Raleigh News and Observer

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and state Treasurer Richard Moore, the two leading candidates for the 2008 Democratic nomination for governor, have built campaign war chests totaling $8.4 million. But they've been tapping different sources for their fundraising, and the race is shaping up as an unusual one: Wall Street versus the good old boys. Perdue, who has yet to formally announce her candidacy, has raised $4.2 million so far and had $3.4 million on hand as of June 30, according to filings with the State Board of Elections. And the Democratic money dwarfs the funds raised by the three Republican gubernatorial candidates: Salisbury lawyer Bill Graham, former N.C. Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr and Sen. Fred Smith. Combined, the three have raised $486,000.

Legislators have given final approval to a bill ordering the state treasurer to examine North Carolina's pension fund investments and sell those linked to Sudan's government or to the bloodshed in the African nation. The House voted unanimously to agree to Senate changes to the bill and send it to Gov. Mike Easley's desk.

North Carolina will join 17 other states that have adopted Sudan investment policies.

Treasurer Richard Moore has already begun divesting the $75 billion fund from nine companies identified as providing monetary or military support to the Sudanese government. 400,000 people have been killed and 2 million displaced due to bloody civil war.

Click here for a fact sheet on the bill.

North Carolina has little tolerance for companies that do business in countries that commit genocide against its own people.

That's why state House Democrats unanimously approved legislation on Tuesday requiring the state's pension and retirement funds be free of investments in companies that do business with the Sudanese government.

1/29/2006: Today State Treasurer Richard Moore cut the ribbon on the 500th house purchased by North Carolina public employees through a unique partnership between the N.C. Housing Finance Agency (NCHFA) and the Department of State Treasurer. The home of Karmen Mills, a psychologist with Cabbarus County Schools, and her 5-month-old daughter marked the completion of "The 500 Project," which assists public employees - teachers, law enforcement officers, state employees and others - in becoming first-time homeowners by utilizing low interest rate mortgage products offered by the NCHFA.

State Treasurer Richard Moore filed a shareholder resolution this week urging oil company ConocoPhillips to invest in developing alternative, renewable energy sources. The resolution aims to encourage ConocoPhillips to help reduce emissions in keeping with the Kyoto Protocol, to invest in the growing market of renewable energy sources and to maintain competitiveness by investing in new technologies.

Today in Sudan, there are hundreds of thousands who are suffering, who are hungry, who have seen their daughters raped and their fathers killed, who live in daily fear. In the Darfur region of the Sudan, bloody war has been raging for years. The United Nations estimates that more than 400,000 people have been killed and 2 million have been forced from their homes. The people of Darfur have faced these horrors at the hands of their own government largely because of their ethnicity. The Sudanese government also has a long history of human rights violations and persecution of religious groups.

Recently, I implemented a new policy that shows that North Carolina will not sit by as the people of Darfur suffer. The North Carolina Retirement Systems, representing more than $70 billion in assets, has stopped investing in nine companies that are known to aid the Sudanese government. These companies are the worst corporate offenders. They are providing monetary or military support to the Sudanese government, and they are on the lists of every state, every organization and every company researching this issue.

A Message From State Treasurer Richard Moore