Mike Easley

Mike Easley

Michael Francis "Mike" Easley (born March 23, 1950 in Rocky Mount , North Carolina ) is an American politician ( Democratic Party ). He was from 2001 to 2009 Governor of the State of North Carolina.

Early years and political advancement

Mike Easley grew up on a tobacco plantation. He studied political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , graduating with honors. He then studied law at the same university. In 1975 he graduated with cum laude. In 1982 Easley became a district attorney. That made him one of the youngest district attorneys in North Carolina ever. In 1992 he became Attorney General of North Carolina. For the gubernatorial elections of 2000 he was nominated as a candidate by his party. With 52 percent of the vote, he prevailed against the Republican Richard Vinroot , the former mayor of Charlotte .

North Carolina Governor

After winning the election, he took office on January 1, 2001. In 2004 he was confirmed by the electorate, this time with a 55.6 percent share of the vote against State Senator Patrick J. Ballantine . In 2005, he refused the death sentence Kenneth Boyd a pardon. On December 2, 2005, Boyd was therefore the 1,000th person to be executed by lethal injection in Raleigh since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 .

On April 29, 2008, the governor of North Carolina initially sided with Hillary Clinton in the US Democratic primary campaign as one of the decisive super delegates . Senator Clinton is the one candidate who "understands the challenges we are facing in this country," said Easley. After their departure, however, he announced his support for Barack Obama . That same year, Beverly Perdue , previously Easley's lieutenant governor , was elected to succeed him.

Web links

Commons : Mike Easley  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Mike Easley in nndb (English)
• Mike Easly in the National Governors Association (English)