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North Carolina teachers marched to the state capitol last month, demanding, among other things, teacher pay raises and increased education spending. But was it really about NC teachers or was it just a nationally coordinated effort by the Left to target red states?

Raleigh, N.C. — In a formal complaint to the Durham County Board of Elections, Thomas Stark, the attorney for the North Carolina Republican Party on Saturday demanded a recount of votes cast on and before Election Day, citing a counting error involving 90,000 ballots. Thomas Stark, general counsel for the GOP and a Durham County voter, filed the protest with the Durham County Board of Elections, alleging malfeasance in regard to the accuracy of the count. In the complaint, Stark says the county used data from potentially corrupt tabulation machines from five early voting sites and one general election precinct....

Donald Trump got a few boos from the audience at Thursday night's GOP presidential debate in South Carolina, and conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh is blaming North Carolina Republicans. Limbaugh didn't offer a source for his claim, which N.C. Republican Party leaders say is completely false. "I'll tell you where the boo birds were coming from," Limbaugh said Friday, according to a transcript of his show. "They were coming from North Carolina. "The North Carolina GOP bused a bunch of people down there, and their express purpose was to try to show that there is no massive support for...

RALEIGH -- More than 100 people were arrested Monday at the largest demonstration yet of the North Carolina NAACP's weeks-long protest of the conservative policies of the Republican-led General Assembly. More...

Newton drops defamation lawsuit By Janet Conner-Knox | The Wilson Times Republican State Sen. Buck Newton dropped his defamation and libel lawsuit today at noon. The lawsuit was against former Sen. A.B. Swindell and the North Carolina Democratic Party. Swindell and the N.C. Democratic Party have issued an apology to Newton in exchange for dropping the suit. Newton, who is vacationing at the moment, issued a statement: “I appreciate my name being cleared and finally getting an apology. It is past time to close the book on this kind of politics and put all of this behind us.” During the...

RALEIGH, N.C. — Riding a nationwide wave of voter discontent, state Republican leaders said Tuesday that the party had seized control of the state General Assembly for the first time in more than a century. Many races remained too close to call late Tuesday, but GOP Chairman Tom Fetzer predicted that Republicans would pick up 14 to 16 House seats and 10 Senate seats. That would give the party 66 to 68 seats in the 120-member House and 30 seats in the 50-member Senate. The GOP last had a majority in the state Senate in 1898. They controlled the state...

State Sen. Fred Smith of Clayton is giving some consideration of running for state Republican Party chairman next year. Smith, who unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination for governor this year, has been conferring with party leaders to guage interest in him serving, Rob Christensen reports. "We have have received phone calls from all over the state the last couple of months encouraging me to consider that," Smith said. Right now, Smith is focusing on his business interests in real estate development, paving and banking to make sure they are stable during the financial downturn. But he said he is open...

RALEIGH, N.C. — Republican National Committee officials say they aren't surprised to hear a Durham County elections official suspects voter registration forms gathered by a community activist group may be fraudulent. The RNC's chief counsel, Sean Cairncross, on Friday said the group, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, has a history of gathering fraudulent or incomplete voter registration forms. Cairncross disputes ACORN's claim that it is a nonpartisan organization. The Herald-Sun of Durham reported Friday that Durham County elections director Mike Ashe asked state elections officials to check about 80 registration forms for possible fraud. The registrations were among...

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is calling Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain out on the controversial North Carolina GOP ad which link two Democratic candidates in the state to Democrat Sen. Barack Obama's by now infamous Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Dean is framing it as a test of McCain's leadership...

Did you know that John McCain lambasted the North Carolina GOP’s anti-Obama/Jeremiah Wright ad without having seen it?Yes, this noxious little tidbit was tucked into an AP story three days ago when the controversy broke and has been little remarked upon since. When I mentioned this fact at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference dinner last night, much of the audience gasped. Obviously, the word hasn’t gotten out there enough: The ad opens with a photo of Obama and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright together and a clip of Wright, whose incendiary comments about race have bedeviled Obama.“He’s just too extreme for...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. presidential candidate John McCain accused North Carolina's Republican Party of being "out of touch with reality" over its refusal to pull an advertisement criticizing Democrat Barack Obama. In an NBC interview aired on Friday, the Arizona senator said he has done all he can to persuade the state party to cancel the television ad that criticizes Obama as "too extreme" because of controversial remarks made by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. "They're not listening to me because they're out of touch with reality and the Republican Party. We are the party of Abraham...

... And so I decided to pick up the phone, dial Brad's private cell number and try to make peace so that he and I, the media and the voters, could all move on to more important things. My telephone encounter with him didn't go so well. I placed the call on Sept. 28 at approximately 12:50 p.m. Brad was outside the House chambers readying for a roll-call vote. I began cordially. JL: "Congressman, this is Jim Longworth… I want you to know that I have nothing against you personally, and there's no sense in this feud escalating." My intent...

Sen. John McCain of Arizona is the early 2008 presidential leader in North Carolina, according to a Civitas Institute poll. The institute conducted a telephone poll of 800 voters in the state.McCain was the leader among possible Republican candidates with 31 percent of those surveyed. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards led the list of possible Democratic contenders with 24 percent of those surveyed.Civitas President Jack Hawke said, “Edwards’ figures may also be inflated by the fact that the poll was conducted among North Carolinians, as opposed to voters from across the nation. It is interesting that an Arizona senator...

Last Friday I had the privilege of speaking to the Republican Women's Club of Chapel Hill. The topic: What Republicans Must Do To Win in 2006. While I won't share any major trade secrets in this forum, I will share a few of my thoughts on what [the NC GOP] must [do] to be successful this year. First and foremost, [Republicans] must Get Out The Vote. This is such an obvious, "Politics 101" statement that it almost goes without saying. [The] GOTV (get-out-the-vote) effort is especially important in 2006 given that, for the first time since 1994, North Carolina will...

Greg Dority will run for the NC 3rd District If he runs for re-election, Congressman Walter Jones will face Conservative GOP Primary opposition. Long whispered grumblings among conservative GOP activists, frustrated by their perception of an ineffective state Party and its “elite” state and national leaders, whom they also believe to be indifferent to their concerns for the nation and their ideology, is certain to bloom into a full-fledged populist revolt drawing state, national and perhaps international attention. In an exclusive interview late Friday, former NC 1st District GOP congressional nominee Greg Dority told me he will run for Congress...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The last of a South Carolina trio charged with vandalizing the state GOP headquarters the weekend after last year's presidential election was sentenced Friday. Melissa Lynn Brown, 19, pleaded guilty Friday, and Vanessa Marie Zuloaga, 25, entered a guilty plea earlier this week. David Reuben Hensley, 20, pleaded last week. Each pleaded to one count of felony inciting to riot, received two years' probation and was fined $2,649 in restitution. All three had faced a charge of malicious use of an explosive to damage property, a felony, and had trials scheduled next week. On that night in...

When it comes to District 1 school board candidates, the Republican Party's choice is Larry Gauvreau. The Mecklenburg County GOP's executive committee voted 84-11 Tuesday night [Oct 6, 2005] for Gauvreau, the incumbent, over his challenger, Rhonda Lennon. "I'm glad I got it," said Gauvreau. "I'm not much on endorsements in general, but this one I wanted because the party does match more core values." The GOP decided to endorse candidates in the non-partisan race when it became apparent that in two districts, two Republicans were running against one Democrat. That was in districts 5 and 6. That wasn't the...

GOP chief wants McCrory foe out Challenger known for sexually explicit readings at meetings RICHARD RUBIN Staff Writer Hours after he filed to run for mayor last Friday, Republican Martin Davis got a call from county party chairman John Aneralla, who asked him to end his primary challenge to 10-year incumbent Pat McCrory. During the conversation, Aneralla told Davis that someone could reimburse his $200 filing fee, both men said this week. "I was very offended," said Davis, who doesn't plan to quit. "I wasn't even a politician one whole day before I got my first bribe." Aneralla brushed off...

GOP re-elects chair, ending fears of clash Delegates' overwhelming vote for Ferrell Blount repels challenge from conservative MARK JOHNSON Raleigh Bureau ASHEVILLE - N.C. Republicans weren't so divided after all. Delegates to the GOP's state convention overwhelmingly re-elected Pitt County farmer Ferrell Blount to a second term as chairman Saturday. The vote repelled a challenge from Vernon Robinson, a blunt-spoken conservative city councilman from Winston-Salem and self-described "black Jesse Helms." Blount was winning by a 3-to-1 margin midway through the roll-call vote when Robinson interrupted and asked to elect Blount by acclamation. The delegates obliged. Linda Daves of Mecklenburg...

The future of North Carolina Conservatives By Alan M. Teitleman It is a sad state of affairs for Conservatives in North Carolina. What used to be a conservative state is now rampant with liberals posing as Republicans. Although I have only lived in North Carolina for five years, I have seen a lot of changes in North Carolina politics during that time. I saw the chairman of a county Democratic party switch party affiliation and become elected to the Stallings town council as a Republican. I saw the Democratic party actively recruit Democrats to switch parties and run in Republican...