King Rand
By ANTHONY DENT
April 2009
Anthony E. Rand, popularly known as Tony, is currently the number two Democrat in the North Carolina General Assembly. However, he is considered by many to be the de jure ruler of the state Senate and even the state, deserving the title of “king-maker” of North Carolina as an anonymous source referred to him.
Rand began his career in 1981 when he was appointed to the N.C. Senate. He won the following election, and continued to serve until 1988. Then his ambitions shifted towards the governor’s office, so he ran against Republican Jim Gardner for N.C. Lieutenant Governor in 1988.
After a bruising election cycle, Rand was defeated. Sources who wished to remain anonymous look at this as the event that drove Rand to power in the state senate.
“If Rand had won the 1988 election, I suspect he would have run for governor in 1992,” Paul Woolverton of the Fayetteville Observer said in an email. “I have to wonder – if Rand had won the lieutenant governor slot in 1988, would [Senate President Pro Tempore] Marc Basnight have risen in the 1990s to the power he has now? And would Rand have been governor from 2001 to 2009?”
The campaign is chiefly remembered for the vicious attacks against Rand made by Gardner involving drug dealers whom Rand was representing. After the election, Rand disappeared from the political landscape for seven years. In 1995, he ran again for the N.C. Senate representing Cumberland County and won. He has continued to serve in that capacity ever since and was elected Majority Leader in 2001.
Rand was born in 1939 to a family that was very active in the local community, his father serving as mayor of Garner and his mother, a local piano teacher for close to fifty years. He went on to attend the University of North Carolina, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1961, and a JD three years later. He began working with the law firm of Charlie Rose of Fayetteville who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1973.
The connections he developed in these early years in Cumberland County built the foundations that led him to high office in Raleigh. The political power that Rand holds is acknowledged by many observers of state politics.
“If he is strongly against a piece of legislation there is no chance of it going somewhere,” Don Carrington of the Carolina Journal said. Conversely, “if he is strongly for something, it has a good chance of going somewhere.”
His colleague, Sen. David Weinstein, the number three Democrat in the Senate, remarked, “Tony is tough, he is abrasive, he borders on being rude, but he is politically astute, and he knows how to use the system to get what he wants done.”
There are many examples of his “abrasive” approach to politics. In 2007, Rand introduced legislation to strip Insurance Commissioner Jim Long of his power to rule on the rates established by insurance companies. This left many people scratching their heads, including the News & Observer who began an editorial saying, “Perhaps Jim Long, North Carolina's insurance commissioner, kicked state Sen. Tony Rand's dog, or scratched the majority leader's shiny new car. Why else would Rand introduce legislation to strip Long of his power to rule on auto, home and workers' comp insurance rates?”
While that explanation was in jest, Dale Gibson of the Triangle Business Journal asked in a column published on April 6, “Could this be ‘get-back legislation’?” He explained that Long obstructed Rand’s attempts to allow Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina to convert to a for-profit status. This bill may be retaliation for the trouble Long caused Rand.
In another example of how Rand can implement his agenda, in 2003, more projects were added to the state Highway Trust Fund for the first time in fourteen years. Began in 1989, the legislature designated seven projects to be funded. These projects have not been completed, (the project in Charlotte being the closest to completion with about 70 percent of the work finished) although the new funding requests were seen as being made at the expense of Charlotte’s I-485 outer-beltway.
The newly added projects included one described by the Carolina Journal as “the largest addition” which was a “$350 million, 28-mile portion of the Fayetteville loop.” This additional funding request was made by Rand.
The Journal further reports that “while portions of the Fayetteville loop were all scheduled to be built with non-trust fund money, the shift is favorable to Cumberland County. Trust fund spending counts against how much money a region receives through regular DOT programs. By shifting the road to the trust fund, Fayetteville will effectively receive more state road money.”
A key role that Rand plays in the Democratic Party is his prowess at fundraising. Financial reports indicate that while running unopposed in the last election cycle, Rand was able to raise $505,449 from big name donors across the state including AT&T, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, North Carolina Farm Bureau, Bank of America, Wachovia Bank and the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers. Between the past two election cycles, Rand has donated funds from his candidate committee totaling $535,578, including a $400,000 one-time donation to the state Democratic Party. Over the past four election cycles, Rand has personally donated $48,525 to Democratic candidates across the state, including Gov. Easley, Sen. Ellie Kinnard, Gov. Perdue and Judge Linda Stephens.
While some political observers believe Rand actively “squashes” pieces of legislation introduced by Republicans, the leader of senate Republicans, Senator Phil Berger, disagrees: “I don’t think it’s a fair statement to say he ‘squashes’ our legislation. It’s a matter of philosophical differences.” Berger continued, “We believe things that Rand disagrees with and Rand believes things that we disagree with. Tony just uses the authority he has to derail legislation that he disagrees with.” Weinstein generally agreed with Berger’s assessment: “That’s just the way he operates. In the end, he fairly often hits the nail on the head politically.”
A possible explanation of Rand’s ability to implement his agenda is his relationship with former Democratic Gov. Mike Easley. Carrington remarked that, “There’s a general understanding that Rand is close to Basnight who is close to Easley.” This relationship manifested itself in various ways, including one where Mary Easley, Gov. Easley’s wife, was being audited by the State Auditor, Les Merritt. Easley hired Rand to represent her. This raised a few eyebrows. The News & Observer reported that “Rand's entrance into the story was an unusual twist.”
“I think someone could look at that arrangement and draw a conclusion that the hiring of Sen. Rand … could be meant to influence the auditor and the exercise of his independent judgment,” Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger told the News & Observer. Carrington added that, as Rand was a member of the legislature, this arrangement was “odd” and must be a product of the Rand-Easley political relationship.
With a new governor, changes have come to Raleigh. The close relationship that Rand and Easley developed has given way to a Rand-Perdue relationship, the nature of which is still unknown. Opinions vary as to the influence Rand will have in the Governor’s Mansion: “My perception is that Perdue is going to be more independent,” Carrington said. “For example, [Senate Leader Marc] Basnight recently came out to be in favor of Lanny Wilson for DOT head, which is unusual for a member of the legislature. But Perdue went ahead and chose [Eugene] Conti.”
“They have worked together in the Senate, and I’m sure they have their agreements and disagreements,” Weinstein observed. “Tony will try to be forceful and get his way, but Perdue is a tough cookie. In the end, I think she’ll have her way.”
In the end, politicians in Raleigh must heed the advice of former Sen. Robert Pittenger: “If you’re going into battle with him, you have to be prepared. He’s a smart man. He’s a master tactician; he controls the agenda; he knows where he stands.” Rand has shown himself to be adept at maneuvering through the shadowy halls of Raleigh, being able to achieve much of his agenda during his many years in the General Assembly. His close relationship with Easley allowed him to hold significant sway over the Raleigh political machinery. While he may not have the same relationship with Perdue, he nonetheless retains his power in the N.C. Senate as majority leader and holding key positions in important committees. He is still a large donor to Democratic causes.
Everything considered, his position is safe. He will still be able to implement his agenda, and obtain the funding for special projects in the Cumberland County region. More importantly, he remains the master puppeteer controlling the marionettes serving in the General Assembly. And that is why Tony Rand is the most powerful man in Raleigh.