Dale Folwell
2017 - Present
2025
7
Dale Folwell (Republican Party) is the North Carolina Treasurer. He assumed office on January 1, 2017. His current term ends on January 1, 2025.
Folwell (Republican Party) ran for election for Governor of North Carolina. He lost in the Republican primary on March 5, 2024.
Biography
Folwell is a certified public accountant (CPA). In addition to his political career, he worked as a motorcycle mechanic, an investment advisor for Deutsche Bank and other firms, an assistant secretary of commerce for the state of North Carolina, and the head of the state’s Division of Employment Security under former Gov. Pat McCrory (R). He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1984 from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and later received a master’s degree in accounting from the school.[1][2][3]
Folwell and his wife Synthia Folwell have three children. In 1999, their 7-year old son, Dalton, was killed after being struck by a vehicle. After their decision to donate Dalton’s organs, they became involved in the movement to promote organ donation. To support this cause, Folwell drove his motorcycle 32,978 miles throughout the 48 contiguous United States in 2006 to raise awareness and funding for the Wake Forest University Institute for Regenerative Medicine.[1][4]
Elections
2024
See also: North Carolina gubernatorial election, 2024
General election
General election for Governor of North Carolina
Josh Stein, Mark K. Robinson, Vinny Smith, Wayne Turner, and Mike Ross are running in the general election for Governor of North Carolina on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | ||
 | Josh Stein (D)  | |
 | Mark K. Robinson (R) | |
 | Vinny Smith (Constitution Party) | |
 | Wayne Turner (G) | |
 | Mike Ross (L) | |
| ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Gordon Ward (Independent)
- Donte McCorey Sr. (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Governor of North Carolina
Josh Stein defeated Michael R. Morgan, Chrelle Booker, Marcus Williams, and Gary Foxx in the Democratic primary for Governor of North Carolina on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Josh Stein | 69.6 | 479,026 |
 | Michael R. Morgan | 14.3 | 98,627 | |
 | Chrelle Booker | 6.7 | 46,045 | |
 | Marcus Williams | 5.7 | 39,257 | |
 | Gary Foxx | 3.7 | 25,283 | |
| Total votes: 688,238 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of North Carolina
Mark K. Robinson defeated Dale Folwell and Bill Graham in the Republican primary for Governor of North Carolina on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark K. Robinson | 64.8 | 666,504 |
 | Dale Folwell | 19.2 | 196,955 | |
 | Bill Graham | 16.0 | 164,572 | |
| Total votes: 1,028,031 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Andy Wells (R)
- Jesse Thomas (R)
- Mark Walker (R)
Green primary election
The Green primary election was canceled. Wayne Turner advanced from the Green primary for Governor of North Carolina.
Libertarian primary election
Libertarian primary for Governor of North Carolina
Mike Ross defeated Shannon Bray in the Libertarian primary for Governor of North Carolina on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mike Ross | 59.4 | 2,910 |
 | Shannon Bray | 40.6 | 1,985 | |
| Total votes: 4,895 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Election campaign finance
The table below contains data from financial reports submitted to state agencies. The data is gathered and made available by Transparency USA. Transparency USA tracks loans separately from total contributions. View each candidates’ loan totals, if any, by clicking “View More” in the table below and learn more about this data here.
Satellite spending
- See also: Satellite spending
Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[5][6][7]
If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Folwell received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
- State Employees Association of North Carolina
- EMPAC
- Stand for Health Freedom
- The Charlotte Observer Editorial Board
- The News and Observer
2020
See also: North Carolina Treasurer election, 2020
General election
General election for North Carolina Treasurer
Incumbent Dale Folwell defeated Ronnie Chatterji in the general election for North Carolina Treasurer on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Dale Folwell (R) | 52.6 | 2,812,799 |
 | Ronnie Chatterji (D) | 47.4 | 2,537,019 | |
| Total votes: 5,349,818 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for North Carolina Treasurer
Ronnie Chatterji defeated Dimple Ajmera and Matthew Leatherman in the Democratic primary for North Carolina Treasurer on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ronnie Chatterji | 35.8 | 411,732 |
 | Dimple Ajmera | 34.0 | 390,888 | |
 | Matthew Leatherman | 30.2 | 347,226 | |
| Total votes: 1,149,846 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Dale Folwell advanced from the Republican primary for North Carolina Treasurer.
Campaign finance
2016
- See also: North Carolina Treasurer election, 2016
Folwell filed paperwork with the Stanly County Board of Elections on December 1, 2015, declaring him a Republican candidate for the North Carolina state treasurer in the 2016 election. Folwell was unopposed for the Republican nomination and therefore did not appear on the primary ballot. He competed with Democrat Dan Blue III, who won his party's nomination in the March 15 primary election, in the November 8 general election.[8]
Dale Folwell defeated Dan Blue III in the North Carolina treasurer election.
| North Carolina Treasurer, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Dale Folwell |
52.75% | 2,348,938 | |
| Democratic | Dan Blue III | 47.25% | 2,104,114 | |
| Total Votes | 4,453,052 | |||
| Source: ABC11 | ||||
2012
Folwell did not run for re-election in 2012. Instead he ran for the Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor. He finished third in the May 8th primary election.[9]
Issues
Folwell discusses his campaign with North Carolina Now Senior Correspondent Kelly McCullen:
2010
On November 2, 2010, Folwell won election to the North Carolina House of Representatives. He had no primary opposition but was challenged by Cristina Vazquez (D) in the general election which took place on November 2, 2010.[10][11]
| North Carolina House of Representatives, General Election Results, District 74 (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Dale Folwell (R)
|
17,475 | 69.32% | ||
| Cristina Vazquez (D) | 7,733 | 30.68% | ||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Folwell won re-election to the North Carolina House of Representatives.[12] $-66,411 was raised for this campaign.[13]
| North Carolina House of Representatives, District 74 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Dale Folwell (R)
|
21,933 | |||
| Wade Boyles (D) | 15,086 | |||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Dale Folwell did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Dale Folwell did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
2016
Folwell's campaign website included the following priorities:
| “ |
Preserve: North Carolina’s AAA bond rating. This rating is the highest assigned, and means that North Carolina is viewed as economically stable. North Carolina is one of only a few states in the country to have earned this rating. Conserve: The taxpayer dollars entrusted to the Office of the Treasurer to ensure a stable financial future for the State. Serve: The citizens of North Carolina with integrity, ability, and passion. The job of Treasurer is about protecting the State’s financial well being and future for all North Carolinians. [14] |
” |
Committee assignments
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Folwell served on the following committees:
- Subcommittee on General Government
- Subcommittee on Business and Labor
- Finance Committee, North Carolina House of Representatives, Chair
- Government Committee, North Carolina House of Representatives
- Insurance Committee, North Carolina House of Representatives
- Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House Committee, North Carolina House of Representatives
- State Personnel Committee, North Carolina House of Representatives, Vice Chair
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Folwell served on the following committees:
- Subcommittee on Pre-School, Elementary and Secondary Education
- Energy and Energy Efficiency Committee, North Carolina House
- Finance Committee, North Carolina House
- Judiciary II Committee, North Carolina House
- Pensions and Retirement Committee, North Carolina House
Issues
ESG
| Environmental, social, and corporate governance |
|---|
|
| Select a topic from the dropdown below to learn more. |
As auditor, Folwell took positions in opposition to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG), an approach to investing and corporate decision-making.
State financial officers, including treasurers, auditors, and controllers, are responsible for auditing other government offices, managing payroll, and overseeing pensions. In some states, certain SFOs are also responsible for investing state retirement and trust funds.
Opposition to Federal Reserve Bank appointee (January 2022)
In January 2022, Folwell was one of 25 members of the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF) who co-signed a letter to President Joe Biden (D), asking him to withdraw the nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin to the Federal Reserve Bank Board of Governors.[15]
In a May 2020 New York Times commentary titled “Why Is the Fed Spending So Much Money on a Dying Industry?,” Raskin wrote that Federal Reserve policy decisions should oppose investments in fossil fuels and support investments in the renewable energy sector: “The decisions the Fed makes on our behalf should build toward a stronger economy with more jobs in innovative industries — not prop up and enrich dying ones.”[16]
Folwell and the signatories on the SFOF letter wrote that they were concerned Raskin “would use the supervisory authority as Vice-Chair for Supervision at the Federal Reserve Bank to disrupt the private banking sector, reliable energy supplies, and the U.S. economy.”[15]
In March 2022, Raskin withdrew her name from consideration for the Federal Reserve position.[17]
Reclaiming Voting Proxy for State Pension Funds (July 2022)
A July 2022 profile in the investment website Top 1000 Funds reported Folwell was in the process of reclaiming the state of North Carolina’s voting powers from proxy advisors managing state pension funds. The Top 1000 account reported this was due to Folwell’s “frustration with the rise of shareholders intervening in corporate governance, particularly regarding climate change.”
“We don’t want our proxy to be used to promote policies that don’t have anything to do with our fiduciary responsibility,” said Folwell. “To use these assets and vote these assets in a way that is contrary to our fiduciary responsibilities is not something we are going to do anymore.”[18]
Opposition to Morningstar ratings of Israel investments (August 2022)
In late August 2022, Folwell and 17 other members of the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF) co-signed a letter addressed to the Morningstar investment rating service expressing their “serious concern regarding reports that Morningstar, Inc. (Morningstar), through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sustainalytics, negatively rates firms connected to Israel in apparent alignment with the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.” The letter asserted the BDS movement was “antithetical to the global causes of peace, democracy, and human rights” and asked Morningstar to take corrective action immediately to terminate all research and ratings products that treat Israel-connected companies differently than companies operating in other free democracies.”[19]
Support for West Virginia Prohibition of Investments with Firms that Have ESG Bias (August 2022)
Folwell expressed support for West Virginia state treasurer Riley Moore’s (R) decision to prohibit major investment firms engaged in ESG activism from having contracts with his state.
“Treasurer Riley Moore is involved in this because of the nature of his state’s economy,” said Folwell in an August 2022 interview with the Carolina Journal. “He’s not doing this because he can, but because he should.”[20]
In June 2022, Moore sent letters to BlackRock Inc., Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo, giving each firm 30 days to provide “information demonstrating that it is not engaged in a boycott of energy companies,” and warning that such conduct would render them “ineligible to enter into, or remain in, banking contracts with the State of West Virginia.” Explaining the letters, Moore said West Virginia generated “hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue from coal and gas” and that this presented a “clear conflict of interest for financial institutions to handle our dollars that at the same time are trying to diminish our dollars and destroy our industries.”[21]
Following up in July 2022, Moore announced he would prohibit BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanely and Wells Fargo from engaging in banking contracts with any West Virginia state government agency.[22] A news release from Moore said US Bancorp was not included because it had “eliminated policies against financing coal mining, coal power and pipeline construction activities from its Environmental and Social Risk Policy.”[23]
According to a Washington Post analysis, firms such as BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase used their “clout to advance causes that are popular among liberals.” Of BlackRock specifically, the report concluded the world’s largest asset manager had “voted against the candidacies of hundreds of corporate board members over their lackluster records on climate issues and called climate change ‘a defining factor in companies’ long-term prospects.’” Likewise, of JPMorgan Chase, the Post noted “the nation’s largest bank” had “stopped lending to new coal mines or coal-fired power plants.”[24]
A Fox News report said Moore’s action was “a first-of-its-kind response to major banks' ESG push.” Many other state officials responded soon afterward. A New York Times report in August 2022 stated the movement included nearly “two dozen Republican state treasurers” and that treasurers in West Virginia, Arkansas and Louisiana had already pulled a combined $700 million out of BlackRock funds.[25][26]
Noteworthy events
|
|---|
| Coronavirus pandemic |
| Select a topic from the dropdown below to learn more.
|
On March 25, 2020, it was announced that Dale Folwell tested positive for COVID-19.[27] COVID-19, also known as coronavirus disease 2019, is the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The first confirmed case of the disease in the United States was announced on January 21, 2020. For more on responses to the coronavirus outbreak, click here.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Balanced budget requirement
It's possible the state is violating North Carolina's constitutional requirement for a balanced budget. The discrepancy boils down to accounting.
State budget writers work on a cash basis, but accounting rules encourage budget writers to work on an accrual basis. Accrual accounting would require budget writers to account for the promises they've made to state workers.
A change would immediately highlight a $28 billion shortfall in the retiree health benefits promised to state workers.[28]
See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Governor of North Carolina |
Officeholder North Carolina Treasurer |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Charlotte Observer’’, “Trash collector, mechanic, CPA, lawmaker — now he wants to run NC’s $90 billion pension fund,” October18, 2016
- ↑ Salisbury Post’’, “Folwell hopes to conserve states finances as NC treasurer,” January 25, 2016
- ↑ John Locke Foundation’’, “Dale Folwell,” accessed November 10, 2022
- ↑ WISTV-10’’, “NC Rep. Folwell completes 48-state motorcycle ride for charity,” October 3, 2006
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," December 12, 2021
- ↑ Stanly Board of Elections, "Candidate Detail List," December 15, 2015
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedncboe - ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "2010 Primary Election Results," accessed June 12, 2014
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Official North Carolina General Election Results- November 2, 2010," accessed June 12, 2014
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "2008 General Election Results," accessed August 14, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, "2008 campaign contributions," accessed December 30, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 State Financial Officers Foundation, “Letter to President Joe Biden from State Financial Officers Foundation,” January 31, 2021
- ↑ CNBC, “Republicans grill Fed nominee Raskin over past views on climate and big energy companies,” February 3, 2022
- ↑ New York Post, “Sarah Raskin withdraws Federal Reserve nomination after Joe Manchin blocks Biden pick,” March 15, 2022
- ↑ Top 1000 Funds’’, “ARR vs funded status: North Carolina’s rock and a hard place,” July 5, 2022
- ↑ West Virginia Office of the State Treasurer, “Letter from membership of State Financial Officers Foundation to Mr. Kunal Kapoor, Chief Executive Officer, Morningstar, Inc.,” August 25, 2022
- ↑ Carolina Journal’’, “Dale Folwell backs WV move against activist ‘ESG’ investments,” Ausust17, 2022
- ↑ Metro News: The Voice of West Virginia’’, “Treasurer sends letters to six big investment companies, charging they boycott fossil fuels,” June 17, 2022
- ↑ Metro News: The Voice of West Virginia’’, “Treasurer puts financial giants on list of fossil fuel boycotters, severing banking relations,” July 28, 2022
- ↑ Riley Moore: State Treasurer’’, “Treasurer Moore Publishes Restricted Financial Institution List,” August 31, 2022
- ↑ The Washington Post’’, “Republicans threaten Wall Street over climate positions,” July 12, 2022
- ↑ The New York Times’’, “How Republicans Are ‘Weaponizing’ Public Office Against Climate Action,” August 5, 2022
- ↑ Fox Business’’, “Republican states are planning an all-out assault on woke banks: 'We won’t do business with you,'” August 4, 2022
- ↑ The News & Observer, "North Carolina State Treasurer tests positive for coronavirus after traveling," March 25, 2020
- ↑ State Budget Leaves $28 Billion Hole
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Janet Cowell (D) |
North Carolina Treasurer 2017-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
North Carolina House of Representatives District 74 2005-2013 |
Succeeded by - |
 |
State of North Carolina Raleigh (capital) |
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