John C. Brooks will run on his experience.
The former labor commissioner said today that he will focus on his 16 years in office in a primary runoff against Mary Fant Donnan to regain his old job.
Brooks, who served from 1977 to 1993, noted that the rest of the Democratic slate for Council of State positions will have only 32 collective years of statewide experience, counting Attorney General Roy Cooper's and Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue's eight years, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall's 12 years and Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson's four years.
(That's actually a little generous, since Atkinson didn't take office until August of 2005.)
Brooks said he would add more experience to the Democratic ticket.
"Their cumulative experience on the Council of State is the lowest it's been in the last 75 years," he said. (Partly because of the loss of more than two decades from Insurance Commissioner Jim Long, Dome would like to note.) "If I'm added to the slate, I'll add 50 percent more experience."
Needless to say, Donnan has never held statewide elected office.
