George Wayne Goodwin (born February 22, 1967) is an American politician. He was elected

North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance The Commissioner of Insurance is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The commissioner is a constitutional officer who leads the state's Department of Insurance. The commissioner also oversees the Office of the State Fi ...

in the 2008 election and re-elected in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. He was narrowly defeated in his bid for a third term in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

. However, he quickly rebounded and was elected on February 11, 2017, as chairman of the

North Carolina Democratic Party The North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP) is the North Carolina affiliate of the Democratic Party. It is headquartered in the historic Goodwin House, located in Raleigh. Governor Roy Cooper is a North Carolina Democrat. Since the 2010 passage of ...

on the first ballot with 92% of the vote among four candidates. Goodwin previously served as a Democratic member of the

North Carolina General Assembly The North Carolina General Assembly is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Government of North Carolina, State government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the North Carolina Senate, Senate and the North Ca ...

representing the state's sixty-eighth

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

district, including constituents in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

and

Stanly Stanly is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Edward Stanly (1810–1872), Whig U.S. congressman * Fabius Stanly (1815–1882), rear admiral of the U.S. Navy * John Stanly (politician) (1774–1834), Federalist U.S. congressman * ...

counties. His prior district – the 32nd House district – also included Scotland and Montgomery Counties.

Political career

After serving as President of the

Young Democrats of North Carolina The Young Democrats of North Carolina (YDNC) are the official youth arm of the North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP). As an auxiliary organization of the NCDP, the President and National Committee-members of the YDNC serve as part of the State E ...

, Goodwin served four full terms in the North Carolina state House. Goodwin campaigned as the Democratic nominee for the position of

North Carolina Commissioner of Labor The Commissioner of Labor is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The commissioner is a constitutional officer who leads the state's Department of Labor. North Carolina's general statues provide the commissioner with br ...

in the 2004 election, losing in a close race to incumbent

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Cherie Berry Nora Cherie Killian Berry (born December 21, 1946) is an American politician who served as the North Carolina Commissioner of Labor from 2001 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, she was the first woman to hold the office. Early life Nora ...

. Goodwin served as the Assistant Commissioner of Insurance and Assistant State

Fire Marshal A fire marshal, in the United States and Canada, is often a member of a state, provincial or territorial government, but may be part of a building department or a separate department altogether. Fire marshals' duties vary but usually in ...

for the State of North Carolina from 2005 through 2008. In 2008, Goodwin filed to run for Commissioner of Insurance after the surprise retirement of longtime Commissioner

Jim Long Jim Long (born Timothy John Moynihan; February 7, 1943 – May 30 2022) was an American entrepreneur, whose pioneering marketing concepts and creative “firsts” are iconic in the broadcast music industry. Experienced in the development of int ...

. Goodwin defeated David Smith in the Democratic primary 56%–43% and went on to beat Republican John Odom and Libertarian Mark McMains with 51.57% of the vote. He was sworn-in on January 10, 2009. Goodwin won re-election in the 2012 general contest by almost four percentage points. He was a candidate for re-election in 2016. After very narrowly losing the general election, Goodwin announced that he would run for chairman of the

. With the support of 92% of ballots cast, he was elected to lead the state party on Feb. 11, 2017. Two years later, in January 2019, Goodwin won unanimous re-election to a second term as chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party. After completing a customary second term, Goodwin chose to refrain from a third term soon after his wife died from cancer and he had two children to raise. His first vice chair,

Bobbie Richardson Bobbie J. Richardson (born December 25, 1949) is an American politician. She is the former Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, former First Vice Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party and a former Democratic member of the Nor ...

, succeeded Goodwin as party chair. He unsuccessfully sought a third (non-consecutive) term as insurance commissioner in the 2020 election. In 2022, Goodwin was appointed commissioner of the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles. As commissioner, he lifted various restrictions for LGBT speech on vanity plates. Previously, vanity plates with LGBT content were not permitted by the Division. Under the direction of Goodwin, the DMV cracked down on racist and antisemitic vanity plates that had been approved due to creative spelling used to get around DMV restrictions.

Personal life

Goodwin was a

Morehead Scholar The Morehead-Cain Scholarship (originally the Morehead Scholarship) was the first merit scholarship program established in the United States. It was founded at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1951 and was named for its benefact ...

and US Senate/William Randolph Hearst Scholar. He graduated from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

in political science and then went on to graduate from the UNC School of Law. He was married to Melanie Wade Goodwin, also a former state legislator and attorney, until her death at age 50 in 2020. They are the parents of two children.

Electoral history

References

External links

Wayne Goodwin campaign siteWayne's World
* * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwin, Wayne 1967 births 21st-century American politicians Living people Democratic Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives North Carolina Commissioners of Insurance North Carolina Democratic Party chairs North Carolina lawyers People from Hamlet, North Carolina People from Rockingham, North Carolina University of North Carolina School of Law alumni