratic House Caucus and made small donations to the Carolina Drive Chapter 1, Hear Our Public Employees and the Wake County Democratic Party.

They also gave $13,000 total to 11 incumbent senators, including Senate leaders Tony Rand and Marc Basnight and Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger; and $20,000 total to 18 incumbent representatives, including Speaker Joe Hackney.

Berger was the only Republican and Donnan the only challenger to an incumbent to receive donations.

Update: Figures updated to include two last-minute donations to the Democratic Party.

SEANC candidates did well

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:23:24 -0500

Election Day was a good day for SEANC.

Only 17 of the 121 candidates endorsed by the State Employees Association of North Carolina did not win election — an 86 percent success rate for the state workers' group.

Big wins included Governor-elect Beverly Perdue, who writes the state budget and can veto legislation on state workers' issues; Lt. Governor-elect Walter Dalton, who presides over the state Senate; 29 of 32 endorsed Senate races and 67 of 74 House races.

Among the disappointments was state Auditor Les Merritt, a rare Republican to receive the group's backing; Commissioner of Labor Mary Fant Donnan, who had pledged to be more labor-friendly; and Ed Ridpath, a perennial candidate who had hoped to unseat House Republican leader Paul Stam.

State organizer Kevin LeCount said SEANC's political action committee spent about $250,000 on the election, including 48,500 mailers touting the endorsements and donations of up to $4,000 to legislative candidates.

SEANC's national affiliate, the Service Employees International Union, also spent money on the governor's race.

Top profiles of the election season

bniolet — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:43:59 -0500

Readers wanted to know about Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory.

His political profile was accessed more than any other during the election season. The next four most frequently viewed profiles were for candidates in down-ballot, council of state races. Although it's impossible to say for sure, it's a good bet that the most-viewed profiles were viewed by voters trying to make a decision.

1. Pat McCrory
2. Robert Pittenger
3. Mary Fant Donnan
4. Janet Cowell
5. Wayne Goodwin

Berry glad she's not only Republican left

bniolet — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:17:15 -0500

Republican Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry said voters had enough confidence in her to give her a third term despite a sweeping Democratic tide.

"I was very grateful that the citizens had confidence in what we were doing in the labor department and were gracious enough to allow me to serve a third term," Berry said.

Berry's win over Democratic challenger Mary Fant Donnan was by a slim margin. Berry said that is likely due to a large number of voters who voted straight Democrat.

"The message I tried to put out there is I have the experience to do this job. Worker safety and health care have always been my top priority," Berry said.

Berry and Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler will be the only Republicans on the council of state. Berry said she's thankful Troxler is still on since she'll have enough support to have her ideas debated.

SEANC announces endorsements

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:41:48 -0400

The State Employees Association of North Carolina has made its endorsements.

The group's Employees Political Action Committee, also known as EMPAC, made 16 endorsements in statewide races after meeting Saturday.

"We're thrilled to support candidates who support the state's working families and the retirees who dedicated their careers to serving North Carolina's citizens," said SEANC President Linda Rouse Sutton.

Although most are Democrats, there is one Republican: State Auditor Les Merritt.

They also endorsed several other incumbents: Attorney General Roy Cooper, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson and Appeals Court Judges John Arrowood, Doug McCullough, Linda Stephens and Jim Wynn.

The others: Beverly Perdue for governor, Walter Dalton for lieutenant governor, Wayne Goodwin for insurance commissioner, Ronnie Ansley for agriculture commissioner, Mary Fant Donnan for labor commissioner, Suzanne Reynolds for Supreme Court and Kristin Ruth for Appeals Court.

SEANC, which is affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, has 55,000 members.

Berry supports lowering threshold

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:15:17 -0400

Both candidates for state labor commissioner have faced primary runoffs with extremely low turnout.

Democrat Mary Fant Donnan, a first-time candidate, won her party's nomination in a race Tuesday with less than 2 percent turnout. Incumbent Republican Cherie Berry also won a primary runoff in her first campaign in 2000, which also saw a record-low 2.5 percent turnout.

Donnan said she would be open to discussion about ways to avoid primary runoffs, such as instant-runoff voting, in which voters mark their second choice on the ballot.

Berry said she favors lowering the 40 percent threshold required to secure the nomination in a race with more than two candidates.

"I've always thought that the person that gets the most votes ought to win," she said.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated the threshold.

Donnan beats Brooks in labor runoff

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:45:08 -0400

Mary Fant Donnan won by a two-to-one margin.

The Winson-Salem Democrat sewed up the nomination for labor commissioner in a runoff primary held today.

With all 100 counties reporting, Donnan has 43,217 votes, or 68 percent. Former labor commissioner John C. Brooks has 20,445, or 32 percent. She now faces incumbent Republican Cherie Berry in November.

Turnout was a paltry 1.9 percent.

In a runoff for the Democratic nomination in state Senate District 5, Don Davis beat Kathy Taft, 63 percent to 37 percent. The seat is currently held by retiring Democratic Sen. John Kerr III.

Davis, the mayor of Snow Hill, had slightly edged Taft, a member of the State Board of Education, in a six-way race in the May primary, but failed to garner a majority. He now faces four-term Rep. Louis Pate, a Wayne County Republican.

And in a runoff for the Republican nomination in state House District 67, Justin Burr defeated Rep. Ken Furr, 58 to 42 percent. Burr had slightly edged Furr in a three-way race on May 6.

Furr was appointed to the seat in August of 2007 after former Rep. David Almond resigned. Burr faces no opposition in November.