Top NC Democrat Wayne Goodwin announces he will run for office in 2020

Nov. 12--RALEIGH -- The chairman of the N.C. Democratic Party plans to step back out from behind the scenes and run for office, he announced Tuesday.

Wayne Goodwin, the party chair, will seek election as N.C. Insurance Commissioner, a role he held from 2009-16 before being defeated by the current commissioner, Republican Mike Causey.

North Carolina is one of few states where the government official in charge of regulating insurance companies is elected, not appointed.

Goodwin said Causey hasn't done enough to protect consumers. He said when he was in office he rejected numerous rate hikes, saving families "well over $2.4 billion" but Causey hasn't done the same.

"Our insurance rates have gone up year after year, and North Carolinians no longer have the lowest average auto insurance premiums in the nation," Goodwin said in a press release Tuesday.

It's not a guarantee that the 2020 race will be Causey versus Goodwin, since either could face a primary challenge. Kimberly Reynolds, the former N.C. Democratic Party executive director who is now working with Goodwin's campaign, said Goodwin plans to stay on board as the party chairman unless he gets a primary challenger, in which case party rules would require him to temporarily step down.

If the race does come down to Causey versus Goodwin, a high-profile bribery case may overshadow some of the men's policy positions.

Causey made international headlines when he turned in his own party's boss, former N.C. GOP Chairman Robin Hayes, for allegedly trying to help a wealthy insurance businessman bribe Causey.

That businessman, Greg Lindberg, has since been indicted on federal criminal charges along with Hayes and two of Lindberg's associates. All have pleaded not guilty to the most serious allegations, and Lindberg has asked for the charges to be dismissed, although Hayes did plead guilty to one count of lying to the FBI.

Before he was indicted, Lindberg heavily supported Goodwin's unsuccessful 2016 re-election campaign. He gave $500,000 to a PAC that ran pro-Goodwin ads, plus several thousand dollars directly to Goodwin's campaign. And after Goodwin lost to Causey and took the helm at the Democratic Party, Lindberg gave $750,000 to the party.

Goodwin has never been charged in connection with the Lindberg investigation, and Democratic officials have repeatedly said the money Lindberg gave them was clean. Reynolds said Goodwin plans to campaign on his record from the last time he was insurance commissioner, including his work levying a record-breaking $3.6 million fine against Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina in 2016 after its customers reported numerous issues.

"Wayne has a long, strong record of saving consumers over $2.4 Billion and holding insurance companies accountable," Reynolds wrote in an email.

And while Lindberg's money made him one of the Democratic Party's largest North Carolina donors in recent years, it pales in comparison to the money he was simultaneously giving Republicans, both in North Carolina and Florida, where he also did business.

Lindberg gave $2.4 million to two groups supporting Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest -- who is now running for governor against Democrat Roy Cooper.

He also gave an additional $1.5 million directly to the N.C. Republican Party, The News & Observer has reported. It's that money that federal prosecutors say Lindberg, Hayes and the others were trying to use to bribe Causey.

For more state government news, listen to Domecast, the politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Megaphone, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.

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