2012

From a news release linked here:

It is an exciting time for North Carolina politics! As the 2012 campaign season heats up, Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin is ramping up his efforts to reach out to voters, colleagues and supporters.

Goodwin’s website has been redesigned to make it easy to find the latest news about his service to North Carolina, watch video messages on YouTube, or follow his updates on Facebook and Twitter.

Goodwin has made transparent and open government a cornerstone of his efforts in the office of Insurance Commissioner. Creating a clear and open dialogue with citizens is equally important in his campaign.

“I love to talk to North Carolinians about the issues that are most important to them,” Goodwin said. "North Carolina is a big state, but social media can bring us together almost instantly."

Learn more at www.waynegoodwin.org and/or follow on Twitter @WayneGoodwinNC.

I'm very pleased to report that my team and I announced yesterday that in 2011 we were able to recover $42 million for individuals, families and businesses of North Carolina! This is just part of the more than $1 BILLION my service as NC Insurance Commissioner has saved consumers since 2008.

Here is a summary of what happened last night, originally posted at Progress NC. It is intended for people unfamiliar with legislative goings-on. Please make sure people not paying attention to politics read it so they understand what is going on in Raleigh using taxpayer dollars:

What happened in Raleigh last night proves that the leadership of the NC House is unworthy of serving the people of North Carolina.

January 5, 2012 will go down as a sad day for North Carolina -- it will be remembered as the day that leaders of our state government met in the dark of the night to elude public scrutiny and then shut down debate by their opposition in an attempt to ram their extremist agenda through our state house with as few people participating or watching as possible.

This is not democracy and it is not conduct becoming of our leaders. This is proof that they are unworthy to serve the people of North Carolina.

Two years ago, I made a decision to run for United States Senate because I believed that we, as a country, need to focus less on powerful special interests and more on middle class families and small business owners. While we came up just short in our fight last year, those very same issues that inspired me to run then still exist now.

That's why I'm proud to announce today that I have decided to run for re-election as North Carolina's Secretary of State!

According to my account profile, I have been a member of BlueNC for well over five years. A lot has happened in that half-decade. I got my Bachelor's degree. I tried grad school (blah). I worked on various political campaigns in a variety of positions. I moved into a nice new home. I celebrated my ten year wedding anniversary and my son started high school.

I also saw the 2006 Congressional wave election, the historic 2008 election, and the 2010 backlash election. But, especially in the past few years, I just watched. I watched as the Democrats caved. I watched as the Republicans held the economy hostage in order to score political points. I watched because I felt disgusted and angry and betrayed.

Since January, Republicans in the General Assembly have been working to turn North Carolina into South Carolina. Voters are taking notice and not liking what they see: destroying public schools, punishing unemployed workers, and proposing all sorts of wingnut legislation (none of which focuses on creating jobs).

Public Policy Polling’s latest survey of likely 2012 voters shows them rapidly moving away from Republicans in the NCGA. 40% of voters have a favorable opinion of the Democrats in the General Assembly now compared to only 34% who view the Republicans positively. The GOP is down a net -8 points from March when it was 38 positive, 39 negative. Today’s poll has both parties at 43% negative.

Things aren’t looking too good for Representative Brad Miller’s reelection. Over the weekend, The Washington Post listed Miller as the second most likely congressperson to be drawn out of a job.

2. Brad Miller (D-N.C.): Ten years ago, as a state senator, Miller helped draw the lines for his own district. Even Democrats admit it’s a pretty blatant gerrymander. Now that Republicans control the process, it will be easy for them to get revenge by cutting off the the skinny fingers where his district reaches into Democratic territory in Raleigh and Greensboro. Such a change would shift the district instantly into a pretty strong Republican seat. Republicans aim to pick off two or three seats in North Carolina, and none should be easier than Miller’s.

Update by James with short answer: Yes, Ellmers does support destroying Medicare.

Last cycle, Republican’s across the nation ran against President Obama’s healthcare reform plan by scaring seniors about ‘Death Panel’s’ and how the President’s plan would cut over $500 billion from Medicare. Although both claims are completely misleading, that didn’t stop Renee Ellmers from using those lies to attack Bob Etheridge for his support of heathcare reform.

Now that 2011 began mere minutes ago, please visit my brand new campaign Facebook page (I hope you'll "Like It" and recommend it to your Facebook friends!) and also take a short stroll through my completely revised, new campaign website which is linked on the site and in this very sentence.

Both the website homepage (www.WayneGoodwin.org) and the Facebook wall have a short intro video from me on them.

Happy New Year, friends and visitors ... Onward to 2012!