Myrick supporter's 'Super PAC' boosts her son's candidacy

In the lieutenant governor’s race, a super PAC funded by a supporter of U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick is sponsoring TV ads on behalf of her son, Republican Dan Forest.

Citizens for Accountability started just this month by Charlotte lawyer John Snyder. He funded it with $75,000 from Charlotte businessman David Longo.

This week the PAC spent $61,800 on cable TV ads across the state for Forest, who faces Democrat Linda Coleman.

Longo, president of Carolina Business Interiors, has given Myrick’s campaigns at least $10,800 since 2007. Longo could not be reached.

McCrory raises 3 times as much as Dalton

New reports in North Carolina's governor's race show Republican Pat McCrory has raised $11.6 million, nearly three times as much as Democrat Walter Dalton.

Dalton has raised $3.9 million.

McCrory was boosted by a strong 3rd Quarter, when he raised $5 million. He was boosted by high-profile fundraisers with the likes of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Dalton raised $1.4 million in the quarter.

Dalton had $268,000 on hand on Oct. 20. McCrory had $1.7 million.

Polls have shown McCrory with a double-digit lead in the race to succeed Democrat Bev Perdue.

Obama backer Rogers raising money for Tillis

As co-chair the Charlotte Host Committee, Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers was in some ways a face of the Democratic National Convention. He also arranged Duke's $10 million line of credit and gave $10,000 to Barack Obama's campaign.

Now he's helping one of North Carolina's top Republicans.

Rogers is hosting a fundraiser at his Eastover home for House Speaker Thom Tillis of Cornelius.

Tillis expects to use the money to help elect other Republicans to the state House, where he's trying to build a "super-majority."

N.C. Republicans set to ride mcCrory's coattails

Two weeks before the election, Republicans are confident of Pat McCrory's chances to be elected North Carolina's governor. So confident they're already trying to ride his coattails.

McCrory has made robo-calls on behalf of Dan Forest, the GOP candidate for lieutenant governor. Forest is the son of one of McCrory's predecessors as Charlotte mayor, now-U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick.

The call, sponsored by the state Republican Party, has gone to voters across the state (and at least one from out of state whose name is still on the N.C. voting rolls.)

"Please give me the lieutenant governor I need to get the job done," McCrory says in the call. "Dan and I have a great working relationship and we share a similar vision for getting North Carolina back to work."

Dan Forest brings undercard race to Charlotte

The race for lieutenant governor rarely gets much attention in North Carolina. In a year when the state that is a presidential battleground and has an open gubernatorial seat, this year is no exception.

But the low profile race would be interesting for a couple reasons.

Republican Dan Forest, 45, is the son of U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick of Charlotte. He spent part of his growing up years in Charlotte public schools.

After graduating from high school in Columbia and starting college at USC, he returned to Charlotte and graduated from UNCC. He's now a retired architect in Raleigh. If former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory wins the gubernatorial race, the state's two top jobs would be in the hands of Republicans with Charlotte ties.

Forest's opponent, Democrat Linda Coleman, 63, would be the first African American woman to hold statewide office in North Carolina.

On Monday Forest spoke to the N.C. League of Municipalities at the Charlotte Convention Center. Coleman, citing scheduling conflicts, did not attend. She'll return Thursday night for a fundraiser in Dilworth.

Forest told the municipal leaders he would focus on tax and regulatory reform as well as education.

But while the lieutenant governor presides over the N.C. Senate, he or she has little concrete power. Forest said he would be "a loud voice for education" and work with what he expects to be GOP majorities in the legislature and a Republican in the governor's office.

"Part of the lieutenant governor's role is to make the governor look good," he said.

Waiting for Obama? Don't count on it

When the threat of rain forced Democratic National Convention organizers to move President Obama's acceptance speech from Bank of America Stadium to Time Warner Cable Arena last month, 65,000 people lost a chance to see history.

Campaign officials promised to try to arrange an event at which the president would meet with the ticket holders before the election.

With less than four weeks left, time is running out. And Thursday, campaign officials wouldn't commit to a presidential visit.

"We don't have any announcements," Obama communications director Brent Colburn said in a conference call with N.C. reporters. "Especially with 26 days we’re fluid about scheduling. There will be more travel to the state, but no specific announcements to make at this time."

Obama national field director Jeremy Bird said the campaign has committed to "principal visits." That's generally understood to include the candidates or their wives.

 

Obama campaign touts N.C. registration numbers

In a memo this morning, President Barack Obama's re-election campaign is touting absentee voting and registration numbers in North Carolina and six other battlegrounds.

It says:

-- Republicans are leading in absentee ballot requests, but not by as much as in 2008. This year they lead by 34,000. Four years ago it was 39,000.

-- Democratic registrations have outpaced Republicans by more than 29,000 in the last three months.

-- Latino registration is up 55 percent in four years, to 106,000. Democratic registration among Latinos outnumbers Republicans by nearly 2-1.

The state board of elections could not immediately verify the numbers.

Black caucus backs Democrats -- except one

Charlotte-Mecklenburg's Black Political Caucus has endorsed a long list of Democratic candidates from president to county register of deeds. Every Democrat, that is, but one: U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell.

Kissell has angered some African Americans this year for several reasons. He not only voted against President Obama's health care law but voted to repeal it, voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal contempt and said he wouldn't endorse Obama of attend his convention in nearby Charlotte.

Kissell's own 8th District Black Caucus withdrew its support and many of its members are supporting an African American write-in. The two Democrats face Republican Richard Hudson.

A spokeswoman for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Caucus said Kissell just didn't get the votes required for an endorsement.