Richard Moore is pressing Beverly Perdue on the Neuse River Bridge.

The Democratic gubernatorial candidate has questioned whether the lieutenant governor profited from a $120 million bridge in New Bern she lobbied for as a state senator.

The bridge replaced an unsafe span and helped fuel growth. A few months after it opened, a 150-acre housing development called Quail Woods five miles from the bridge became active. Perdue was a corporate officer and later co-owner.

"New Bern needed a bridge, but not a $120 million, four-lane Taj Mahal," said Jay Reiff, Moore's campaign manager. 

But Perdue's staff point out that the older bridge was rated less safe than the one that collapsed in Minnesota last year, the state Board of Transportation voted unanimously for it and 22 local governments passed resolutions in favor of it.

Bob Hall, research director for the watchdog group Democracy North Carolina, said that he has seen no evidence of corruption.

"There's no smoking gun here," he said. (Char-O) 

Richard Moore's campaign is accusing Beverly Perdue of supporting an unnecessary bridge project.

In a YouTube video, the Moore campaign argues that building the $120 million Neuse River Bridge in New Bern was a waste of money.

"Isn't it time we got politics out of North Carolina's transportation decisions?" the ad asks.