WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Former State Treasurer Richard Moore said Tuesday he has no plans, for now, to run in 2010 for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Richard Burr, saying he’s happy after nearly two decades in elected or appointed office.

Moore left office less than two months ago after eight years as treasurer. The Democrat unsuccessfully ran for governor last year, losing to eventual winner Beverly Perdue in last May’s party primary.

“I am taking it easy,” Moore said after a speech at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, where he went to college and law school. “I’m doing what I want to do.”

Asked about a bid for the U.S. Senate, Moore replied: “We’ve just finished one election cycle, and I don’t have any plans right now. You know, you never say never, but I don’t have any plans right now.”

Attorney General Roy Cooper and U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, D-N.C., have been mentioned by fellow Democrats as potential challengers to Burr, who will be seeking a second six-year term. Both officials have been mum about a bid to unseat him.

Moore was coy about his future outside of politics, telling reporters he will continue to serve on the New York Stock Exchange board and has agreed to join a couple of other unnamed corporate boards.

Concerning the financial markets and the stimulus plan, as the nation tries to dig out from the recession, Moore warned more than 100 students and Wake Forest staff that the old principles of investing remain true.

Although there are always anomalies where investors make outsized returns on new products and services, most people need to be comfortable with making a return equal to the inflation rate plus 3 to 5 percentage points.

On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a 12-year low.

“I think there’s got to be a real gut check moving forward about what you can make,” Moore said at the Worrell Professional Center auditorium on the Winston-Salem campus.
 
As state treasurer, Moore had the sole legal responsibility to manage the state retirement system, comprised of several funds covering 820,000 state and local government employees and retirees.

The funds lost $17 billion in value in 2008, falling to $60 billion during Moore’s final year as treasurer as the nation entered a recession. But Moore predicted the public pension fund would be rated the nation’s best this year in part because his office shifted its investments more toward conservative bonds and steadier securities to avoid the stock market decline.

Moore supported his successor, fellow Democrat Janet Cowell, in telling the Legislature the plan needed $359 million over the next two years to keep it financially sound in the long term.

“She’s doing her job by asking for it,” Moore said.