Race could feature Charlotte's mayor vs. its ex-mayor

Could two Charlotte mayors face off for N.C. governor?

That possibility emerged Thursday when Democrat Anthony Foxx said he's considering a race that suddenly opened up with Gov. Bev Perdue's decision not to seek re-election.

Foxx's predecessor, Republican Pat McCrory, plans to launch his own long-anticipated campaign Tuesday, but in a landscape dramatically different from the one he expected.

"He's got a completely different race today than he had last night," said Republican strategist Carter Wrenn. "The world just changed."

Perdue's surprise decision - less than three weeks before candidate filing opens - sent Democrats scrambling. Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton of Rutherfordton was the first to announce his candidacy. State Rep. Bill Faison of Chapel Hill expects to announce soon.

Among those leaving the door cracked was Foxx.

"I remain focused on Charlotte and the substantial work ahead," he said in a statement. "I will spend the coming weeks talking with my family and friends about how I could best serve our city and state, and I ask the public and media for some patience as I work through those conversations."

In his own statement, McCrory said, "My message has been and will continue to be that we must fix our broken government and broken economy and put our North Carolina resources back to work."

Neither Foxx nor McCrory could be reached.

Both would join a long line of Charlotte mayors who have sought statewide office. Each of the last five mayors - back to then-Democrat Eddie Knox in 1984 - have run and lost.

The last was McCrory. Charlotte's only seven-term mayor fell to Perdue in 2008.

McCrory vs. a fresh face

Since then he has prepared for an expected rematch. He has traveled the state in support of other Republicans and promoted GOP causes. And campaign reports due today will show him with around $2 million in the bank.

He has consistently led Perdue in polls. Now that she's out, supporters say the outlook is even brighter.

"We're seeing that literally today with Pat's phone ringing off the hook with people who were on the fence or had not yet gotten involved and wanted to be helpful on the fundraising side," said McCrory strategist Brian Nick.

In addition to his war chest, McCrory has name recognition. A survey last fall showed him leading Dalton, Faison and even three-term Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper in hypothetical matchups.

But that may not matter, said Wrenn.

"I expect it'll make it a tougher race for (McCrory)," said Wrenn, who ran former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot's 2000 campaign for governor.

"Bev carried a lot of baggage and a lot of negatives ...So a fresh candidate may help the Democrats and make life a little more complicated for Pat."

Tom Jensen, director of Raleigh's Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling, said surveys suggest McCrory's strongest Democratic challenger would be Charlotte's Erskine Bowles, a former White House chief of staff and president of the University of North Carolina system.

"Democrats have a better chance no matter who the candidate is, but especially if Erskine can be coaxed into the race," he said. "It just changes the whole calculus."

Bowles could not be reached.

Two Charlotteans

Foxx's entry would change it even more.

After two terms on Charlotte's City Council, he became the city's youngest mayor in 2009 at age 38. During his first term, he developed a working relationship with President Barack Obama, was a frequent guest at the White House and played a key role in landing this year's Democratic National Convention.

Though untested statewide, he would bring a strong base. Charlotte is home to almost one in 10 N.C. Democrats.

Foxx is also a proven fundraiser. During two mayoral bids, he raised more than $1.3 million from a national fundraising network.

But Michael Bitzer, a political scientist at Catawba College, said a divisive primary could hurt Democrats against McCrory.

Andrew Taylor, a political scientist at N.C. State, said Foxx - like most other would-be Democratic candidates - would have to work to become known statewide. If he did run, and did win, it could set up a race between two Charlotteans.

"There is this rather absurd argument that you can't elect someone from the Charlotte area as governor," Taylor said. "What we think of as our economic capital to a certain extent would all of a sudden have more political clout than it's had for a while."