Why did Pat McCrory beat Fred Smith?

As with the Democratic gubernatorial race, it's dangerous to draw sweeping conclusions, but here are a few educated guesses about how the Charlotte mayor won the primary.

He had a strong base. As a seven-term mayor of the largest city in North Carolina, McCrory had a larger pool of supporters than Smith. Playing on his childhood in Jamestown, he made a strong play for the Triad, where no candidate had a base.

He raised money. Aided by his ties to the Charlotte business community, he quickly made up for lost time, raising $1.2 million in the first half of the year — more than any of his Republican competitors, all of whom had been running for a year.

His ads were effective. McCrory had four ads in heavy rotation on jobs, immigration, corruption and leadership. Smith had two ads; Bill Graham just one. McCrory's ads were distinctive, with a clean white background that stood out.

He learned quickly. After initial missteps in his "garage-band" phase, Smith shuffled his staff and brought in a star consultant. He picked up on concerns about illegal immigration and corruption in Raleigh, cutting into Smith's core message.

His competitors ran poor campaigns. Smith ran an old-school campaign based on barbecues and spent money on a book and a song. Graham ran his TV ads two years too soon then parted ways with his consultant in the home stretch. Bob Orr was underfunded.

Overdue taxes have been paid on the Fetzer Stephens headquarters.

Prompted by an earlier Dome item, WUNC reporter Laura Leslie noted on her blog Monday that 2007 property taxes had not been paid on the two-story brick building in downtown Raleigh.

The loan on the building was signed by Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Graham, and his name appears along with political consultant Tom Fetzer's on property records. Both men, however, say that Fetzer is the building's owner and Graham was just giving him financial backing.

Until January, Fetzer advised Graham's campaign.

After the item ran on Leslie's blog, Graham spokesman Aaron Lay contacted Fetzer, who paid the taxes plus $200 in interest with two cashier's checks on Tuesday.

"My understanding is that Tom just honestly didn't know they were due," Lay said.

Fetzer had no comment on the taxes.

"It's an entirely private matter," he said.

Hat Tip: Sam Wineka

Bill Graham has parted ways with a campaign consultant.

The Republican gubernatorial candidate's new campaign manager, Marty Ryall, issued a statement today saying he would no longer be working with a firm run by former Raleigh mayor Tom Fetzer and Mark Stephens.

"Through a cordial and mutual agreement we are no longer working with Fetzer Stephens," he said in a statement. "We appreciate the work Tom and Mark have done for the campaign and we wish them all the best in the future."

Fetzer Stephens has worked with Graham since 2005, including managing his campaign to cap the state gas tax. Graham paid the firm more than $2.3 million to buy air time, produce ads and give consulting services on that issue before starting his gubernatorial bid.

The firm managed his campaign until mid-December, when he officially hired Ryall, a former adviser to Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Bill Graham gave a total of $2.3 million to his political advocacy group.

According to Internal Revenue Service forms made available this week, the Salisbury attorney gave a total of $2,302,028 between December of 2005 and February of 2007 to N.C. Conservatives United, an advocacy group he started to fight the gas tax and illegal immigration.

The next largest donor was Larry T. Cloninger Jr., president of Cloninger Ford-Toyota in Salisbury, who gave a total of $100,000 in November and December of last year.

The only other donors to the group were William Frank Lee of Smithfield, who gave $6,000; Herchel Rogers Sr. of Good Neighbors New Hanover County, which gave $193; and Catherine M. Earle of Fayetteville, who gave $15.

The bulk of the money — a total of $2,292,563 — went to Fetzer Stephens, a Raleigh consulting firm, to produce ads, buy air time and give consulting services. Another $6,442 went directly to consultant Tom Fetzer, who was last paid in May, shortly before Graham announced his campaign for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

According to the 2007 mid-year report, the group has $5,413 left.

Bill Graham has chosen a campaign manager, but the person hasn't started yet.

Until then, the Salisbury attorney, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor, is using Tom Fetzer and Mark Stephens of Raleigh consulting firm Fetzer Stephens.

"We have identified a campaign manager and that person will be named in the fall, most likely December," wrote Aaron Lay, an employee of the campaign, in an e-mail to Dome.

In a post yesterday, we wrote that Stephens and Lay were running his operation, but we failed to note Fetzer's involvement. Dome regrets the omission.

Salisbury attorney Bill Graham raised $203,540 in the first six months of the year and loaned his campaign another $613,617 in his campaign for the Republican nomination for governor.

But Graham also spent more than $780,000, including $167,000 for the services of Raleigh political consulting firm Fetzer Stephens, leaving him with just $15,000 in cash on hand and outstanding debt of $98,892.

His donors included a number of business executives for companies such as Piedmont Cheerwine Bottling Co., Global Contact Services and Bear, Stearns & Co. Margaret Klutz, state director for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, also gave.

By comparison, state Sen. Fred Smith raised $175,831 and loaned his campaign $386,455, and former N.C. Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr raised $107,226.