Curtis Wright is sending email about Tom Fetzer again.

Wright, a Wilmington talk radio host, fired off a heated email to Dome several days ago complaining about a story on the settlement of a lawsuit Fetzer, chairman of the N.C. Republican Party, filed against Wright and his employer, Sea Comm Inc.

The suit was over an email Wright sent to more than 90 Republican Party leaders last May, during the campaign for party chair, that included an anonymous letter alleging Fetzer is gay. Wright and Sea Comm settled the suit with an apology letter from Wright. Neither paid any money to Fetzer.

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Wilmington talk radio host Curtis Wright has apologized for circulating a letter in May saying now-N.C. Republican Party Chairman Tom Fetzer is gay.

A lengthy apology letter from Wright released today settles a lawsuit that Fetzer filed against Wright and his employer, Sea-Comm, Inc. In his apology letter, Wright said he forwarded the anonymous letter about Fetzer and a copy of "a personal letter" written by Fetzer's opponent for the chairmanship to various county chairs of the Republican Party to make those party leaders aware of the letters and the possible damage to the GOP.

Wright emphasized that he never vouched for the accuracy of the letters and describes in laudatory terms his interaction with Fetzer during the race for party chairman, adding that Fetzer has his full support.

No money was paid in settling the suit.

"I am pleased with the settlement of this issue and with Mr. Wright’s clarification and apology," Fetzer said in a prepared statement. "This was never an issue of monetary compensation, but instead the preservation of my good name and reputation. With this settlement, I consider the issue closed."

Tom Fetzer has done just about all you can do in North Carolina Republican politics.

He's been a candidate, office-holder, consultant and now, a party chairman. So it probably makes sense that he met his bride-to-be while she was working on a Republican campaign.

Fetzer told Dome that he and Kate Spina met on the campaign trail and are planning to marry Oct. 17 at a small ceremony in Wilmington. Spina is in media sales for Time Warner Cable.

In his campaign to become the N.C. Republican Party chairman, rumors circulated that Fetzer is gay. He sued a Wilmington radio host for libel, claiming that the host had forwarded an e-mail stating the rumor in an effort to hurt Fetzer's chances of winning the party chairmanship.

Fetzer told Dome the lawsuit is still pending.

Tom Fetzer's libel lawsuit has no merit, said Paul Knight, the general manager of a Wilmington radio station being sued by the former Raleigh mayor.

"We didn't slander or libel him," Knight said this afternoon, Sarah Ovaska reports.

Fetzer, who is campaigning to head the N.C. Republican Party, filed a libel lawsuit Monday in Wake County against Curtis Wright and Sea-Comm Inc., the company that runs 93.7 and 106, two Wilmington-area talk radio stations that Wright has a morning show on.

In the lawsuit, Fetzer claims that Wright sent an email to multiple county GOP chairs questioning the candidates for the selection next weekend of a new state party chair. The email included a copy of an anonymous letter insinuating that Fetzer is gay.

Though Fetzer doesn't mention specifically what the potentially libelous statements are in his lawsuit, he has denied he is gay.

Knight said he will have his lawyers file a motion to dismiss the suit either the end of this week or next.

Tom Fetzer filed a libel lawsuit late Monday afternoon against a Wilmington radio host who forwarded an email insinuating that Fetzer was gay.

The suit seeks damages of $10,000 or more from Curtis Wright, the host of "The Morning Beat with Curtis Wright," as well as Sea-Comm, Inc., the corporate owner of WLTT, Curtis' employer, Sarah Ovaska reports.

Wright had forwarded an email that included allegations that Fetzer is gay, though Wright is not thought to be the author of the anonymous email, according to the lawsuit.

In the suit, Fetzer accuses Wright of concocting a smear campaign to thwart his campaign to lead the state Republican Party. Curtis, Fetzer claims in the suit, has endorsed Marcus Kindley from Guilford County for the position.

The lawsuit never mentions the word gay nor does it specify the potentially libelous statements. 

Fetzer and his attorneys wrote that Curtis spread rumors that "tend to charge Mr. Fetzer with a crime of offense involving moral turpitude, to charge Mr. Fetzer with dishonesty, to disgrace and degrade Mr. Fetzer, to hold Mr. Fetzer up to public ridicule and contempt, and to cause Mr. Fetzer to be avoided and shunned."

Former Raleigh mayor Tom Fetzer says he will sue a Wilmington radio host for libel for forwarding an e-mail that alleges he is gay.

A longtime Republican political consultant, Fetzer is running for head of the state party.

In an e-mail to supporters today, he said that he intends to "vigorously pursue legal action" against radio host Curtis Wright, his employer, WLTT, and corporate owner Sea-Comm Media.

"The fact that I'm 54 and single does not mean that I have to put up with vicious rumors that I'm gay," he wrote in the e-mail. "The fact that I am heterosexual is a matter of public record."

Fetzer told Dome he will file the lawsuit on Tuesday.

North Carolina's case law may present a challenge to a potential lawsuit.

In 1994, the N.C. Court of Appeals ruled that falsely claiming that someone was gay or bisexual was not libelous by itself.

After the jump, Fetzer's letter.

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U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole will be on The Morning Beat Thursday.

The Salisbury Republican will talk with host Curtis Wright starting at 8:45 a.m. on the show, which is on 93.7/106.3 FM in Wilmington.

The topic will be Dole's support for a 287(g) program to give local sheriffs the power to handle illegal immigration cases.

Normally, immigration is left to the federal government, while sheriff's deputies handle only crime.

Dole recently appeared with the N.C. Sheriffs' Association to promote the program, and state Sen. Fred Smith is campaigning for all sheriffs to participate.