Dan Blue III for State Treasurer
By Cash Michaels
Most people who know Daniel Blue III agree that he is disciplined, studied, principled, and one of the sharpest people in or out of politics.
Thanks to the legacy of his father, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Daniel T. Blue Jr.—formerly the first African American speaker of the NC House—Dan III has rarely known life outside of politics, except for when he worked on Wall Street in New York City over 15 years ago.
Today, Dan III, 43, is jumping head-first into his first bid for elective office, running to become NC Treasurer, succeeding fellow Democrat and incumbent Janet Cowell, who has endorsed him. His Republican opponent is former state Rep. Dale Folwell of Winston-Salem, who also once served as head of the state Employment Security Division.
The state treasurer manages North Carolina’s retirement system and $90 billion pension fund, administers the state’s healthcare plan, and maintains North Carolina’s Triple A credit rating.
“North Carolina deserves fiscally responsible leadership that respects and protects the public employees, taxpayers, and communities throughout the state,” Blue says about why he is running. His biography certainly reads like a young man seeking to prepare himself for bigger things.
The Raleigh native is a graduate of W.G. Enloe High School and Duke University, where he earned his B.S. in engineering and minored in public policy studies. He also studied finance at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, earning a Masters of Business Administration, and Duke’s School of Law, graduating with a Juris Doctor.
Well-rounded in key areas, Blue worked at GlaxoWellcome Pharmaceuticals, helping to launch Healthmatics. Shortly after, he moved to New York City to become an investment banker at Bear, Stearns & Co. on Wall Street. He was there in New York during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and vividly recalls living through the ordeal.
In 2004, on the advice of his mother, Edna Earle Blue, Dan III moved back to North Carolina, starting his own company, Pharmaceutical Institute, which trained biotech professionals. He later sold the successful company, and joined his father’s Raleigh firm, working alongside his younger brother Damien. Dan III handled debt financing for large companies and government agencies, but also advised small businesses. His work was recognized in 2015 by the Triangle Business Journal.
Blue is married to educator Traci C. Blue, and the couple has two children.
