Governor Michael F. Easley

MIKE EASLEY was born in Nash County, North Carolina in 1950. The second of seven children, he was raised on a tobacco farm. Easley received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of North Carolina in 1972 with honors. In 1975, he earned his law degree from North Carolina Central University School of Law. He graduated cum laude from law school and also served as managing editor of the law review.

Easley spent nearly two decades of public service fighting crime, protecting children and the elderly, and standing up for working families. In 1982, he was elected district attorney for the 13th prosecutorial district in Brunswick, Bladen and Columbus counties. One of the state's youngest district attorneys ever, he was named among USA Today's top "drug busters." He was elected North Carolina's attorney general in 1992 and was re-elected to a second term in 1996. In both elections, Easley set records for the most votes of any statewide candidate.

As attorney general, he launched an aggressive consumer protection agenda combining legal action and education and outreach efforts to fight fraud on issues such as telemarketing and predatory lending. Easley worked to remove the state's prison cap and keep violent criminals behind bars, created an environmental crimes task force to keep our natural resources protected and established a citizens' rights division to combat hate crimes, child abuse and elder abuse. He spearheaded efforts to reach the historic national tobacco settlement securing more than $200 billion for states.

Easley was the first attorney general to be elected governor in North Carolina in November 2000. He received 53 percent of the vote in 2000 and was re-elected to a second term in 2004 by a margin of 13 points. Again in 2004, Easley set a record for the most votes of any statewide elected candidate--while Bush also won the state by a margin of 13 points.

Under Easley’s leadership, North Carolina's top-ranked business climate prospers while the state leads the nation in education progress. Easley has restored fiscal discipline to the state's finances while also increasing investments in education and infrastructure, key components to recruiting and retaining high quality jobs and industry for the state.

Since 2001, Easley's use of smart, targeted, performance-based initiatives has generated more than 25,000 new jobs and $4 billion in investment for the state, earning North Carolina the title "State of the Year" and No. 1 "Comeback Kid" from Southern Business and Development Magazine in 2005. Easley’s initiatives also earned the state recognition as one of the best places to start and grow a business from the Small Business Administration and a No. 3 national ranking for its biotechnology industry from Ernst & Young.

A top priority in Easley's economic development strategy is continued investments in education. Despite facing a $2.5 billion shortfall his first year in office, Easley reduced class size in grades K-3 and implemented the first statewide pre-kindergarten program for at-risk four-year-olds, which now serves more than 15,000 children across the state. Under Easley's leadership, 81 percent of North Carolina’s students are performing at or above grade level on ABC tests while fourth graders are among the top in the nation in reading, writing and math scores on the National Assessment Exams.

Easley also launched an effort to reform the state's high schools. Through Learn and Earn, students now have the chance to complete an associate's degree in conjunction with their high school curriculum and ensure that they are better prepared to enter the workforce upon graduation. As a part of the his New Schools Project, he has also opened small, economic development-themed high schools across the state focusing on growing economies, health care, life sciences and biotechnology. Easley also created the nation’s first Center for 21st Century Skills to redesign high school curriculum to meet the demands of the global economy.

To generate funds for future investments in education, Easley secured the passage of an education lottery in 2005. The lottery will generate more than $400 million annually for pre-kindergarten programs and class size reduction, school construction and need-based scholarships.

First Lady Mary P. Easley

As First Lady of North Carolina, three of Mary Easley's main initiatives are teacher recruitment and retention, reducing underage drinking, and infant immunization, especially for the newest North Carolinians with English as their second language.

Mrs. Easley serves as the spokesperson for the McDonald's "Immunize for Healthy Lives" campaign and speaks to many groups about the importance of immunizing North Carolina's children in a timely manner.  She serves as the Honorary Co-Chair of the Latino Health Task Force.  She is the National Co-Chair of The Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free speaking out nationally on the dangers of early alcohol use by children.

The First Lady received her bachelor's degree in politics from Wake Forest University in 1972 where she graduated Magna Cum Laude and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. She was also a member of the Fideles Society. She received her Juris Doctorate from Wake Forest School of Law in 1975, where she was a member of the Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity.

After law school, the First Lady served as Assistant District Attorney in New Hanover and Pender counties for ten years where she prosecuted hundreds of cases before North Carolina juries. From 1984 to 1992, she maintained her own practice in the areas of civil and criminal law in Southport, N.C.

Mrs. Easley served as a Clinical Professor at North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham where she taught Appellate Advocacy, Trial Advocacy, Criminal Trial Practice, and managed the Criminal Law Externship program. She is currently employed by North Carolina State University as Executive in Residence in the Office of the Provost with the rank of Senior Lecturer in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Mrs. Easley teaches Legal Aspects of Police Supervision at N.C. State University’s Administrative Officer's Management Program, a graduate level management course for police executives from throughout the United States. She has lectured on numerous topics related to trial advocacy at North Carolina Universities, has been a regular faculty member for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and has taught various continuing legal education courses within the state.

Mary and Mike Easley have been married for 26 years and have one child, Michael Jr., age 21. Mrs. Easley is a lifetime member of the Southport Women’s Club, she has served as a Member of the Strategic Planning Committee at North Carolina Central University, she serves on the Board of Directors of Communities in Schools of North Carolina and, in 2003, she was awarded a Triangle Business Journal "Women in Business Award."