The long-time political consultants to Congressman Walter Jones are parting ways.

Rotterman and Associates has "severed their day-to-day relations" with the Jones Committee, according to Marc Rotterman.

Rotterman and Associates have helped Jones since he was first elected to Congress during the Gingrich Revolution of 1994, making his TV ads, setting strategy and raising money, Rob Christensen reports.

"At this stage in our career, our focus be primarily doing television ads," Rotterman said.

The Rottermans helped raise $8 million for Jones, the Farmville Republican. Jones won by an average of 64 percent of the vote.

"We wish him well," Rotterman said. "We think he needs someone to help him focus full-time on raising money."

Glenn Downs, Jones' chief of staff, said the split was mutual decision. He said the Rottermans may still help Jones make some TV ads, but will no longer be involved in fund raising.

"It was a mutually arrived at decision not to have a general consultant," Downs said. "We still have a relationship."

Two North Carolina political ads from the past year are finalists for national awards.

One commercial is for Congressman Walter Jones and it features the endorsement by former Marine Ilario Pantano, who was initially accused of killing two suspected Iraqi insurgents. The charges were later dropped when a military tribunal found there was no credible evidence, Rob Christensen reports.

"When this Marine was in a jam and there was a rush to judgement to take away my liberty," Pantano said, "Walter Jones came to my defense."

The ad was created by Rotterman & Associates, the Raleigh-based political consulting firm headed by the husband-wife team of Marc and Karen Rotterman. The ad is one of three finalists for Republican congressional candidates.

Another finalist is the rocking chair ad run by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee against Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

That ad featured two elderly men at Bynum General Store in Chatham County speculating on whether Dole was 92 or 93. The men were actually speculating on effectiveness ratings and the percentage of time she voted with President Bush — not her age.

The ad was produced by Squier Knapp Dunn Communications of Washington, D.C. It is a finalist in the category of state candidate races.

The winner of the Reed Awards, sponsored by Campaigns & Elections, will be announced at a dinner in Washington on Jan. 22.

An adviser to Fred Smith says they're just doing what they should.

Political adviser Karen Rotterman pointed out that Pat McCrory's new campaign manager even offered a line of attack back in December.

In a Dec. 6, 2007, article about the so-called "Charlotte curse," the Charlotte Observer quoted Hawke saying the trouble with Queen City mayors is not their ZIP code:

Voters don't see a curse as much as they sometimes see a Charlotte attitude, Hawke said. He highlighted McCrory's recent comments in the Observer that one attraction of being governor was that he might better aid Charlotte from that office. That's the sort of thing the opposition in the Republican primary will club him with, Hawke said. 

In an e-mail to Dome, Rotterman, who worked with Hawke on Jim Martin's campaign, pointed out the article.

"Short-term memory loss old buddy?" she wrote. 

Pat McCrory pledged not to speak ill of his opponents.

While signing up to run for governor at the State Board of Elections Thursday, the Charlotte mayor announced a pledge not to speak ill of the other Republican candidates, Mark Johnson reports.

A senior adviser to rival Fred Smith responded within three hours.

"If I were Pat McCrory, I would probably be suggesting this same thing — a shell game move to take your eye off his record," said Karen Rotterman.

McCrory said that the Republicans had played nice so far and did not take exception to a remark from Smith last month that he was a "tax-and-spend liberal" who ought to be a Democrat.

"He didn't do it in front of me," McCrory said.

Fred Smith spent $1.5 million in 2007.

The Republican gubernatorial candidate's biggest expense was $532,992 to a company run by his chief of staff, Jonathan Hill, for staff salaries and grassroots organizing.

Smith also spent $359,915 to SouthData, a Mount Airy-based printing company that published Smith's autobiography, "A Little Extra Effort," and mailed copies to thousands of North Carolinians.

Hill said that the book was one part of a statewide effort to build name recognition. The other part was a series of barbecues held in all 100 counties.

"We have a long-term plan and we're running that plan," said Hill. "It was to have a conservation with the people across the whole state."

As previously reported, Smith spent more than $90,000 on barbecue alone. He also spent $13,745 on facility rental for the events.

He also paid country singer Lee Greenwood $100,000, spent $176,374 to the producers of his TV ads, paid political consultant Karen Rotterman $45,000 and spent $12,538 on a half-page ad in the Charlotte Observer.