The N&O's political columnist did not give money to a gubernatorial candidate.

A recent campaign finance report for Republican Pat McCrory mistakenly lists longtime columnist and author Rob Christensen as having contributed $100 on Oct. 9.

The McCrory campaign said the listing is an error. The contribution came from a Robert James Christensen of Sherrills Ford, N.C.

When the other Christensen failed to include his employer and occupation, a McCrory staffer called the house in Sherrills Ford. Failing to reach the contributor, they Googled "Rob Christensen" and found the columnist instead.

"Who knew there was more than one Rob Christensen in the world?" said McCrory campaign manager Richard Hudson. "We had hoped there was only one."

Hudson said the campaign finance report will be amended.

No one wants A. Stephen Pierce’s money. But he keeps trying to give.

In February, Pierce gave Richard Moore, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, a $500 check. One month later, Moore returned the check. That’s because Pierce pleaded guilty in 1999 to illegally funnelling campaign contributions to candidates. Pierce a rest-home operator, was accused of having relatives and employees give Pierce’s money in their names in a scheme to get around the $4,000 limit on individual campaign contributions.

One of the candidates who received some of that earlier money: Beverly Perdue, who was then a state senator.

A prosecutor found no evidence that Perdue knew of Pierce’s scheme.

Moore attacked Perdue over her association with Pierce this year in the Democratic primary for governor. And Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, the Republican candidate for governor, has repeated those attacks.

So it was bad news for McCrory that he received a $2,000 check from A. Steve Pierce of Kernersville.

Richard Hudson, McCrory’s campaign manager, said he vets the names of donors. While he was familiar with the events surrounding Pierce, he wasn’t familiar with the name.

"If it’s the same guy, we’ll give the $2,000 back," Hudson said.

A. Steve Pierce did not return a phone message Tuesday.

Pat McCrory's campaign says Beverly Perdue is misquoting him.

At a forum on rural issues today, Perdue cited a 2000 article in the Durham Herald-Sun in which McCrory said the state's transportation policies were encouraging sprawl.

Perdue argued that McCrory was saying the state should not build roads to rural areas.

But campaign manager Richard Hudson said the quote was taken out of context.

"Pat was talking about urban sprawl where big cities expand out and take over rural areas," he said. "It wouldn't make sense to say rural areas are sprawling and taking over urban areas."

He said McCrory's transportation plan would call for long-range planning that removes the politics from road decisions made by the state Board of Transportation.

"The DOT board has become an ATM for politicians like Beverly Perdue," he said.

Beverly Perdue argued that Pat McCrory would widen the urban-rural divide.

At the 2008 Rural Partners Forum at the North Raleigh Hilton this afternoon, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate targeted the Charlotte mayor over his past statements on rural and urban issues.

She cited a 2000 interview with McCrory by the Durham Herald-Sun in which he argued that state policy's on paving roads were encouraging sprawl.

"I want paved roads in my community — I don't know about you," Perdue said.

She also cited an episode of "Agenda Charlotte," a cable TV talk show that McCrory used to host, in which he said that rural interests had joined together to get state funding.

"I don't know about you, but I think that kind of divide-and-conquer mentality has no place in North Carolina," she said.

"If I'm elected governor, I intend to be governor of all of North Carolina," she said.

McCrory is slated to speak to the forum on Friday.

Update: "The Lt. Governor is proving that a negative campaign about nothing will lose to a positive campaign about issues every time," said McCrory spokesman Richard Hudson. 

Pat McCrory is sticking with "Negative Bev."

The Republican gubernatorial candidate's campaign tagged Democratic rival Beverly Perdue with that nickname in June after she ran negative ads.

Campaign manager Richard Hudson said he coined the nickname to point out that Perdue had won the Democratic primary after promising to run only positive ads.

"As someone who's worked in a lot of campaigns, you call your opponent a lot of things, but usually it's private," he joked.

He said that the campaign had no input on "Status Quo Bev," the nickname given to Perdue by the Republican Governors Association in recent ads.

But he said that the campaign would continue to point out Perdue's negative ads.

"We can only control what we do, and Pat has stressed all along that tone is really important," he said.

Pat McCrory is touting a poll from an unusual source.

The Republican gubernatorial candidate's campaign has been showing off the results of a poll by noted Democratic consultant James Carville's Democracy Corps.

The poll of 852 likely voters conducted Aug. 20-26 showed McCrory with a 55 percent favorability rating and Democratic rival Beverly Perdue with 49 percent.

It also showed the candidates essentially tied in the race for governor.

The survey was done by Greenberg, Quinlin and Rosner Research. Democracy Corps sent out a press release touting results in the presidential and Senate races, but did not mention the gubernatorial results.

McCrory campaign manager Richard Hudson said that voters are tired of the status quo.

"That benefits us. If you look up a picture of status quo in the dictionary, there is a picture of Beverly Perdue," he said.

A Perdue spokesman said polls will fluctuate before Election Day. (The Insider) 

As mayor of Charlotte, Pat McCrory vetoed a minimum wage for city employees in 2001.

The long-ago City Council dispute has come up again in a different context, with the Republican gubernatorial candidate facing an attack ad from an independent group that argues that he opposes raising the state minimum wage.

In a memo backing up its claims, the Alliance for North Carolina cited news coverage of the 2001 dispute.

McCrory's campaign says the attack is unfair. They argue that he supports raising the state minimum wage, but only if it is coupled with tax breaks or tied to the cost of living in order to lessen the impact on small businesses.

Still, McCrory made some provocative statements during the long-ago fight to pay Charlotte city workers at least $9 an hour.

"I just got back from East Germany where they're trying to get away from socialism," he said, according to a May 26, 2001 article in the Charlotte Observer. "I've got some very liberal council members who are going the opposite direction."

Campaign manager Richard Hudson said that remark was not directed at the state minimum wage.

"The living wage for the city of Charlotte is very different from a minimum wage for the state of North Carolina," said campaign manager Richard Hudson. "We're not talking about going from $5.15 to $6.15; we're talking about a proposal for a $9 an hour wage for city employees."

More after the jump.

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Beverly Perdue is criticizing rival Pat McCrory for sending lobbyists a copy of a fundraising letter.

The Republican gubernatorial nominee sent a fundraising letter last week to political action committees, promising that "you will have a governor that will work with you to develop solutions."

His campaign also sent copies to lobbyists connected with the PACs.

The involvement of lobbyists is controversial because their job is to influence legislation and other government action. Critics say that allowing lobbyists to raise money for a candidate can create the appearance of a "pay-to-play" system.

State law bans lobbyists from personally giving to candidates and collecting contributions under certain circumstances.

McCrory campaign manager Richard Hudson said the campaign is following the law. It mailed the lobbyists because many still advise the PACs on whom they should support.

"Those are the folks who typically make the decision about where the money's going to go," he said. "My understanding is that's normal procedure." (Char-O) 

Check your political calendar: It's the silly equinox.

Political reporters sometimes refer to the time of year when campaigns begin reaching (and overreaching) for offenses from their rivals as "the silly season."

After hitting a high in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, it's cooled off a bit. But the leaves are turning in the general election campaign.

Today, Republican nominee Pat McCrory's campaign sent out a press release noting that Will Matthews, a junior-level aide to Democrat Beverly Perdue, donated $50 to attend a fundraiser last night in Sanford, even writing on the memo line of his check "for the future of North Carolina."

"I am giving this young man the benefit of the doubt," said Campaign Manager Richard Hudson in a statement. "Surely he wasn't engaging in campaign dirty tricks when he attended our fundraiser with a tape recorder."

Perdue spokesman David Kochman said they had a good reason.

"Pat McCrory has a habit of taking different positions in front of different groups, so he went to hear what Pat would say in a room of Republican donors," he said. 

A Republican group has moved quickly to take advantage of a change in election laws to raise money from well-heeled contributors across the country to help elect Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory as North Carolina's next governor.

The Republican Governors Association has set up a North Carolina political action committee and raised nearly $390,000 for the "RGA North Carolina PAC" in less than three months, Dan Kane reports.

Most of it has come from a handful of contributors who have shown little or no interest in North Carolina politics in the past. Contributors include top executives of the Coors Brewing Co. in Colorado and the Curves fitness center chain based in Waco, Tex.

The PAC's biggest contributor is James L. Barksdale of Ridgeland, Miss., the former chief executive officer of Netscape. He gave $100,000.

McCrory has made a centerpiece of his campaign changing the culture of state government, which he says is controlled by big-money special interests. But his campaign is welcoming the association's help.

"We certainly aren't concerned if business people from around the country are interested in this race," said Richard Hudson, McCrory's campaign manager. "Especially given the fact that labor union money and special interest money is going to be flowing into the Democratic party to support our opponent."

Democratic rival Beverly Perdue's campaign spokesman, David Kochman, said the McCrory campaign's acceptance of the PAC shows McCrory is not serious about campaign finance reform.

"I think it's ironic that a guy who claims he wants to change the political culture would be welcoming this type of activity," Kochman said.