Wilbur P. (Wib) Gulley was born on July 31, 1948, in Little Rock, Arkansas, and moved to Durham, North Carolina, in 1966. He graduated from Duke University with a B.A. in history in 1970. Early in his career, Gulley worked as a lobbyist in the 1970s, serving as the first director of the Public Interest Research Group, a student advocacy campaign. As an attorney in private practice, he handled hundreds of real estate closings for residential properties and became involved in mortgages. Gulley served as Mayor of Durham for two terms from December 1985 to December 1989. During his tenure, he initiated the city's affordable housing program, led neighborhood protection and center city revitalization efforts, and negotiated the acquisition of the local bus system. From 1993 to 2004, Gulley represented Durham in the North Carolina General Assembly as a Democratic state senator, where he focused on strengthening consumer finance laws and enacting additional consumer protection policies.