Pat McCrory

Pat McCrory
53rd Mayor of Charlotte
In office 1995–2009
Preceded by	Richard Vinroot
Succeeded by	Anthony Foxx
Member of the Charlotte City Council At Large
In office 1989–1995
Personal details
Born	Patrick Lloyd McCrory October 17, 1956 (1956-10-17) Columbus, Ohio
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Ann McCrory
Residence	Charlotte, North Carolina
Alma mater	Catawba College

Patrick Lloyd "Pat" McCrory (born October 17, 1956) is an American politician and businessman. He was the 53rd Mayor of Charlotte from 1995 to 2009, and is a candidate for Governor of North Carolina in 2012

Both the city of Charlotte and McCrory gained national prominence during his tenure as mayor. By the 1990's Charlotte emerged as a symbol of the New South by becoming a hub of transportation, banking, manufacturing, energy and tourism. McCrory implemented transportation and land use plans that have been seen nationally as templates for other municipalities. He received a presidential appointment to serve on the United States Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) from 2003-2006.

McCrory was the Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina in the 2008 general election and was narrowly defeated by then-Lieutenant Governor Beverly Perdue.

After the 2008 election, McCrory returned to the private sector, becoming a national advocate for the economic benefits of mass transit. Additionally, McCrory is a co-host for WCNC-TV FlashPoint, a Charlotte-based Sunday morning talk show, and is a frequent guest host for News Talk 1110 WBT (AM) radio. McCrory continues to give speeches and raise campaign funds on behalf of the North Carolina Republican Party.

Early life, education and business career

McCrory was born on October 17, 1956 in Columbus, Ohio, to Rollin "Mac" and Audrey McCrory. His father was an engineer and entrepreneur who once served on the city council in Worthington, Ohio. He is the youngest of four children, with two sisters and one brother.

Politics came early in McCrory's life. When his father had to miss a city council meeting, he often dispatched McCrory, then 8 or 9 years old, to sit in the audience and take notes.

When he was nine, he moved with his family to Jamestown, North Carolina, a suburb of Greensboro. There, he attended Jamestown Elementary, Millis Road Elementary and Jamestown Junior High. At the age of 16, he became student body president at Ragsdale High School in Greensboro. He graduated in 1974.

While studying to become a teacher, McCrory fell into a very different career. During college, he spent the summers working construction and reading meters for Duke Energy. McCrory graduated in 1978 from Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina, and he received a North Carolina teaching certificate that year. He decided against teaching and instead went to work full-time for Duke Energy. A management training program put him through a rotation of digging ditches and climbing electric poles as well as stints in office jobs. He rose through a variety of recruiting and training jobs to become a senior adviser with Duke Energy's Business and Economic Development Group. He and his wife, Ann Gordon McCrory, married in 1988.

In 2001, McCrory's alma mater, Catawba College, awarded him an honorary doctorate degree. He currently serves as a member of Catawba College's Board of Trustees.

In January 2008, he retired from Duke Energy after 29 years with the company, to run full-time for governor. In January 2009, McCrory was named a Partner with Charlotte-based McCrory & Company, a sales consulting firm. In January 2010, McCrory was named a Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives for Charlotte-based law firm Moore & Van Allen PLLC. According to Moore & Van Allen's January 2010 news release, McCrory will continue to participate as a partner with McCrory & Company.

City Council

McCrory began his political career in Charlotte in 1989 when he was elected as an At-Large City Councilman. Public safety was among the priority issues he focused on early in his political career. He was re-elected in 1991 and 1993, and served as Mayor Pro Tem from 1993–1995.

Mayoralty

In 1995, he was elected the city's mayor, succeeding Richard Vinroot, who ran unsuccessfully for the 1996 Republican gubernatorial nomination. At the age of 39, he was the city's youngest mayor. McCrory was a very popular, affable mayor, despite the fact that he was a Republican in Charlotte, where Democrats and independents outnumber Republicans three to one. Although the mayor has limited powers in Charlotte's council-manager form of government, McCrory made use of the mayoral bully pulpit to push his ideas and used the veto 22 times.

In elections from 1995 to 2007, he never won less than 56 percent of the vote, and in 1997 he took 78 percent. In the 2007 mayoral election, he defeated seven-term Democratic state Rep. Beverly Earle, 61 to 39 percent. McCrory announced in late 2008, shortly after his gubernatorial campaign, that he would not seek an eighth term.

Due to the regional boom in population since 1995, as many as 200,000 residents of Charlotte in 2008 had never known another mayor.

Transportation

McCrory helped develop Charlotte's 25-year transportation and land use plan. By working closely with the help of U.S. Senator Jesse Helms, McCrory made efforts to secure $200 million in federal funds for the city's new Lynx Light Rail system. This plan help expand bus service in Charlotte and brought light rail to the city. McCrory's biggest achievement as mayor was the light rail line. In 1997, he lobbied the legislature and Mecklenburg County voters for a half-cent local sales tax for public transportation. In recent years, the tax has raised about $70 million annually in revenue, and cost a family earning $57,000 a year about $39. In 2007, he helped defeat a referendum to repeal the tax, which helped pay for the light-rail line and pay for buses. In the November 2007 election, 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. On Nov. 24, 2007, the Lynx Blue Line went into service along South Boulevard.

Convinced it would be a failure, many conservatives called it the "McCrory Line." Despite the criticism, the light-rail proved to be financially successful, and there are currently 15 stations in the system, which carries an average of 20,000 passengers per day (2009). Future expansion includes plans for light rail, commuter rail, streetcars and bus rapid transit along the five corridors in the 2030 Transit Corridor System Plan adopted in 2006 by Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC). Build-out of the entire system is presently estimated for completion by 2034. Future extensions are planned to UNC-Charlotte and to the Charlotte/Douglas International Airport.

Economy

From 1995-2009 (McCrory's tenure), Charlotte's population grew by 20%, and the population of Uptown Charlotte increased to over 20,000 people. McCrory led the effort to recruit such companies as TIAA-CREF, General Dynamics Armament, The Westin Hotel, and Johnson & Wales University. He was also instrumental in the development of the new Charlotte Arena and the U.S. Whitewater Center. In 2005, Money Magazine listed Charlotte in its Top 3 Best Places to Live and Reader's Digest named it one of the 20 Cleanest Cities in America.

Charlotte's overall quality of life was impacted through McCrory's efforts to establish a Residential Tree Ordinance, which required developers to save 10% of the trees in every residential development, the establishment of a Sidewalk Policy that requires sidewalks in every new subdivision and provides funding for sidewalks in neighborhood without them. He also worked to integrate Bike lanes in the City's transportation policy; establishing 42 miles of bike lanes throughout the city.

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 demanded action from Congress.

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 was also the only elected official to serve on the national board of the Afterschool Alliance and was a featured Mayor in Harvard University's Faith-based Executive Session.

Since the September 11 attacks in 2001, McCrory has been heavily involved with Homeland Security efforts. In 2003, President George W. Bush appointed McCrory to the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council alongside Mitt Romney, Sonny Perdue, and Lee H. Hamilton.

NASCAR Hall of Fame

Mayor McCrory spearheaded the effort with local business leaders, local officials and NASCAR teams to bring the Hall to Charlotte. On March 6, 2006 Charlotte beat out Atlanta, Daytona Beach, Kansas City, and Richmond, Virginia to be home of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The hall, designed by world renowned architecture firm, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, held its grand opening on May 11, 2010. Former Mayor McCrory, and current Mayor Anthony Foxx joined Charlotte-area dignitaries and representatives of NASCAR's past and present on a stage outside the Hall for the hour-long opening ceremony.

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.

McCrory has been involved in many local charity boards. He served as the honorary chair for the Charlotte chapter of the Alzheimer Foundation and the Arthritis Foundation.

2008 gubernatorial campaign

Main article: North Carolina gubernatorial election, 2008

McCrory reportedly commissioned a poll to test the waters for a run for Governor in November 2007, shortly after his seventh mayoral re-election victory, but well after other Republican gubernatorial candidates began campaigning. A 2007 Rasmussen Reports poll had McCrory leading both major Democratic candidates, Bev Perdue and Richard H. Moore by three points each.

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. He announced that he was running in his hometown of Jamestown on January 15, 2008.

In the primary election on May 6, 2008, McCrory defeated four opponents, including State Senator Fred Smith to win the Republican nomination for Governor.

In the general election, Democratic lieutenant governor Bev Perdue raised $15 million and ran attack ads against McCrory, criticizing him on various issues. McCrory later referred to these ads as "shameless, inaccurate, and negative". Despite a "national Democratic tide" and Perdue's fundraising edge, McCrory led Perdue at first; Perdue slowly gained with help from Barack Obama as the Democratic presidential candidate. Perdue and McCrory remained close, with the two often polling in a statistical tie in what was the closest race for governor in the nation. Perdue ran slightly behind her opponent in polls released the week before the election. 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."

In October 2008, McCrory received the endorsement of most major newspapers in the state, which typically endorse Democrats. McCrory's candidacy for governor was endorsed by the Raleigh News and Observer, the Charlotte Observer, the Greensboro News & Record, the Winston-Salem Journal, the Asheville Citizen-Times, the Durham Herald-Sun, and the UNC-Chapel Hill Daily Tar Heel.

Perdue won with 2,146,083 (50.27%) votes, while McCrory carried 2,001,114 (46.88%) in what turned out to be the closest gubernatorial election in the United States in 2008.

If he had been elected, McCrory would have been the first mayor of Charlotte to win the state's highest office.

Subsequent activities

Following the gubernatorial election, McCrory announced that he would not seek a record eighth term as Charlotte Mayor in 2009. Having retired from Duke Energy after 29 years of service in early 2008 to run for governor, McCrory decided to return to the private sector. He went on to work for both his brother's consulting firm, and also joined the law firm of Moore Van Allen. McCrory also began to pave the way for a possible 2012 gubernatorial campaign by remaining active in the North Carolina Republican Party. He has spoken at numerous GOP county and district conventions, dinners, as well as the 2009, 2010 & 2011 State GOP conventions.

On August 5, 2009, McCrory headlined a massive rally in Uptown Charlotte organized to oppose (what would become) the Affordable Care Act -- President Barack Obama's effort to reform America's private sector health care systems. Organizers said the statewide tour aimed to build opposition to the bill, and to encourage people to share concerns about it with their congressional representatives. In an August 2009 interview with WRAL-TV in Raleigh, McCrory was asked if he would consider running for governor again, or maybe even running for Senate. He responded: "Yes. Running a state-wide race was a great experience...". He also acknowledged that he'd underestimated the role and impact of Barack Obama's presidential campaign on his North Carolina governor's race -- particularly, that Mr. Obama's popularity in 2008 may have encouraged straight ticket voting. In the interview, he also criticized his opponent Bev Perdue whom, he said, "has done an about face on about everything she promised during our campaign."

In the 2009 Charlotte mayoral election, McCrory all-but-officially gave his support to long-time friend, and incumbent at-large City Councilman, John Lassiter. However, Lassiter went on to lose the general election for Charlotte mayor that November by a razor-thin margin to fellow at-large Councilman Anthony Foxx.

In 2010, McCrory penned several editorial pieces in major North Carolina newspapers, focusing on state issues including North Carolina's Alcohol Beverage Control system, job creation, and energy exploration.

In May 2010, McCrory formally launched "New Leadership PAC", a political action committee, through a video message that was posted on the organization's web site. According to the Raleigh News & Observer, the video sounded like a campaign speech, complete with a request for donations and his 2008 campaign theme: "The difference is leadership." This led to further speculation by the Associated Press that McCrory was indeed laying the groundwork for a 2012 re-run for governor. A month after his PAC's launch, McCrory addressed the 2010 NCGOP State Convention. His convention speech garnered statewide news attention when he spoke out in favor of Arizona's controversial 2008 immigration law. McCrory argued that illegal immigration has brought gang activity to the state, and was straining the resources of public schools and services.

External links

• Office of the Mayor
• News & Observer profile page
• Grassroots Site -McCrory for Governor
• Gubernatorial Campaign site

Political offices
Preceded by Richard Vinroot (R)	Mayor of Charlotte 1995 – 2009	Succeeded by Anthony Foxx (D)