Quote :

"“A sworn affidavit forwarded to the state Board of Elections claims that state Republican Party chairman Ferrell Blount tried to pressure Rep. Stephen LaRoque, R-Lenoir, into donating $500 to the primary opponent of Rep. Richard Morgan, R-Moore. When LaRoque refused during a Feb. 17 meeting, Blount turned to the man who ultimately filed to run against him in the May primary, Willie Ray Starling, and stated, "Willie Ray, go file," the affidavit says. LaRoque filed the affidavit March 16, and it was subsequently forwarded to the elections board. State Elections Executive Director Gary Bartlett said Thursday that LaRoque's statement is being reviewed but no decision has been made on any action. No formal complaint accompanied the affidavit. LaRoque said Thursday that the request for a donation for Joe Boylan and Blount's follow-up action equated to extortion. "He should resign," LaRoque said. "I'm not going to be extorted. I'm not going to put up with it." LaRoque acknowledged that the meeting was set up to try to persuade Starling not to run and to promote unity in order to win a Republican House majority. Besides LaRoque, Blount and Starling, Rep. Leo Daughtry, R-Johnston, attended. Attempts to reach Blount on Thursday were unsuccessful. But State GOP chief of staff Bill Peaslee said Blount did nothing illegal. Peaslee said Blount and state party officials have made clear since last fall that they intended to raise money to help Boylan defeat Morgan. Peaslee said GOP officials believe that Morgan will undermine any majority gained by Republicans in the House and have tried to enlist fellow Republicans in the effort to defeat him. According to the affidavit, LaRoque stated that he quarreled with Blount after objecting to a strategy of "defeating Richard Morgan and holding our own in the other races." An account from Starling posted on his campaign Web site confirms the "Willie Ray, go file" statement. But it also claims that Blount and Daughtry told LaRoque at one point, "You have not changed at all." Starling also says that, although he understood the meaning of the meeting, he never made a commitment not to run. [THE INSIDER, 3/31/06] "

3/31/2006 11:40:44 AM

haha yeah that whole Starling / LaRoque / NCGOP meeting was about 3 weeks ago, definitely funny stuff

LaRoque has the advantage in his race, but I'm not sure Morgan will be able to make it this time

let's hear it for party-infighting...

[Edited on March 31, 2006 at 1:32 PM. Reason : makes me want to become a Democrat ]

3/31/2006 1:30:58 PM