Pearce: Wright should go

Democratic political consultant Gary Pearce has called for Rep. Thomas Wright to step down.

In a post on the Talking About Politics blog today, the former consultant for Gov. Jim Hunt, Erskine Bowles and John Edwards said that the House leadership should step up:

Simply put, Speaker Hackney has to get ahead of this story. Or his Speakership – and the Democrats’ majority – may be lost.

Although Pearce wrote more about Hackney, he confirmed in a conversation with Dome that he thinks Wright should resign.

"It doesn't look like something that he is going to do on his own," he said.

He also said he's worried that a steady drip of corruption allegations could hurt Democratic candidates in the upcoming elections.

"We're risking seeing the same thing happen to us that happened to Republicans in Washington last year," he said.

Pearce joins state Sen. Julia Boseman, Democratic activist Joe Sinsheimer, the N.C. Public Interest Research Group, the Charlotte Observer and Wilmington Star-News editorial boards and the N.C. Republican Party in calling for Wright to resign.