Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin, a proponent of public financing of campaigns, is traveling around the country this fall to raise money for his re-election.
Goodwin is holding fundraisers in a Chicago restaurant Wednesday and in the Atlanta office of McGuireWoods law and lobbying firm next month. Goodwin participated in the state's public financing program in 2008, but said he has stepped up private fundraising for this campaign because he anticipates the experiment in public financing for Council of State candidates is about to end.
"There's no option but for credible candidates to fundraise from friends and anybody who might want to support a campaign," he said. Goodwin said he is traveling to Chicago and Atlanta on his own time.
Goodwin and the Republican insurance commissioner candidate in 2008 each received more than $380,000 from the state for their campaigns as a test of public financing for that office, Superintendent of Public Instruction and Auditor candidates.
Two other candidates, Republican Les Merritt, who ran for auditor, and Democratic Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson also received public finance funds.
To get money from the public fund, candidates must agree to fundraising and spending limits.
One of the aims of public financing is to make candidates less dependent on campaign donations from people and entities they would deal with as office holders.
Not much money left
No money has been put into the fund since 2008, and it has about $426,000 left in it, according to a State Board of Elections report. That would be enough for only one council of state candidate.
A Republican-backed voter ID bill proposes to use what's left in the public financing fund to implement a voter identification law, and the legislature is considering repealing public financing for council of state races.
With the public financing budget "targeted for elimination," Goodwin said, "I can't unilaterally disarm."
Candidates for governor, U.S. Senate and state treasurer hold fundraisers outside the state, but it's rarer for candidates seeking other state executive offices.
Goodwin, who is running for a second term, said a friend arranged the Atlanta fundraiser.
Other than a brief mention of it in a call from former South Carolina Gov. James Hodges, who works in the McGuireWoods Columbia office, Goodwin said he hadn't spoken to anyone from the company about it.
"I really don't know much about it other than it's a location," he said.
In North Carolina, McGuire Woods represents health insurance and health care management companies and an auto insurance company.
Harry Kaplan, senior vice president of McGuireWoods for state government relations based in Raleigh, said he heard about the Atlanta fundraiser but did not set it up and does not plan to go.
Game rules criticized
Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina, said candidates are forced to raise money to be serious contenders in competitive races.
"This is a function of campaigns increasingly costing more money and the system we have forcing candidates to constantly be on the money train," Phillips said.
"We're not so much critical of the players, but of the game and the rules that exist."
