• Reform from the inside out: Perdue's status as insider will help speed reform in state News & Record (2/8/2009)
    By Thomas Mills

    Throughout her campaign for governor, Bev Perdue was attacked by both the right and left for being too close to the Raleigh political establishment. What Perdue's critics didn't, and probably still don't, understand is that the type of reform North Carolina needs can best come from an insider. The governor has had a front-row seat to state government for 20 years. She knows how it works and where it has failed. Fixing state government will take an abundance of political capital and solid relationships in the legislative branch. She has both.


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  • Anti-McCrory Mailer Up for Award The News & Observer (1/22/2009)
    By Ryan Teague Beckwith

    The mailer is one of the finalists in Politics magazine's Reed Awards. It was produced by Thomas Mills Communications, which has offices in Carrboro and Washington, D.C.


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  • For unions, a softer N.C. - Inroads at an opportune time The News & Observer (12/31/2008)
    By Thomas Mills

    In North Carolina the political winds are shifting. For the first time in over 30 years the state voted for a Democrat for president. Kay Hagan, another Democrat, unseated Republican U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole who, a year earlier, was widely considered unbeatable. Democrats also gained a congressional seat, giving them an 8-5 advantage in the Tar Heel delegation.


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  • A State of Opportunity for Obama The News & Observer (10/14/2008)
    By Thomas Mills

    As the presidential campaign enters the final weeks, North Carolina is still a battleground. While the state has been reliably Republican for over 30 years, polls show that the race between Obama and McCain is in a dead heat and possibly leaning toward the Democrat.


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  • News and Observer
    When Christian conservatives stay home The News & Observer (8/19/2008)
    By Thomas Mills

    "As pollsters, pundits and others make their predictions, African-American turnout has been the focus of arguments and discussions. However, there is another side of the coin. What will turnout be like in the conservative Christian community?"


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  • News and Observer
    Democrats Gain in Voter Roll Wars The News & Observer (6/20/2008)
    By Thomas Mills

    "The state is one of the fastest-growing in the nation, and over the next few decades Electoral College strength will move South and West. North Carolina is now part of the new battleground."


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  • Charlotte Observer
    The Obama Factor in North Carolina Charlotte Observer (3/7/2008)
    By Thomas Mills

    "While having national attention focused on the North Carolina this spring is exciting, an Obama nomination could put our state in play in the November general election for the first time since 1992."


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  • Winning Campaigns
    Humor in the Mailbox: A Potent Weapon Winning Campaigns (August, 2007)
    By Thomas Mills and Jim Spencer

    "As the race got nasty, we needed a way to keep from offending voters while still drawing a sharp contrast. Humor was our weapon."


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  • House race yields ads with bite The News & Observer (11/2/2006)

    "Effective mail pieces are designed to get people's attention and to use humor to do that," said Kevin LeCount, SEANC's director of member action. "Russell Capps' record and his own comments indicate an extreme fringe point of view."


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  • The Independent Weekly
    SEIU's on the Money The Independent Weekly (10/12/2005)

    "The mailings were right on the money, as it were, despite The News & Observer's characterization of them--by its reporters, not the editorial writers--as a "smear." I think of smears as untrue, unfair or both. These were neither."


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  • Chapel Hill News
    Highly acclaimed 'political junk mail' The Chapel Hill News (2/2/2005)

    "Mills and his business partner pulled off a near-sweep in the high-profile category of best direct-mail campaign for the Democratic Candidate in the General Presidential Election, netting three of the four prizes in that category."


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