About
Trail Mix, the campaign blog of the Winston-Salem Journal, is a conversation about North Carolina's elections in 2008. Come here for news and analysis on the U.S. Senate race, the governor's race and all the other statewide races.
Trail Mix is written by James Romoser, the Journal's Raleigh reporter. Got a tip? E-mail me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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Quote of the Moment
“It’s ironic that the urban areas defeated an urban candidate.”
—Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, on his narrow loss to Bev Perdue in the race for governor
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More Election Coverage
The New Council of State
With Saturday’s inauguration approaching, most of the focus is on Bev Perdue, who will become North Carolina’s first female governor. But nine other executive-branch officials will also be sworn in on Saturday. The nine of them, plus Perdue, make up a body known as the Council of State. The council is a sort of corollary to Perdue’s cabinet — whereas cabinet members are appointed by the governor, Council of State members are elected statewide. But like cabinet members, each Council of State member runs a department of state government.
In addition to running their respective departments, Council of State members meet once a month as a committee responsible for approving various aspects of state policy and state spending.
The incoming Council of State differs in several ways from the group that served under Easley (which is pictured above). In November’s elections, Democrats increased their majority on the council from 7-to-3 to 8-to-2. Women, for the first time, make up a majority of the council. Four of the 10 members are fresh faces who are new to the council, and a fifth (Perdue) is moving from one council post to a new one.
Here’s the full Council of State for the next four years, with newcomers in italics:
Bev Perdue, governor (D)
Walter Dalton, lieutenant governor (D)
Janet Cowell, state treasurer (D)
Roy Cooper, attorney general (D)
Elaine Marshall, secretary of state (D)
Wayne Goodwin, commissioner of insurance (D)
Steve Troxler, commissioner of agriculture (R)
Cherie Berry, commissioner of labor (R)
June Atkinson, superintendent of public instruction (D)
Beth Wood, state auditor (D)
As a whole, it’s a group with considerable youth and ambition. Is there a future governor here? Trail Mix doesn’t know, but consider this: The three most recent governors elected in North Carolina all served first in lesser positions on the Council of State.