Last week, Pat McCrory argued that Beverly Perdue should return campaign donations raised by a Board of Transportation member who steered public money to road improvements near properties he or a son co-owned.

He ended the week by attending a fundraiser on Emerald Isle that pulled in more than $100,000 — half from Tommy Pollard, a former transportation board member from Jacksonville who did the same thing 20 years ago.

McCrory's campaign said they will not return the $50,000.

"It's a bogus story to compare someone who is -- as a volunteer citizen of the state of North Carolina with no power — out raising money, compared to someone who is sitting on the Board of Transportation and is using that position to raise money," Jack Hawke, McCrory's campaign strategist, said Wednesday.

He added, "What happened 25 years ago has nothing to do with what's happening today."

In 1989, the State Bureau of Investigation probed whether Pollard violated state law by pushing for the installation of 10 traffic lights at an intersection where he owned property. It found no violation, but the then attorney general said the law needed to be changed. (N&O)

Richard Moore is pressing Beverly Perdue on the Neuse River Bridge.

The Democratic gubernatorial candidate has questioned whether the lieutenant governor profited from a $120 million bridge in New Bern she lobbied for as a state senator.

The bridge replaced an unsafe span and helped fuel growth. A few months after it opened, a 150-acre housing development called Quail Woods five miles from the bridge became active. Perdue was a corporate officer and later co-owner.

"New Bern needed a bridge, but not a $120 million, four-lane Taj Mahal," said Jay Reiff, Moore's campaign manager. 

But Perdue's staff point out that the older bridge was rated less safe than the one that collapsed in Minnesota last year, the state Board of Transportation voted unanimously for it and 22 local governments passed resolutions in favor of it.

Bob Hall, research director for the watchdog group Democracy North Carolina, said that he has seen no evidence of corruption.

"There's no smoking gun here," he said. (Char-O)