Ralph Campbell Jr. facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ralph Campbell Jr.
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Ralph Campbell Jr., date unknown
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| 15th State Auditor of North Carolina | |
| In office January 9, 1993 – January 15, 2005 |
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| Governor | Jim Hunt Mike Easley |
| Preceded by | Edward Renfrow |
| Succeeded by | Leslie W. Merritt Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Ralph Campbell Jr.
December 7, 1946 Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | January 11, 2011 (aged 64) Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
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| Alma mater | St. Augustine's College |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  Army Reserve |
| Years of service | 1971–1977 |
Ralph Campbell Jr. (born December 7, 1946 – died January 11, 2011) was an American politician. He served as the North Carolina State Auditor from 1993 to 2005. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Ralph Campbell Jr. was the first African American to hold a statewide elected executive office in North Carolina.
Campbell was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. He went to St. Augustine's College. He earned a degree in business administration in 1968. He also served in the United States Army Reserve from 1971 to 1977. After his military service, he worked in various government jobs. In 1985, he was elected to the Raleigh City Council.
In 1992, Campbell ran for North Carolina State Auditor. He won the election, beating Republican Vernon Abernethy. He started his term in January 1993. He made the auditor's office more modern by adding computers. He also pushed for a fully digital system for audits. Campbell did many important audits during his time in office. He was re-elected in 1996 and 2000. He lost his bid for a fourth term to Republican Les Merritt. After leaving office in 2005, Campbell worked as a consultant. He also served as treasurer for the North Carolina Democratic Party. Campbell was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2010 and passed away the next year.
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Ralph Campbell Jr.'s Early Life
Ralph Campbell Jr. was born on December 7, 1946, in Raleigh, North Carolina. His parents were Ralph Campbell Sr. and June Kay Campbell. Both of his parents were active in the civil rights movement. His grandmother, Willie Otey Kay, was a well-known dressmaker in Raleigh.
Ralph Jr. grew up with two brothers, Bill and Eddie, and one sister, Mildred. In 1960, his parents asked the Raleigh School Board to let Ralph Jr., Mildred, and Bill attend schools that were only for white students. The board allowed Bill to transfer. This made Bill the first black student to attend an all-white public school in the city. However, they did not allow Ralph Jr. and Mildred to transfer. They said the junior high school they wanted to attend was too crowded.
Campbell went with his father and sister to the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. After finishing John W. Ligon High School in 1964, he attended St. Augustine's College. He earned a degree in business administration in 1968. He later took more business classes at North Carolina Central University.
Ralph Campbell Jr.'s Early Career
From 1971 to 1977, Campbell served in the United States Army Reserve. After leaving the military, he worked as an auditor for the North Carolina Department of Revenue. From 1986 to 1990, he was a plan auditor for the State Health Benefits Office. In 1990, Campbell took an administrative job in the North Carolina Department of Insurance. He held this job until 1992.
In 1985, Campbell was elected to the Raleigh City Council. He started his work on December 3. He was re-elected in 1987, 1989, and 1991. On the city council, he led the Law and Finance Committee and the Intergovernmental Committee from 1985 to 1989. He also served as mayor pro tempore (a temporary mayor) from 1989 to 1991. He left the council on January 1, 1993.
North Carolina State Auditor Role
Becoming State Auditor
Campbell decided to run for North Carolina State Auditor in 1992. He announced his plan in January. He took time off from his job to travel around the state. He held meetings and rallies. He won the Democratic Party's primary election on May 5. This meant he would represent the Democratic Party in the main election. He then faced Republican Vernon Abernethy.
Campbell promised that if he won, he would create an advisory group for the auditor's office. He also planned to start a program to help other state offices save money. Abernethy, his opponent, pointed out that he was a Certified Public Accountant. He criticized Campbell for not having as much accounting experience. Campbell won the general election on November 3. He said, "How sweet it is to be standing with my fellow North Carolinians on the edge of tomorrow." His win made him the first black person elected to a statewide executive office in North Carolina.
Campbell became North Carolina State Auditor on January 9, 1993. During his first term, he gave desktop computers to his staff. He also gave laptop computers to auditors who worked outside the office. He pushed for a fully digital system for all audits. He also led the state's Information Resource Management Commission. He helped set policies for the internet and reviewed the government's plans for the Year 2000 problem.
Ralph Campbell ran for re-election in 1996. He promised to keep improving the office's technology. He was challenged by Republican Jack Daly. Daly accused Campbell of misusing his state vehicle. Campbell denied these claims. He won re-election, but with less than 50 percent of the vote. He received the fewest votes among the Democratic candidates on the North Carolina Council of State.
Key Audits and Re-election
Campbell performed many important audits during his time as auditor. Sometimes, these audits made government workers and other Democrats unhappy. In early 2000, he released a critical audit of North Carolina's mental health services. He received a lot of praise for this report. The report led to a special group being formed to study the issue.
In June 2000, he audited the spending of State Attorney General Mike Easley. Easley had used official money for public service announcements. The audit found that Easley had not done anything wrong. However, Campbell's political opponents accused him of protecting Easley, who was running for governor.
For the 2000 election, Campbell's Republican opponent, Les Merritt, tried to connect Campbell to an investigation in Atlanta. Campbell's brother, Bill, was mayor of Atlanta at the time. Campbell's campaign denied any wrongdoing. Campbell won his third term against Merritt in November with 51 percent of the vote.
Final Term and Election Loss
In late 2001, Campbell accused the North Carolina Technological Development Authority of wasting money. This group was supposed to help small technology companies. He said they spent too much on travel, entertainment, and high salaries. As a result, Governor Easley stopped state funding for the organization. It later went bankrupt.
In May 2001, Campbell's office began looking into how safe state computer networks were from cyberattacks. In December 2002, Campbell was chosen as president of the National Electronic Commerce Coordinating Council. The next year, his office reported on the John A. Hyman Foundation. This group was started by Congressman Frank Ballance. Campbell's office accused it of financial problems. This audit led to state and federal investigations. As a result, the auditor's office pushed for more checks on non-profit groups that received state money. This included new rules for reporting finances and hiring more auditors.
In March 2004, Campbell released an audit of the North Carolina State Ports Authority. This led to the chief executive officer resigning. The board of directors also changed their rules about credit cards and travel expenses. The next month, the auditor's office reported that the North Carolina Medicaid program had misused $414 million in federal money. Campbell sent this audit to prosecutors. He said, "This is the most damaging audit that we have ever had to release in my 11, 12 years as state auditor."
This audit caused a public disagreement between Campbell and Secretary Carmen Hooker Odom of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Odom disagreed with the findings. She said that problems would have been fixed if Campbell had followed up on issues his office found in 1997. Campbell responded by saying, "Let me thank the secretary for her magnanimous gesture of working together as I pull the daggers and the arrows out of my back from the beginning part of that presentation." His comment surprised the audience. After he explained the report, lawmakers questioned Odom about the Medicaid spending. In June, Campbell was elected president of the National State Auditors Association.
Merritt challenged Campbell again for the auditor's office in the 2004 election. He criticized Campbell for not fully finding the Medicaid problems in 1997. The North Carolina Republican Party also brought up Campbell's brother, Bill, who faced accusations related to a federal investigation. Campbell lost the re-election in November. Merritt received about 28,000 more votes. Campbell believed that his race and some of his audits played a part in his loss. His office completed about 3,600 audits during his time as auditor. His term ended on January 15, 2005. Another black person was not elected to the Council of State until Mark Robinson became Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina in 2020.
Ralph Campbell Jr.'s Later Life
In March 2005, Campbell became the treasurer of the North Carolina Democratic Party. He supported Beth Wood, who used to work in the state auditor's office. She ran as the Democratic candidate against Merritt in the 2008 election. After leaving his public office, Campbell worked as a consultant.
In 2010, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He was admitted to the Duke Raleigh Hospital in January 2011. He passed away on January 11. After his death, his body was placed in the State Capitol rotunda. Governor Beverly Perdue ordered that all North Carolina flags at state buildings be flown at half-staff to honor him. Perdue said, "His entire life Ralph Campbell was a gift to the people of North Carolina." A funeral was held at St. Ambrose Church in Raleigh on January 15. He was then buried. On December 7, a library in Raleigh was named in his honor.
