Rep. Jim Gulley, a seven-term Republican from Matthews who championed charter schools and left-turn-on-red, won't run for re-election, he announced Tuesday.

Gulley, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease a decade ago, will be 71 at the end of next year and said he is looking forward to time with his grandchildren. He was first elected in the midst of Republican control of the House in the late 1990s but spent all but one term in the minority.

“I've been there long enough,” Gulley said Tuesday. “I've done well and there are some things I can't get done. Maybe somebody else can.”

Gulley pushed legislation that banned cell phone use by school bus drivers and tried to expand the number of charter schools. This year he sponsored a bill making it more difficult to steal scrap metal and earlier helped pass a law reducing the time that crime scene investigators have to spend in court.

He tried for years to pass legislation allowing drivers to turn left-on-red when turning from a one-way street to another one-way street. He came close in 2003 when different versions passed the House and Senate, but lawmakers didn't pass a final version.

Some recent House bills of note:

H.B. 266: Use of Deadly Force/Public Web Site, Rep. Elmer Floyd

H.B. 269: Concealed Handgun Permit Valid in Parks, Reps. Mark Hilton, Justin Burr, George Cleveland and Jim Gulley

H.B. 270: Personal Protection in Restaurants, Reps. Hilton, Fred Steen, Burr and Cleveland

H.B. 275: Sex Offenders Can't be EMS Personnel, Reps. Carolyn Justus, Annie Mobley and Shirley Randleman

Some interesting bills filed in the House recently:

H.B. 120: Public Municipal Campaigns, Reps. Rick Glazier, Melanie Wade Goodwin, Pricey Harrison and Winkie Wilkins

H.B. 123: Death Penalty / Proportionality Review, Reps. Glazier, Dan Blue, Deborah Ross and Earline Parmon

H.B. 125: Raise the Cap on Charter Schools, Reps. Jim Gulley, Marilyn Avila and Ric Killian

H.B. 126: Eliminate the Cap on Charter Schools, Reps. Gulley, Avila, Killian and Nelson Dollar

H.B. 128: Authorize Grandfather Mountain as State Park, Reps. Phil Frye, Edgar Starnes and Cullie Tarleton

Fred Smith is advertising in Charlotte.

In a half-page ad in the Charlotte Observer Sunday, the Republican gubernatorial candidate boasts of his endorsements from state legislators.

"The Stampede Has Begun!" crows the headline, above a picture of a herd of elephants.

The ad, which ran in color on page 22A in the Big Picture weekly section, lists 16 state representatives and 17 state senators who have endorsed Smith's campaign. It includes six from Mecklenburg County: Reps. Jim Gulley, Ric Killian, Ruth Samuelson and Thom Tillis, Sen. Eddie Goodall and former Sen. Bob Rucho.

The copy of the ad is generic, but it aims to sound local.

"The charge from our region to Raleigh is just geting started as Fred Smith, supported by an impressive assortment of local Republican leaders, is committed to providing innovative solutions to transportation, education, immigration and taxation problems in North Carolina," it reads.

Dome doesn't know if the ad is running elsewhere, but the timing may have been influenced by Mayor Pat McCrory's possible bid.

State Rep. Jim Gulley has called for Rep. Thomas Wright to resign.

The Matthews Republican is the first legislator from Mecklenburg County to call for Wright's resignation, the Charlotte Observer reports:

"I would hope that Representative Wright would resign to spare himself and his family the shame of having him expelled from the House of Representatives," Gulley said in a statement e-mailed to reporters. "It is a sad to see the level of corruption that we have experienced recently in North Carolina state government."

See the complete list here. 

Alan Teitleman is going to wage a no-holds-barred campaign.

The Mint Hill real estate broker has already set up a Web site for his 2008 bid for the legislature. He's added links to his site to incumbent Rep. Jim Gulley's Wikipedia entry. (And added them back after Gulley deleted them.)

The fight will be personal. Teitleman used to work as Gulley's legislative assistant, but he left in January to pursue his career, Laura Leslie writes on Hunter's Tavern. She says it's the first time in recent memory that an incumbent has faced a former assistant.

Meantime, Charlotte Observer reporter Jim Morrill notes on his blog that Teitleman e-mailed some unflattering photos of the 68-year-old incumbent.

"I've been told that you may be missing some recent photos of Jim," he wrote Morrill. "Feel free to use at your pleasure."

The two Republicans won't face off until next May's primary.

One of the oddest votes of the session took place in the House on Monday night, Dan Kane reports.

It had to do with a long kicked around entity in state government, the State Boxing Commission.

The commission was mothballed a few years ago amid claims that it was a waste of public money, and efforts to bring it back have not gotten far.

But legislation to create an advisory boxing commission with no salaried members tentatively passed the House when Speaker Joe Hackney, an Orange County Democrat, cast a rare vote to break a tie.

More after the jump.

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