Will Breazeale says he paid his campaign back for clothes.

The former Congressional candidate, who was criticized last week by a campaign finance group for using $1,000 of campaign money to buy clothing, said that he reimbursed the campaign after his treasurer told him the expense did not meet Federal Election Commission guidelines.

"I wrote a personal check to refund my campaign for $1,000 and instructed my treasurer to self-disclose our action to the FEC," he wrote the Fayetteville Observer in an e-mail.

He added that he was confident the FEC would dismiss the complaint, which came from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. 

The group had complained about spending by several other Congressional candidates as well as Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. 

Breazeale lost to longtime Democratic Congressman Mike McIntyre in November. 

Sarah Palin wasn't the only one with new clothes thanks to donors.

North Carolina Republican Congressional candidate Will Breazeale also used campaign money for clothing, according to a complaint that a watchdog group filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said Breazeale and five other candidates each spent hundreds of dollars on clothes, violating a ban on personal use of campaign money, the Associated Press reports.

The group had earlier complained about spending by the Republican National Committee on the GOP vice presidential candidate.

According to campaign finance reports, Breazeale's campaign spent $1,000 in clothing for Breazeale at Fisher's Men's Store in Elizabethtown on Oct. 4, 2007.

A spokesperson for the campaign did not respond to the AP's request for comment.

Breazeale lost to longtime Democratic Congressman Mike McIntyre in November.

U.S. Rep. Walter Jones would seem an odd choice to be the keynote speaker to a Common Cause North Carolina luncheon this week.

The Farmville Republican, a longtime favorite of the Christian right, was chosen, in part, because he has a long history of pushing for lobbying and ethics reform, dating back to his days as a Democratic state legislator in Raleigh, according to Bob Phillips, executive director of the state Common Cause, Rob Christensen reports.

Common Cause will honor Kim Westbrook Strach, the lead investigator for the State Board of Elections for her role in uncovering the Jim Black scandals.

Also getting a nod will be Republican state Rep. George Cleveland of Onslow and Democratic Rep. Pricey Harrison of Greensboro—this week's ideological odd couple. They will receive the Plott Hound award for sponsoring a bill that would have ended in-state tuition benefits for out-of-state athletes.

The event will be held Saturday, Nov. 17, at noon at the N.C. State University Club in Raleigh.

Congress may prohibit lawmakers from paying their spouses for campaign work.

Under a bill passed by the House, other relatives could still be on the payroll, but candidates would have to submit a statement on how much they are paid.

A few members of North Carolina's delegation would be affected, according to an analysis of campaign records by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

The watchdog group found that Rep. Patrick McHenry pays his sister, Catherine McHenry Rains of Gastonia, about $1,200 a month to be his campaign treasurer.

Rep. Mel Watt's son, Jason, also earned money as a campaign consultant, as did Rep. Bob Etheridge's son, Brian.  (Char-O)