Should Republican Pat McCrory win the governor’s office and the GOP remain in power in the General Assembly, a victorious Democrat in this race must be ready to argue the progressive case against their conservative policies. And regardless how the governor’s race comes out, the lieutenant governor’s main duty is to be qualified to be governor should the need arise.

Mansfield is a new face in Raleigh, a first-term senator from Fayetteville, but he’s already stamped himself a leader among the Democratic Party’s next generation. In our view, and the view of a long list of progressive-minded Democrats who support him, Mansfield is ready, and he is qualified.

For starters, his biography reads like something from central casting for a Democratic candidate. Growing up in Georgia, Mansfield was 10 when his father died, which he says made him want to be a doctor. Raised by his mother, a teacher, he went to Howard University on a ROTC scholarship and consequently served as a medical officer in the Army—at Fort Bragg and in Kosovo—after getting his M.D. He’s also earned a master’s degree in public health from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Mansfield turned heads in the Senate last year as he spoke out against Republican bills to curb women’s reproductive rights (and dictate exactly what a doctor is supposed to tell a pregnant woman), to shortchange the public schools and to repeal the Racial Justice Act. Mansfield’s not strident. But he is he’s smart, forceful and persuasive.

Linda Coleman has a long record of public service, including as a career state employee in human resources, a Wake County commissioner and a three-term state House member. She left the House to work for Gov. Bev Perdue as state personnel director, a job that’s behind-the-scenes and often about patronage. She’s strongly supported by the State Employees Association (SEANC), a mixed blessing given that SEANC has endorsed some very conservative Republicans in past elections out of pique that the Democrats were neglecting state employees.

As a Wake commissioner, Coleman was a centrist, missing chances to give more support to the public schools. Her legislative record was better, including her advocacy for raising the minimum wage. She also touts her support for cutting taxes, however. In this campaign, she was the first of the Democratic candidates for governor or lieutenant to come out for civil unions in the campaign against Amendment 1. (Mansfield, also an opponent of Amendment 1, quickly joined her, as did all three of the major Democratic candidates for governor.) That’s a plus.

It’s notable that should one of these candidates be elected lieutenant governor, he or she would be the first African-American to hold either of the top two Council of State positions. Both are capable. But on the question of who would be better able to state the progressive case in Raleigh, there’s no comparison. It’s Mansfield.

“Sound bites,” he says, “were more important than sound policy.

“It was more about ego.

“It’s not for a certain group,” he says about state government, or national leadership for that matter, “but for all people.”

No matter your gender or your politics, he says, or your religion or where you come from or your station in life or the color of your skin.

“Rosa Parks sat down,” the 47-year-old says, “so Dr. Martin Luther King could stand up, and so folks in Greensboro could sit in. We are created equal, because God made us that way.”

And that’s what he was telling the Cumberland County Democratic Men’s Club on Tuesday, hours before officially announcing that he’ll run for lieutenant governor, the state’s second highest elected office.

“His head and his heart are connected,” George Breece, a longtime Democratic operative and former state lawmaker, was saying after the luncheon at Luigi’s Italian Restaurant, “and he’s going to be the next lieutenant governor.”

Perhaps it’s political rhetoric.

Perhaps not.

‘This is the moment’

Just wanted to see for myself what this ear, nose and throat surgeon was about, and came away believing he does have this state’s best interest at heart.

He talks straight.

He speaks with conviction.

He does so without notes.

Mansfield says he wants a more user-friendly state government, and one with accountability and transparency.

“This is the moment,” he says, “where we are fighting for the soul of this state, and as I go through these 100 counties, I’ll ask you to come with me.”

He’s rather unique.

Kind of down to earth.

Not a lot of bravado.

He plans to continue putting his patients first for as long as he can, and he knows his family priorities.

Someone asked what he does when he’s not doctoring and serving his constituents.

“I bow,” he says, “to my wife.”

That’ll be worth some feminine votes, as Mansfield becomes only the second county resident to bid for the lieutenant governor’s seat.

Former state Sen. Tony Rand tried and failed in 1988, losing out to Jim Gardner, a silver-tongued Republican and ex-congressman who left Rand in his wake after a televised political debate.

No opponent will get the best of Mansfield, not when it comes to presence and politics.

He’s confident.

He polished.

He can stand on his own.

But there is a humility and sincerity here that demonstrates he’s not interested in television and radio sound bites or print pullout quotes.

Epilogue

We’ll just have to see.

Don’t take it from me.

See for yourself.

All I know for certain is that Eric Mansfield is running for high office in this state, and he calls Fayetteville home.

And I like that.

Bill Kirby can be reached at kirbyb@fayobserver.com or 323-4848,ext. 486.
Published: 06:51 AM, Wed Feb 22, 2012 Bill Kirby Jr.

By Paul Woolverton
Staff writer

State Sen. Eric Mansfield of Fayetteville confirmed Saturday that he will run for North Carolina lieutenant governor this year. Mansfield, a freshman Democratic lawmaker, plans to make a formal announcement between 8 and 9 a.m. Monday on WIDU radio.” I think it’s a great opportunity to move our state forward in a direction, in a way that I think is more positive, more inclusive,” he said.

His decision to run for the state’s second highest elected post means yet another legislative seat for Cumberland County will be without an incumbent as the candidate filing period begins Monday. Longtime Rep. Rick Glazier is running for state schools superintendent, and Rep. Diane Parfitt isn’t seeking a second term.

Mansfield – one of two senators serving Cumberland County, the other being Republican Wesley Meredith – said Democrats whom he wouldn’t identify asked him to run for lieutenant governor. Incumbent Walter Dalton is seeking to replace fellow Democrat Gov. Bev Perdue now that she won’t be on the ballot.

Mansfield faces at least one other announced Democrat in the May primary, Linda Coleman, the state personnel director and a former legislator.

So far, three Republicans have announced intentions to run for lieutenant governor: State Rep. Dale Folwell of Forsyth County, architect Dan Forest of Raleigh, and Wake County Commissioner Tony Gurley.

Mansfield, a physician and former soldier, said in his first year in Raleigh that the amount of partisanship and politics in lawmaking was surprising and frustrating. He said those factors slowed or stopped him from accomplishing some of his goals.

His party also was in the minority following the Republican sweep of 2010 that knocked the Democrats out of power in the General Assembly. New, Republican-friendly district maps appear likely to keep the GOP in control through the next decade.

“One of my biggest problems in the General Assembly has been the constant bickering back and forth,” Mansfield said. “We really haven’t done anything that moves our state forward for the majority of our citizens. I think that’s a problem.

“I think we need a very reasoned, a very broad approach that includes both sides of the argument. I don’t think anything’s all Republican. I don’t think anything’s all Democrat,” he said. “I do think with compromise and collaboration that we can do some things to really get our state moving forward.”

On paper, the lieutenant governor has very little power beyond waiting in the wings should the governor leave office between elections. The lieutenant governor also serves as governor when the chief executive is traveling outside North Carolina.

The lieutenant governor presides over the Senate but has no say in what is considered and no vote except in a rare tie in a floor vote. He or she is appointed to several statewide boards and commissions and takes on other tasks as assigned by the governor.

Mansfield said he thinks he could do more as lieutenant governor than he could if he were to remain in the Senate.

“If you’re a senator in the minority, and no matter how great your arguments are, no matter how well you put things forward, there’s a strong chance that nothing’s going to move. I’m not so sure that that’s a winning way to do things,” Mansfield said.

The lieutenant governor has the means to reach out to the public, he said. “I do think as lieutenant governor, it gives you a broader ability to go around the state and speak to issues,” he said. “I think you have a real opportunity to really move people, to get involved, to get engaged and maybe change the discourse of our politics.”

Despite his status as a freshman senator stuck on the back row – seat 50 out of 50 in the Senate – Mansfield had two bills passed into law in his first year as a lawmaker. One of his laws made it a felony for someone to impersonate a doctor. The other permitted Cumberland and two other counties to increase the maximum size of their jail dormitories.

Mansfield also supported a controversial medical malpractice reform law.

His Senate District 21 is heavily Democratic with racial minority demographics, so it’s likely that another black Democrat would win the seat. The seat was formerly held by Sen. Larry Shaw, who didn’t seek re-election in 2010.
Staff writer Paul Woolverton can be reached at woolvertonp@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3512.

I want her to know that we are better than that.

More importantly, though, I want her to be able to look up to leaders and see figures who respect each other, even if we disagree. I ask that you join with me by adding your name to this online petition and demanding our political leaders in North Carolina reject Limbaugh’s demeaning and hateful speech.

In my short time in the state Senate, I’ve had the chance to look under the hood of state government without becoming part of the machinery. I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t, and we need to make sure that the policies we pursue are in the best interest of the people of this state. I firmly believe people and policy are more important than politics.

As a physician, minister and veteran, I’ve worked with people of all backgrounds. They’ve shared their hopes and dreams as well as their fears and struggles. They know that we are in a period of economic and social transition and they want security, stability and opportunity for themselves as well as their children and grandchildren. I want to be part of the dialogue that takes North Carolina in that direction.

Sincerely,

Senator Eric Mansfield