Political Party: Republican
Political Experience: Charlotte City Council, '83-'91; mayor of Charlotte, '91-'95; candidate for governor, '96
Education: B.S. in business administration and J.D., UNC-CH
After playing basketball at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and receiving a Bronze Star for his efforts in Vietnam, Richard Vinroot joined the law practice of Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson. In 1983 he began his tenure in state politics as a member of the Charlotte City Council. After eight years on the council, Vinroot was elected mayor and served until 1995. In 1996 he ran for governor, but lost the Republican primary to Robin Hayes, now a congressman from District Eight.
Coincidence or not, Charlotte grew hugely with Vinroot at the helm. The city developed a significant public transportation program, landed a professional football team and built a gleaming glass skyscraper to house Bank of America.
As mayor, Vinroot developed a "managed competition" program, whereby private companies bid to perform services normally controlled by city government. According to Ed Sizer, who directs the program, the privatization of trash collection has saved the city about $14 million over five years.
Republican Rod Autrey, a current city councilman who worked with Vinroot on the Board of County Commissioners, said he enjoyed working with the mayor. "Richard is the one who began the tradition of fiscal responsibilities," he said.
But Democrat Susan Burgess, who approved of Vinroot's job as mayor, worries that he has changed. "He was supportive of education, but all in all he has changed his opinions.... Richard Vinroot for governor is very different from Richard Vinroot, our mayor," she said. Burgess, Charlotte's mayor pro tem, said that the issue of vouchers is an example of a philosophical flip-flop. She added that she feels Vinroot's defeat in 1996 may have led him to take more of a party line.
Autrey disagreed, noting that Vinroot's stance on vouchers stems from his desire for greater accountability. "One of the big things he worked on in Charlotte was privatization," he said. "I think he's taking that philosophy to schools."
Vinroot said his top priority would be to extend accountability to the state's budget, noting that state spending has doubled in the last ten years while the state debt has quadrupled.
"First we need a taxpayer protection act to limit spending," Vinroot said in a statement. "After we get spending under control and cut waste, we can turn to cutting taxes, so we no longer pay the highest tax rates in the Southeast."
Education has dominated Vinroot's speeches and advertising this election. Vinroot supports merit-based pay and competency testing, as well as expanding current charter school initiatives.
Vinroot also supports a system that would award scholarships to the school of the parents' choice if the state gives the school failing grades two years in a row.
Vinroot's plans for healthcare mirror Easley's, with a few exceptions. Vinroot advocates an independent board to handle HMO disputes and supports the creation of tax-free medical savings accounts to provide for routine and extraordinary healthcare expenses.
Adam Searing, director of the North Carolina Health Access Coalition, is strongly against such accounts. "They attract the healthy and leave out the sick and the needy," he said.
Vinroot is strongly against a lottery, calling such a scheme a regressive tax that advocates gambling.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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