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Pat McCrory
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1995 |
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| Preceded by | Richard Vinroot |
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| In office 1989 – 1995 |
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| Born | October 17, 1956 |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Ann McCrory |
| Residence | Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Alma mater | Catawba College |
Patrick "Pat" McCrory (born October 17, 1956) is currently the Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina. He is the longest-serving mayor in Charlotte history. McCrory was elected for a seventh term as mayor in 2007 but announced in 2008 that he would not seek an eighth term. [1] He was the Republican nominee for Governor of North Carolina in the 2008 general election, and was defeated by then-Lieutenant Governor Beverly Perdue.[2]
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Education and business career
McCrory was born in Ohio but grew up in Jamestown, North Carolina, and attended Ragsdale High School, where he served as Student Body President. McCrory graduated from Catawba College in 1978 with a B.A. in political science and education. After graduation, McCrory worked with Duke Energy Corporation in various management positions.
In 2001, McCrory's alma mater, Catawba College, awarded him an honorary doctorate degree.
City Councilman
McCrory began his political career in Charlotte in 1989 when he was elected as an At-Large City Councilman. Some of the issues he focused on early in his career included public safety. He was re-elected in 1991 and 1993, served as Mayor Pro Tem in 1993, and was elected as the city's mayor in 1995.
Mayor of Charlotte
McCrory has been a popular mayor, despite the fact that he is a Republican in Charlotte, where Democrats and independents outnumber Republicans three to one.[3]
Due to the regional boom in population since 1995, as many as 200,000 residents of Charlotte have never known another mayor.[4]
Economy
Since McCrory took office, the population of downtown Charlotte has increased to over 20,000 people. Charlotte is one of only three cities in the nation where home values have increased in the past year.[5]
Crime
Although crime has gone up all over the nation in recent years, the crime rate has declined in Charlotte. Crime nationwide has decreased since the peaks of the late 1980s and early 1990s. That trend held true in Charlotte, where violent slayings veered downward even as the population boomed. In 2004, the police district had the lowest homicide rate in a decade, with 60 slayings. The reduction in crime is partly as a result of 330 new police officers being added since McCrory has taken office.[citation needed]
The number of murders annually has been well below a record 129 slayings Charlotte-Mecklenburg police investigated in 1993, when the police jurisdiction served a third fewer people. The rate then was almost 30 slayings per 100,000 people versus this year's rate of about 11.[citation needed]
Transportation
Pat McCrory helped develop Charlotte's 25-year transportation and land use plan, which has expanded bus service in Charlotte and brought light rail to the city.[6] McCrory made efforts to secure $200 million in federal funds for the city's new Lynx Light Rail system. In November 2007, voters overwhelmingly supported keeping the current transportation plan intact by voting no to an appeal of a half-penny transit tax by a 70% to 30% margin.[7]
Mayor's Immigration Study Commission
In 2006 McCrory formed an Immigration task force, the first of its kind. The commission released a report on the impact of legal and illegal immigration on a local level.
The commission report identified many problems, but the members could not agree on needed solutions. As a result of the findings, McCrory said he will demand action from Congress. [8]
Environment
McCrory supports efforts to establish a Residential Tree Ordinance, which requires developers to save 10% of the trees in every residential development. Additionally there has been the establishment of a Sidewalk Policy that requires sidewalks in every new subdivision and provides funding for sidewalks in neighborhoods without them. He has also worked to integrate Bike lanes in the City's transportation policy; established 36 miles of bike lanes throughout the City. [9]
NASCAR Hall of Fame
On March 6, 2006 Charlotte beat out Atlanta, Daytona Beach, Kansas City, and Richmond, Virginia to be home of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. [10] Mayor McCrory worked with local business leaders, local officials and NASCAR teams to bring the Hall to Charlotte. The hall, designed by world renowned architecture firm, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, is scheduled to be open by spring 2010.
Awards and local involvement
In 2003, McCrory was the recipient of the national Home-ownership Hero Award recognizing his work in leading Charlotte to have one of the highest home-ownership rates in the country.
The Mayor founded the Mayor's Mentoring Alliance in 1995 and has personally served as a Mentor to two youths. In 2005, Charlotte was named in the 100 Best Communities for Youth by America's Promise. His Mayor's Mentoring Alliance has grown to include 40 youth-serving and mentoring organizations, including Time Warner Cable's "Time To Read" program. An additional partnership with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department initiated "Gang of One," an after-school gang-prevention and intervention program that works to keep children from joining gangs or helps lead them away from gang life. [11]
McCrory is involved in many local charity boards. He serves as the honorary chair for the Charlotte chapter of the Alzheimer Foundation and the Arthritis Foundation.
National involvement & Homeland Security
McCrory is involved in many national organizations, including service as: Past-president of the Republican Mayors and Local Officials (RMLO) organization; chairman of the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) Committee for Housing and Community Development; the past six-term Chair of the USCM Environmental Committee; and founder and inaugural Chairman of the North Carolina Metropolitan Coalition. McCrory is also the only elected official to serve on the national board of the Afterschool Alliance and is a featured Mayor in Harvard University’s Faith-based Executive Session. Since September 2001, McCrory has been heavily involved with Homeland Security efforts, which include serving on the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council. He is also head of the US Conference of Mayors environmental committee.
2008 gubernatorial campaign
McCrory reportedly commissioned a poll to test the waters for a run for Governor in November 2007, shortly after his re-election victory, but well after other Republican gubernatorial candidates began campaigning.[12] A 2007 Rasmussen Reports poll had McCrory leading both major Democratic candidates by three points each.[13]
The Raleigh News & Observer reported on January 9, 2008 that McCrory had filed the necessary paperwork with the State Board of Elections to run for Governor.[14] He announced that he was running in his hometown of Jamestown on January 15, 2008.[15]
In the primary election on May 6, 2008, McCrory defeated four opponents to win the Republican nomination for Governor.[16]
In the general election, Democratic lieutenant governor Bev Perdue raised $15 million and ran attack ads against McCrory, criticizing him for not being tough enough on illegal immigration.[17] Despite a "national Democratic tide" and Perdue's fundraising edge,[18] McCrory led Perdue at first; Perdue slowly gained with help from Barack Obama as the Democratic presidential candidate.[19] Perdue and McCrory remained close, with the two often polling in a statistical tie[18] in what was the closest race for governor in the nation.[17] Perdue ran slightly behind her opponent in polls released the week before the election.[18] Pundits speculated that Perdue was hurt by current Democratic Governor Mike Easley's decreasing popularity and McCrory's efforts to tag her as part of corruption in Raleigh-- consultants mentioned Perdue's "difficulty of being the candidate of continuity in a change election."[19]
In October 2008, McCrory received the endorsement of most major newspapers in the state, which typically endorse Democrats.[20] McCrory's candidacy for governor was endorsed by the Raleigh News and Observer,[21] the Charlotte Observer,[22] the Greensboro News & Record,[23] the Winston-Salem Journal,[24] and the UNC-Chapel Hill Daily Tar Heel.[3]
If he had been elected, McCrory would have been the first mayor of Charlotte to win the state's highest office.[25]
Elections
Before the gubernatorial campaign, McCrory had never lost a run for office, a winning-streak that stretched back to his 1989 election to City Council.
Charlotte voters returned McCrory to office for a record seventh term in November 2007. The previous record-holders were Stan Brookshire and John Belk, Sr., who were both elected to four terms.
Following his loss in the gubernatorial campaign, McCrory announced he wouldn't seek re-election in 2009, a decision he said he reached before announcing his candidacy for governor.
As a result, the 2009 mayoral race is expected to be the most-competitive in recent memory. McCrory has all but endorsed Republican John Lassiter, an At-Large member of the City Council. Democrat Anthony Foxx, also an At-Large councilman, has already announced his candidacy.
References
- ^ Charlotte Observer: 'It's time to move on', Dec. 12, 2008.
- ^ Gary Robertson (2008-11-04). "Democrat Perdue becomes NC's 1st female governor". Associated Press.
- ^ a b "McCrory for governor: Charlotte mayor would bring fresh and innovative leadership to Raleigh". Daily Tar Heel. 2008-10-26. http://www.dailytarheel.com/opinion/mccrory_for_governor_charlotte_mayor_would_bring_fresh_and_innovative_leadership_to_raleigh. Retrieved on 2008-10-28.
- ^ "Under the dome". News & Observer. 2007-12-13. http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/profiles/pat_mccrory. Retrieved on 2008-11-04.
- ^ Charlotte home values up
- ^ "Looking for real reform in the governor's race". Independent Weekly. 2008-10-15. http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A266928. Retrieved on 2008-11-25.
- ^ Voters rally in support of transit tax Charlotte Business Journal November 7, 2007
- ^ Immigration panel to present report News 14 Carolina 12/14/2006
- ^ "Charlotte Mayor Patrick McCrory Offers Lessons in Clean Air", Brett Rosenberg Augest 30 2005
- ^ The Hall of Fame will be in Charlotte -- as it should be Tom Bowles "SI.com" March 7, 2006
- ^ Cables leader's in learning award
- ^ Charlotte Observer: McCrory feeling out a run for governor?
- ^ Rasmussen Reports: The most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a mid-term election
- ^ McCrory files campaign paperwork | newsobserver.com projects
- ^ newsobserver.com | McCrory announces run for N.C. governor
- ^ State Board of Elections
- ^ a b Romoser, James (2008-11-05). "Perdue, in a first, edges McCrory". Winston-Salem Journal. http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2008/nov/05/050227/perdue-in-a-first-edges-mccrory/news-ncpolitics/. Retrieved on 2008-11-25.
- ^ a b c Johnson, Mark; Benjamin Niolet (2008-11-02). "Race for Governor Remains Close". The News & Observer. http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1278609.html. Retrieved on 2008-11-24.
- ^ a b "Is the Southern Strategy Dead?". American Prospect. 2008-10-24. http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=is_the_southern_strategy_dead. Retrieved on 2008-10-26.
- ^ "McCrory visits Chapel Hill". Daily Tar Heel. 2008-10-30. http://www.dailytarheel.com/news/state_national/mccrory_visits_chapel_hill. Retrieved on 2008-11-25.
- ^ [http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/editorials/story/1269143.html
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ News & Observer: What is the Queen City Curse?
External links
- Office of the Mayor
- News & Observer profile page
- Grassroots Site -McCrory for Governor
- Gubernatorial Campaign site
| Preceded by Richard Vinroot (R) |
Mayor of Charlotte, NC 1995 - |
Succeeded by incumbent |
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