Tag search result

Gov. Pat McCrory said he plans to go Washington next week to meet with the governors of Virginia and South Carolina to discuss forming an Outer Continental Shelf coalition to discuss off shore drilling for oil and gas.

McCrory said he plans to meet with Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and South Carolina Nikki Haley to discuss such issues as revenue sharing agreements with the federal government for future drilling rights.

“North Carolina has to get into the energy business,” McCrory told the Emerging Issues Forum in downtown Raleigh on Tuesday. “We are going to do it safely. We are going to get into it in an environmentally sound way.''

“We can either sit on the sidelines like the governors of the past 10 years or take proactive measures and get North Carolina in the energy business,” he said.

Pat McCrory's campaign did not violate campaign finance laws when it came to disclosing trips to the state by big GOP luminaries, a state investigation found.

Democrat Walter Dalton's campaign alleged that a flight taken by S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley to a McCrory campaign event was not a corporate contribution. Donors Ralph and Linda Huff reimbursed the plan's owner for the flight, the State Board of Elections reported Thursday.

Gov.-elect Pat McCrory remains guarded about what he intends to do after Gov. Bev Perdue's decision to set up a state-federal health exchange. In a statement Thursday, he said Perdue's decision gives him flexibility. Other Republican leaders blasted Perdue's decision. 

McCrory said he would talk to other Republican governors Friday. His campaign buddy S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley rejected a state exchange Thursday. More details here.

More political headlines:

--Erskine Bowles is reportedly saying -- again -- he would turn down any offer to become the next U.S. Treasury secretary, according to at least two media reports Thursday.

For the first time in more than a century, the once-proud party of Jim Hunt and Terry Sanford, Luther Hodges and O. Max Gardner has been banished to the back benches of North Carolina state government.

The state Democratic Party also has been in turmoil since last spring, after allegations of sexual harassment. State Party chairman David Parker was criticized for his handling of the affair, but ignored pressure to resign. As a result, he became a liability as a spokesman and fundraiser.

Still, Parker has privately told some he may seek another term, and party leaders fear he may have the committee votes to keep the job. Read more here.

More political headlines:

Democrat Walter Dalton's campaign filed a campaign finance complaint Wednesday alleging Pat McCrory didn't properly pay for campaign flights and whether it amounted to an illegal corporate contribution.

The Republican's campaign outright rejected the claims and provided documentation that it believes supports its claim. State elections chief Gary Bartlett said his agency received the complaint but the agency doesn't have time to investigate until after next week's election.

The Dalton complaint focuses on private flights for South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to North Carolina for separate McCrory campaign events. 

Sunday voting is a relatively recent electoral phenomenon that is increasingly embraced by African American churches, organizing get-out-the-vote caravans dubbed “Souls to the Polls.” Sunday voting also is increasingly targeted by critics in this state and elsewhere who want to see the practice banned.

Full story here. And read about how churchgoers are a key constituency this election.

More political headlines below.

In the latest faceoff for one of the most competitive congressional seats in the country, the 8th District candidates sparred Monday over Medicare, Social Security and other issues crucial to senior citizens.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell said he opposes any changes to those two programs, while Republican Richard Hudson said he’d favor offering retirement “choices” to those now his age (40) and younger. Full debate story here.

More political headlines here:

--South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley had a simple message Monday for undecided North Carolina women: Jobs and the economy should trump social issues when it comes to deciding the next president.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley Monday reached out to suburban women voters Monday morning on behalf of the Romney campaign urging them to put aside social issues focus on bread and butter economic issues.

“Put all the commercials aside, back and forth – whether they are Obama commercials or Romney commercials – that's politics,” Haley told about 150 people at a Women for Romney event in Apex. “They are distractions.''

S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley returns to North Carolina next week -- this time to campaign for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Haley visited Fayetteville earlier this week for Republican Pat McCrory's campaign, also helping him raise money at a private fundraiser. She returns Monday for a "Women for Mitt" event at the Halle Cultural Arts Center in Apex. The event begins at 9 a.m.