Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Battlefield for governor's race? Charlotte city hall

Indictments of three of Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue's 2008 campaign aides and supporters and a new investigation of her opponent have given campaign strategists and ad-makers plenty to work with in their likely rematch. That hasn't stopped them from looking for more.

An opposition researcher has been scouring records in Charlotte covering Republican Pat McCrory’s 14-year tenure as mayor, and even before.

For months, researcher Ian Mandel, whose Washington firm has been paid at least $23,000 by the Democratic Governors Association, has sought records of McCrory’s travel, aides’ salaries, city budgets and discrimination complaints against the city.

He even asked for reports and witness statements involving a 1992 auto accident in which McCrory admitted running a red light.

McCrory aides liken the search to last week’s announcement that the state elections board will investigate a complaint against McCrory’s 2008 campaign against Perdue. The complaint, filed in April 2010, accused McCrory of coordinating with an independent committee of the Republican Governors Association.

McCrory adviser Brian Nick calls both the complaint and the Charlotte records search “frivolous.”
“It’s just another example of wasting taxpayer money to do political fishing expeditions,” he said.

Republicans also have asked for public records from Perdue's administration. It's unclear whether they're destined to be used in the campaign.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

We surely could use a real conservative like Robert ORR for Governor! Please run again Bob!

Anonymous said...

Bobby Orr run for Governor? Scheeze, you people kill me. First of all he's a Canadien, second he'd probably have to resign from the Hockey Hall of Fame just to do it. Get a grip on yourself before you post such nonsense. Again, "scheeze".