The NC Gubernatorial Candidate Who Was Too Good to Be True

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Good morning, readers. 

During every election cycle, some voters wish they had a candidate running for office—say governor or US president—who embodies their values, vision, and beliefs.

That was where an editor and a group of staff writers at this publication, then called the Independent Weekly, found themselves in 1996. Following the primary, the choice for NC governor was between a religious conservative Republican, Robin Hayes, and Jim Hunt, a Democratic incumbent who, during an eight-year hiatus from the Governor’s Mansion, had worked as a corporate lawyer and lobbyist. Hunt’s platform now included greater emphasis on promoting a punitive approach to juvenile crime as well as corporate tax cuts and slimmed-down government spending. 

So the Independent writers invented a candidate of their own, Jolene Strickland, mayor of the fictional town of Pine Hill, an educator and NASCAR lover with a pet bird dog named Mercy Me. Strickland would challenge Hayes and Hunt as an unaffiliated candidate. 

“In convincing detail,” writes Barry Yeoman for The Assembly, “[Independent Weekly staff writer Melinda Ruley] “portrayed Strickland as a relatable everywoman who kept a plastic box on her kitchen table stuffed with coupons.” 

But the initial four-page profile of Strickland, brought to life in photos of professor Joanna Maclay, erred on the side of plausibility, to the extent that readers sent donations into Independent staff asking them to pass them along to the Strickland campaign. One candidate’s campaign spokesperson even agreed to a debate with Strickland. 

Following an ill-fated press conference outside the legislature for which Maclay felt unprepared, the ruse was up. Reporters couldn’t find Pine Hill on a map, and there was no record of Strickland having graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill. But Strickland’s campaign had in some ways served its purpose: to give people “a way to imagine how good our government can be.”

Read Jolene Strickland’s story here. And have a good Monday.

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