Calling herself a watchdog and a maverick, Wake County school board member Debra Goldman announced Wednesday that she is running for state auditor.
In an announcement sent by email and posted on YouTube, theCary Republican said she was running because taxpayers are worried by the "the increasing number of public financial scandals, reports of fiscal mismanagement, and the dire emergency resulting from shoddy and fraudulent Medicaid casework." Goldman hopes to take on Beth Wood, a Democrat who defeated Republican incumbent Les Merritt in 2008.
Wood has announced she will seek another term.
"In their roles as Governor and State Auditor, I regret to say that Bev Perdue and Beth Wood have failed North Carolina," Goldman said in a statement. "We have seen record levels of unemployment, thousands of jobs leave our state, and while we cannot credit them with creating many jobs, we can acknowledge that Bev and Beth have excelled in both creating and ignoring scandals."
A member of the Republican majority elected to the school board in 2009, Goldman becomes the third GOP-backed member to announce plans to run for higher office this year. Board member Chris Malone is running for a seat in the General Assembly, and John Tedesco is running for state schools superintendent.
Goldman, 48, broke ranks with her Republican colleagues on several issues, including Tedesco's plan to draw up a new zone-based student assignment system. Goldman points in her announcement to her independent streak, which caused her to lose her position as vice chairwoman in June. Her refusal to support Tedesco resulted in 56 ballots being cast before he was elected vice chairman
"While serving as a leading member, and Vice-Chair of the 16th largest public school system in America, I have always led in the fight to put reform ahead of partisanship," Goldman said in her statement. "Some would call that being a 'maverick,' some have even called that being a 'watchdog.' While I was leading that effort on a local level, I can safely say that I saw nothing of that kind of leadership in the higher levels of our state government."
On the school system's website, Goldman says her background includes experience in management, business development, staffing, procurement, sales, marketing and consulting, but she does not list specific jobs. Goldman has not answered questions from the media since October 2010.
Efforts to reach her for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.
Republican political strategist Carter Wrenn said that candidates running for the down-ballot races suffer from the same problem of lack of name recognition.
He said that Goldman isn't well-known outside Wake County, so her candidacy won't deter other Republicans from seeking the party's nomination.
"No one in Johnston County is going to have researched who is on the Wake County school board," he said.
The fall election of a new Democratic majority to the school board means Goldman faces being in the minority through the rest of her term, which expires 2013.
Since the new board majority took office, Goldman has been a frequent critic of their actions.
Goldman would not have to give up her seat unless she wins the Republican nomination in May and the general election in November. Since the school board is officially nonpartisan, the Democratic majority would fill any vacancies.
