Familiar Face To Enter The Race For North Carolina Insurance Commissioner

Incumbent North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin now has a second Republican challenger heading into the 2012 campaign season.  Mike Causey, a seasoned campaigner from Guilford County, recently filed papers with the North Carolina Board of Elections indicating he will run for the position.  This will mark the fourth attempt by Mr. Causey to be elected to the position, having lost previously in 1992, 1996, and 2000 to former longtime Insurance Commissioner Jim Long.  In addition to his campaigns for Insurance Commissioner, Mr. Causey also ran for the state senate in 2002, a seat won that year by Democrat Katie Dorsett.

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Although Mr. Causey has struggled to win his previous campaigns for elective office, he has remained politically active at both the state and local level.  Earlier this year, he was appointed by Tom Tillis, Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, to a four year term on the Public Officers and Employees Liability Insurance Commission.  He also currently serves on the Guilford County Agricultural Advisory Board.

Before earning the right to take on Commissioner Goodwin next November, Mr. Causey will first need to face James McCall in the Republican primary next May.  (I previously wrote about Mr. McCall’s campaign here.)  Having run for public office at least four times in the last 20 years, Mr. Causey clearly has a great deal of experience conducting campaigns, which arguably gives him a leg up on the first-time candidate, Mr. McCall.  On the other hand, having lost three previous campaigns for Insurance Commissioner, Mr. Causey might find it difficult to generate enthusiasm for his candidacy in the primary, which could result in the Republicans giving the nod to Mr. McCall to take on Commissioner Goodwin in the fall.

At this early juncture, Mr. Causey appears to lag behind both Commissioner Goodwin and Mr. McCall in the marketing and publicity department.  Commissioner Goodwin maintains a solid online presence with his Wayne’s World blog, a Facebook account, and a campaign website.  And Mr. McCall, for his part, has set up a Facebook account touting his experience and describing his early campaign efforts.  He also recently created a campaign website. 

By contrast, as of today Mr. Causey’s campaign has only a limited presence online.  He can be found on Twitter, here, but in the nearly two years that account has been active it has been used almost exclusively to advertise for Mr. Causey’s business, the Greensboro Downtown Farm Market.   However, he does state in a November 29 tweet: “Good morning! I am new to this ‘tweeting’ thing but thought I'd test on you dear as I may need to use this as a campaign tool.”  It appears, then, that Mr. Causey is considering ramping up his use of Twitter for campaign purposes in the months to come, which could prove to be a good way to get his message out and to distinguish himself from Commissioner Goodwin and Mr. McCall, neither of whom currently takes advantage of Twitter’s reach and popularity.

As for his educational and professional background, according to his LinkedIn account, Mr. Causey obtained his undergraduate degree from High Point University, where he also completed a substantial amount of coursework towards his MBA.  His LinkedIn account further reveals that from 1984 – 1996, Mr. Causey worked for Standard Life Insurance Company, which may explain the origins of his interest in the Insurance Commissioner position.  From 2000 until 2009, Mr. Causey lists his occupation as being in “government relations” at the North Carolina General Assembly, although it is not clear from his LinkedIn profile what sort of government relations he was involved in.*  For the last two years, Mr. Causey has operated the Greensboro Downtown Farm Market, where he sells locally grown produce, including produce from his family farm, the Dodge Lodge Farm, which is located in Guilford County.

*UPDATE (1/1/12): Further research reveals that Mr. Causey's government relations work has included lobbying on behalf of entities in the fields of alternative health care, land conservation, employee benefits, and auto body repair.  According to the Lobbyist Directory located on the North Carolina Secretary of State's website, Mr. Causey has lobbied on behalf of the following entities:

• Citizens for Healthcare Freedom-NC Fund (a group supporting legislation to increase access to alternative health care methods, including: "acupressure; aromatherapy; ayurveda; biofield therapy; cranial sacral therapy; culturally‑based traditional healing practices; dance, music, and art therapy; energetic modalities; folk practices; practices utilizing food and dietary supplements; individual biological therapies, such as bee pollen, nutrients, and the physical forces of heat, cold, water, touch, and light; herbology or herbalism; homeopathy; therapeutic touch or bodywork; mind‑body therapeutic practices; Native American medicine; naturopathy; polarity therapy; reiki; traditional Tibetan practices; and Qigong.")
• Farmland and Open Space Conservation Fund
• North Carolina Autobody and Glass Association
• Independent Auto Body Association
• Automotive Service Association of North Carolina
• Glass Assoc., NC
• McDonald Law Firm
• Benecom Corporation (an employee benefits company that no longer appears to be in business)
• Citizens for Insurance Reform