Republican Congressional candidate Will Breazeale is putting his money where his mouth is, personally guaranteeing a term limit pledge. 

Breazeale, who is making his second challenge against 7th District Democratic Rep. Mike McIntyre, announced this week that he is guaranteeing his pledge to serve no more than six years in Congress with a $250,000 check secured by personal assets written in a promissory note, Rob Christensen reports. 

If Breazeale is elected and violates his pledge, he would then be obligated to donate the $250,000 to the Cape Fear Volunteer Center-Kids Voting. 

This is part of an effort by a group, based in Pinehurst, called the Alliance for Bonded Term Limits, that is seeking to find ways to ensure that candidates will keep their promises to serve a finite time in Congress. 

The organization reports on its website that three candidates so far have agreed to make bonded pledges. 

Term limits were popular among Republicans in the 1990s, but once elected many changed their minds about the value of term limits. 

Breazeale is an airline pilot and a major in the U.S. Army Reserves. He is also a decorated combat veteran who served in Iraq and Kuwait. 

* A Facebook group backing Cal Cunningham for Senate now has more members than one for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

* Former Republican Congressional candidate Will Breazeale says he's ready for a rematch against U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre, who beat him 68-32 percent.

* Former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole joins husband Bob and other VIPs at 65th anniversary of D-Day event in France.

* U.S. Sen. Richard Burr criticizes CNN for report on flavored "smokeless products," receives criticism from liberal blogger. 

Will Breazeale says he paid his campaign back for clothes.

The former Congressional candidate, who was criticized last week by a campaign finance group for using $1,000 of campaign money to buy clothing, said that he reimbursed the campaign after his treasurer told him the expense did not meet Federal Election Commission guidelines.

"I wrote a personal check to refund my campaign for $1,000 and instructed my treasurer to self-disclose our action to the FEC," he wrote the Fayetteville Observer in an e-mail.

He added that he was confident the FEC would dismiss the complaint, which came from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. 

The group had complained about spending by several other Congressional candidates as well as Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. 

Breazeale lost to longtime Democratic Congressman Mike McIntyre in November. 

Sarah Palin wasn't the only one with new clothes thanks to donors.

North Carolina Republican Congressional candidate Will Breazeale also used campaign money for clothing, according to a complaint that a watchdog group filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said Breazeale and five other candidates each spent hundreds of dollars on clothes, violating a ban on personal use of campaign money, the Associated Press reports.

The group had earlier complained about spending by the Republican National Committee on the GOP vice presidential candidate.

According to campaign finance reports, Breazeale's campaign spent $1,000 in clothing for Breazeale at Fisher's Men's Store in Elizabethtown on Oct. 4, 2007.

A spokesperson for the campaign did not respond to the AP's request for comment.

Breazeale lost to longtime Democratic Congressman Mike McIntyre in November.

North Carolina's campaign season opened at noon with the national debate over the war in Iraq echoing in Tar Heel congressional races.

Two Republican congressional candidates, Joe McLaughlin of Jacksonville and Will Breazeale of Elizabethtown, filed for election against incumbents who they say should be turned out of office for not being sufficiently supportive of the U.S. military effort in Iraq, Rob Christensen reports.

Dozens of candidates lined up in the State Board of Elections for the filling period that opened at noon. They included Democratic Congressman Bob Etheridge, Republican Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry, and Beth Wood, a former CPA in the state auditor's office, who wants to run against her hold boss Les Merritt.

Ronnie Anlsey, a Raleigh attorney, filed as a Democratic candidate for agriculture commissioner.

More after the jump.

   Comments (3)

Will Breazeale thinks the U.S. should draw down military forces in Iraq, but not leave entirely.

The Army reservist, who has served three tours in Iraq, said he thinks the Iraqi military is capable of taking over its own defenses soon, but he thinks a smaller American military presence of around 70,000 soldiers will still be necessary in the long run.

"The way we win is to get out of their way and let them fight their own fight," he said. "But we've got to leave some soldiers over there or we'll be back again."

Breazeale will kick off his campaign for the Republican nomination to run against U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre tomorrow. He said he'll make Iraq a central theme in his campaign.

A longtime Democrat, he said the party's stances on the Iraq war and illegal immigration led to his decision to switch party affiliation in 2005.

He said that he's spoken with the National Republican Congressional Committee about his campaign. He said the national group has "seen the light" and will give him financial support.

U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre is well-known as a blue-dog Democrat.

So perhaps it's not surprising that his potential Republican opponent next year was also a conservative Democrat for a brief period.

Will Breazeale, who will kick off his campaign for the Republican nomination tomorrow, registered to vote as a Democrat on Feb. 19, 2004. He voted in Democratic primaries on July 20 and Aug. 17 of that year, and was listed as a Democrat in a voter's guide when he ran for White Lake town council.

On Nov. 17, 2005, nine days after losing that race, he switched to Republican.

Breazeale is no stranger to the GOP. A Feb. 13, 2000, article in the New York Daily News noted that he showed up in his Army uniform at a rally for Sen. John McCain in South Carolina.

Campaign spokesman Rob Boyce said Breazeale is principled.

"He's been a Republican and he is conservative," he said.

An Iraq veteran will announce a run for Congress tomorrow.

Will Breazeale, 39, of White Lake, will kick off his campaign for the Republican nomination in the Seventh Congressional District seat now held by Democratic Rep. Mike McIntyre.

A major in the Army Reserves, Breazeale recently returned from northern Iraq, where he was helping train Kurdish military members. He works as a pilot with AirTran airlines.

Breazeale (pronounced "Brazil") plans to kick off his campaign by flying a six-seat twin-engine plane from the airport in Elizabethtown, touching down in all 10 counties in the district Thursday.

He plans to attack McIntyre as an ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and campaign against the income tax, said his spokesman, Rob Boyce.

"His stand is that the system is broken and needs to be reformed with something that's fairer and more even-handed and harder to cheat on," Boyce said.

Previously, Breazeale ran for town council in White Lake and school board in Florence, S.C.

Hat Tip: BlueNC