Pat McCrory's nephew wrote a letter to the editor last year.

In the letter, printed Aug. 8, 2007, in the Greensboro News-Record, Patrick Sebastian laments the failure of the legislature to pass anti-gang laws called for by McCrory:

It's frustrating that North Carolina has the weakest gang laws in the South and our governor and legislature refuse to do anything about it.

This was the year that the House finally agreed with the bipartisan delegation of North Carolina mayors to give harsh penalties to gang members. It's pathetic that the Senate and governor did not agree.

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory led the charge and knows the problems that gangs cause in big cities and small towns alike. Because of the lack of leadership of Gov. Easley and Sen. Marc Basnight, more innocent North Carolinians will be terrorized by gang activity again this year.

The letter does not identify Sebastian as McCrory's nephew.

A graduate of Broughton High in Raleigh, he attends East Carolina University in Greenville. 

At his campaign kickoff, Pat McCrory called on his relatives for help.

"To the other members of my extended family, my brothers and sisters, and nieces and nephews, you'd better get ready to help Uncle Pat and Aunt Ann," he said.

As it turns out, one relative has been helping for a while.

McCrory's nephew, Patrick Sebastian, has posted a dozen comments on Under the Dome and The Charlotte Observer's Web site and even wrote a letter to the Greensboro News-Record on his uncle's behalf, as first noted by Tom Jensen on the Public Policy Polling blog.

The comments were made under the screen name packpat1, which is part of an e-mail address used by Sebastian and until recently was listed on his Facebook page.

Sebastian, a sophomore at East Carolina University, called for Republicans to recruit a candidate for governor with "good name ID," defended a poll by McCrory, called McCrory's mayoral rival Beverly Earle "corrupt" and another Republican gubernatorial candidate "a desperate man."

He also called Mike Easley a "do-nothing governor."

"Agree with that," said McCrory advisor Stan Campbell. He said that Sebastian doesn't start work until next week. He said any comments were not done officially for the McCrory campaign.

"He likes politics, and he's probably inclined to help his uncle," he said.

After the jump, Sebastian's comments on Dome.

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