The Editorial Board’s endorsements in primaries for NC treasurer and attorney general

Three candidates are competing in the March 3 primary to choose who will be the Democratic candidate for state treasurer in November: Matt Leatherman of Raleigh; Dimple Ajmera of Charlotte; and Aaron “Ronnie” Chatterji of Durham.

Leatherman served as policy director under former state Treasurer Janet Cowell. Ajmera, a member of the Charlotte City Council, is a CPA with experience in the financial industry and Chatterji is a professor at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business and its Sanford School of Public Policy. He also served as a senior economist at the White House Council of Economic during the Obama administration.

We give our highest recommendation to Chatterji. He would bring energy and imagination to the treasurer’s office, along with a deep understanding of business and economics.

Chatterji, 41, said his academic background could refocus an office that has become too political under Treasurer Dale Folwell, a former state legislator.

“The treasurer is where we need a nerd, not a politician,” he told the Editorial Board.

Chatterji said Folwell’s cutting outside investment managers to save on fees could reduce the state’s long-term investment returns. “He’s bending over to pick up a nickel and $20 is falling out of his pocket,” he said.

The Duke professor wants the state to make socially responsible investments. He supports Medicaid expansion to help the State Health Plan by strengthening health care overall.

Leatherman, 38, said his experience in the treasurer’s office is a greater asset than financial or academic credentials. “When you know the office, you know what the job is,” he said. “You’re not choosing an accountant or an economist. You’re choosing a CEO.” He also is a strong advocate for the State Health Plan.

Ajmera, 33, would emphasize long-term investment returns and use the office to encourage Medicaid expansion and investment in renewable energy. But her rocky relations with other Charlotte City Council members suggest she may not be ready to lead a statewide office.

Attorney General

Three candidates are competing for the Republican nomination to face Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein in November. They are: Christine Mumma, well-known as an advocate for the wrongly convicted as executive director of the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence; Sam Hayes, a former general counsel to the state Department of Environmental Quality and the office of State Treasurer Dale Folwell and Jim O’Neill, the Forsyth County district attorney who lost his bid for the GOP nomination for attorney general in 2016.

Hayes and O’Neill are strong conservatives, and Mumma agrees with them on issues such as gun rights and enforcing immigration laws. We believe, however, that she would be a a Republican attorney general who understands that the job is about achieving justice, not racking up convictions or making political points. We recommend her in this primary race.

Mumma, 58, of Durham, has shown an ability to work with both Democrats and Republicans. A theme of her campaign is to “depoliticize” the attorney general’s office that she said “is being used as a stepping stone to the governor’s office.” Former Gov. Mike Easley and Gov. Roy Cooper served as attorney general and Stein is considered likely to seek the governor’s office in 2024.

Hayes, 47, and O’Neill, 54, would take the office in the opposite direction by bringing a conservative agenda to work that should be above politics.

This story was originally published February 25, 2020 at 1:19 PM.