Sheriff expects to hang up badge

Democrat Chipp Bailey, Mecklenburg County's sheriff since 2008, doesn't expect to run again when his term expires next year.

"I'm not going to make a definite decision until February," Bailey said Monday. "But I'll just say this. ... I'll have 41 years at the end of this term in law enforcement in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. And there's probably a lot of people tired of looking at me....

"It's been a good run but sooner or later somebody else has to do it."

Baily, 64, will be 66 at the end of his term. He won election in 2010 but was appointed in 2008 to succeed his friend, longtime Sheriff Jim Pendergraph.

The appointment that February followed weeks of controversy that saw Democratic Party officials pick Nick Mackey in a disputed election.

After weeks of political and legal challenges, county commissioners chose the low-key Bailey.

A hairy end to the legislative session?

General Assembly sessions have a tendency to drag out. Month to month. Winter to summer and sometimes beyond. Here's a clue for anybody wanting to know when this session will end. Watch the beard.

That would be the beard of House Speaker Thom Tillis. He plans to stop shaving the second week of June. Specifically, June 7.

The Cornelius Republican says it will be his own silent statement that a session that runs longer is too long. He wants the state budget, one of the legislature's final tasks, wrapped up in time for local governments to know where they stand by the time they do their own budgets in June.

 

Another name thrown out for 12th District race

Add another name for the potential vacancy in the 12th Congressional District.

George Battle III says he's considering a run for the seat that could be vacated by Democratic Rep. Mel Watt. Watt is President Obama's choice to lead the Housing Finance Agency.

"I'm listening to people," Battle says. "I'm flattered folks think enough of me to even mention my name.”


Battle, 40, is the son of Bishop George Battle Jr., a former school board chairman. He's general counsel for Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools.

Among other potential candidates in the overwhelmingly Democratic district: state Sen. Malcom Graham of Charlotte and Reps. Rodney Moore of Charlotte, Alma Adams of Greensboro, Marcus Brandon of High Point and Ed Hanes of Winston-Salem.

Republican apologizes for criticizing Tillis

Rep. Larry Pittman of Concord has apologized to House Speaker Thom Tillis for remarks he said damaged Tillis's reputation as well as their friendship.

The conservative Republican was videotaped talking to a tea party group recently.

"I was proud to vote for Thom Tillis to be the speaker again, when we got back up there this year," he told them. "Because last session, he was great. ... But, now he's running for U.S. Senate, or planning to. Things have changed. They tell us all the time about how bad it was when they were in the minority and the Democrat leadership wouldn't let them get their bills moved or anything. Well now the constitutional conservatives, the Republican part of the House, knows what that's like."

Wednesday Pittman apologized in a letter distributed to reporters.

"While we do still have some disagreement about process, I have done damage to his reputation in a manner in which I did not consider at the time. I regret that this has damaged our friendship, and I ask for his forgiveness, not for the disagreement, but for the manner in which I handled it."

Roberts rules out mayor's race, not mayor's job

Former Mecklenburg County commissioners' chair Jennifer Roberts says she's ruled out running for mayor of Charlotte. But not being mayor of Charlotte.

The job was coming open at the end of the year after Mayor Anthony Foxx's decision not to seek a third term. It could come open even earlier after Foxx's nomination Monday to be U.S. transportation secretary. If and when he resigns, council is expected to appoint an interim mayor to fill out his term. 

"I have not made a firm decision on the appointed part," Roberts, a Democrat, said Tuesday. "I've been asked to consider it."

Roberts declined to say who asked her to. Council members are obligated to appoint a Democrat, like Foxx. But they won't name any one who actually intends to run for the job. That includes at least two incumbent council members, Patrick Cannon and David Howard.

State Sen. Dan Clodfelter said Tuesday he's "favorably inclined" to run. Rep. Becky Carney is also thinking about it.

If Clodfelter were to run, and win, Roberts -- who lives four doors away -- might run for his Senate seat.

"That's something I would consider," she says.

Wheeler's trial balloon gives Democrats a target

When former Charlotte City Council member Lynn Wheeler told the Charlotte Business Journal she's considering a run for the U.S. Senate next year, she gave state Democrats a ripe target.

Wheeler, a Republican, told the Journal that people “are urging me to run, and I’ve told them I will think about it.” That got picked up by the News & Observer of Raleigh.

That was enough for Ben Ray, the state Democratic party's new Director of Rapid Response. His press release:

RALEIGH--Former Charlotte Mayor Pro Tempore Lynn Wheeler is considering running for Senate, reinforcing the weak and unsettled nature of the field of potential candidates against Senator Kay Hagan. Washington, D.C. Republicans have already seen two of their favored candidates, U. S. Representatives George Holding and Patrick McHenry, pass on the race.

Wheeler’s trial balloon makes an expensive and politically damaging primary campaign that much more likely. Each remaining potential candidate is deeply flawed, and will face substantial challenges to even emerge from a primary campaign...

Wheeler could not be reached.

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A 3rd party in the Palmetto State?

Jim Rex was South Carolina's last Democratic state official. Oscar Lovelace ran for governor as a Republican.

Now the two are trying to bring another voice to politics in South Carolina and maybe eventually, to the rest of the country.

They're touting a new "American Party" as an alternative to the two main parties. They've been pushing the idea around the state and on Wednesday plan to hold an informational meeting at 5:30 p.m. at Rock Hill's York Tech.

Their platform: Term limits, fiscal accountability and a "non-partisan problem-solving agenda." The point, says Rex, a former state superintendent of education, is to "give moderates a choice."

"What we're trying to do is change the game, not advantage or disadvantage one team or another," says Rex.

"If we're ever to going to change the system you've got to have a disruptive force from outside .... I've learned by being a candidate, and also by being an incumbent, the limitations of incumbency and candidacy in the duopoly we have in this country. The system persists and perseveres. Good people come and go."