Triad lawyer says he wants new job: attorney general
By Mark Binker
GREENSBORO -- Get the phone book and flip it over to the back cover. If you live in the Greensboro area, you're probably staring at the picture of a guy who wants to be North Carolina's attorney general.
Bob Crumley -- yes, the "Better call Bob!" guy from the television ads -- has been laying the campaign groundwork with fellow Republicans and business leaders across the state for the better part of two years now.
And yes, he's serious. Crumley, who lives in Asheboro, has turned the daily operations of his Greensboro-based law firm and two other businesses over to partners and spends three to five days a week crisscrossing the state in support of a campaign in which candidates can't officially file to run until early 2008.
But a trial lawyer, much less one who deals a lot with personal injury law, wants to be the Republican nominee for attorney general?
Crumley smiles when he is asked the question, acknowledging that members of the trial bar and Republicans are not traditional allies.
"The new chairman of the Republican National Committee is a United States senator named Mel Martinez. Do you know what position Mel Martinez held in the state of Florida?" Crumley asks, leaning forward a bit in his chair. "He was president of the Florida trial lawyers association."
Although President Bush has been known to blame trial lawyers for higher health care costs -- as he did on a 2002 trip to High Point -- Crumley said party leaders have grown more accepting.
"The other key thing to remember here is I'm running for the state government trial lawyer's job," Crumley said.
The attorney general is North Carolina's chief law enforcement officer, overseeing the State Bureau of Investigation and handling litigation for most other state agencies.
Democrat Roy Cooper, who holds the post, wrote to supporters this summer saying that he planned to seek another term, waving off what many thought would be a run for governor.
Unseating Cooper will be a tough job for any Republican, said Wendell Sawyer, a Greensboro Republican who just lost a race for district attorney and has run for attorney general.
"They'll need to attract Democratic and (unaffiliated) voters," Sawyer said. "Just getting up and talking the party line isn't going to get you anywhere in the state."
Sawyer said he has considered making a run for attorney general but that a decision will depend on funding. And he said Crumley may be a good candidate to run against Cooper, but that trial lawyer baggage may hurt him in a Republican primary.
Crumley has an answer: Avoid the primary.
"If we can become the consensus candidate and save our money for the general election, that's just smart politics," Crumley said.
That goal is a key reason he started so early. Crumley hopes that he can sock away enough money, endorsements and name recognition by early 2008 to become the presumptive nominee and avoid intramural brawls that sapped money and support from other statewide GOP campaigns, such as Patrick Ballantine's run for governor and the three-way primary for attorney general in 2004.
Already Crumley's campaign Web site lists endorsements from such Republican luminaries as Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, U.S. Rep. Howard Coble and Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry. Full letters from Coble and Berry say they will urge others to get behind Crumley early.
His campaign finance reports show that Crumley has spent more than $137,000 since he began angling for the job after the 2004 elections. Crumley says he plans to hold 50 fundraisers -- 45 of which are scheduled -- in the first six months of next year.
Crumley should have one other advantage over potential rivals: all those phone book covers and television commercials.
"I'm a public figure anyway," Crumley said. "I've been asked for autographs in Wal-Mart."
Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mbinker@news-record.com
GREENSBORO -- Get the phone book and flip it over to the back cover. If you live in the Greensboro area, you're probably staring at the picture of a guy who wants to be North Carolina's attorney general.
Bob Crumley -- yes, the "Better call Bob!" guy from the television ads -- has been laying the campaign groundwork with fellow Republicans and business leaders across the state for the better part of two years now.
And yes, he's serious. Crumley, who lives in Asheboro, has turned the daily operations of his Greensboro-based law firm and two other businesses over to partners and spends three to five days a week crisscrossing the state in support of a campaign in which candidates can't officially file to run until early 2008.
But a trial lawyer, much less one who deals a lot with personal injury law, wants to be the Republican nominee for attorney general?
Crumley smiles when he is asked the question, acknowledging that members of the trial bar and Republicans are not traditional allies.
"The new chairman of the Republican National Committee is a United States senator named Mel Martinez. Do you know what position Mel Martinez held in the state of Florida?" Crumley asks, leaning forward a bit in his chair. "He was president of the Florida trial lawyers association."
Although President Bush has been known to blame trial lawyers for higher health care costs -- as he did on a 2002 trip to High Point -- Crumley said party leaders have grown more accepting.
"The other key thing to remember here is I'm running for the state government trial lawyer's job," Crumley said.
The attorney general is North Carolina's chief law enforcement officer, overseeing the State Bureau of Investigation and handling litigation for most other state agencies.
Democrat Roy Cooper, who holds the post, wrote to supporters this summer saying that he planned to seek another term, waving off what many thought would be a run for governor.
Unseating Cooper will be a tough job for any Republican, said Wendell Sawyer, a Greensboro Republican who just lost a race for district attorney and has run for attorney general.
"They'll need to attract Democratic and (unaffiliated) voters," Sawyer said. "Just getting up and talking the party line isn't going to get you anywhere in the state."
Sawyer said he has considered making a run for attorney general but that a decision will depend on funding. And he said Crumley may be a good candidate to run against Cooper, but that trial lawyer baggage may hurt him in a Republican primary.
Crumley has an answer: Avoid the primary.
"If we can become the consensus candidate and save our money for the general election, that's just smart politics," Crumley said.
That goal is a key reason he started so early. Crumley hopes that he can sock away enough money, endorsements and name recognition by early 2008 to become the presumptive nominee and avoid intramural brawls that sapped money and support from other statewide GOP campaigns, such as Patrick Ballantine's run for governor and the three-way primary for attorney general in 2004.
Already Crumley's campaign Web site lists endorsements from such Republican luminaries as Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, U.S. Rep. Howard Coble and Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry. Full letters from Coble and Berry say they will urge others to get behind Crumley early.
His campaign finance reports show that Crumley has spent more than $137,000 since he began angling for the job after the 2004 elections. Crumley says he plans to hold 50 fundraisers -- 45 of which are scheduled -- in the first six months of next year.
Crumley should have one other advantage over potential rivals: all those phone book covers and television commercials.
"I'm a public figure anyway," Crumley said. "I've been asked for autographs in Wal-Mart."
Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mbinker@news-record.com
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