Poll shows 8th District Republicans split

UPDATED BELOW

A new poll in the 8th District Republican primary shows no candidate close to the 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff.

The poll of 400 likely GOP voters by Diversified Research was commissioned by Harold Johnson, the longtime Charlotte TV sportscaster who now lives in Concord.

Taken April 6-7, it showed Hoke County businessman Tim D'Annunzio at 20 percent, Johnson at 14, Hal Jordan of Charlotte at 9 and retired Army Col. Lou Huddleston at 6 percent. The margin of error is nearly 5 percentage points.

Results for the other two candidates, Lee Cornelison of Charlotte and Darrell Day of Hamlet, were not available. Both have trailed their rivals in fundraising and organization.

Campaign reports due out Thursday are expected to show D'Annunzio, who made millions selling his body armor company, has spent more than $800,000 of his own money in the race.

If no candidate gets 40 percent, the top two finishers would face off in a June 22 runoff.

UPDATE: D'Annunzio has released numbers from a poll he commissioned in late March. That survey, by Pulse Opinion Research, puts him at 26 percent, Johnson at 12, Jordan at 11 and Huddleston at 6. The margin of error is 4.5 percentage points.

"The last thing I want is a runoff," D'Annunzio said today. "I think we're going to win it going away."

Huddleston to D'Annunzio: Time to bow out

Republican Lou Huddleston today called on 8th Congressional District rival Tim D'Annunzio to leave the race, saying "he hasn't shown the disposition and the temperament that I believe voters would expect from someone who wants to be their congressman."

"If Tim can't change the way he is he ought to bow out of the race," Huddleston told the Observer.

D'Annunzio spokeswoman Lauren Slepian says her candidate has no intention of doing so.

"Americans are looking for a representative who will fight for them in Washington," she said, "and Tim's not going to back down."

Huddleston's comments were the most pointed public criticism yet by any of the six Republicans in the May 4 primary. It comes on the heels of a flap at a weekend candidate forum in Fayetteville.

Candidates drew cards with random questions. When Huddleston of Fayetteville was asked if he supports eliminating several federal agencies (as D'Annunzio does), he replied without mentioning D'Annunzio. When D'Annunzio tried to respond, organizers told him that according to their ground rules, he couldn't. The party chair grabbed his microphone. He walked off the stage.
"When you walk off of a stage because you're not happy about something ... you're walking away from voters, you're disrespecting voters," Huddleston said.

Slepian pointed to a D'Annunzio campaign poll that shows Huddleston's support in the low single digits.