GOP House candidate links fundraising to committee assignments

A Republican candidate for the N.C. House told a crowd that how much money she funnels to House Speaker Thom Tillis and the GOP caucus will determine which committee assignments she receives if elected.

"Unfortunately, the more money you raise and give to the speaker, the better committee assignment you get," candidate Debra Conrad told a group in Winston-Salem. "I don’t like that situation."

Yes! Weekly first reported the remarks. Tillis' office denied the fundraising-to-committee-assignment connection. But Conrad told reporter Jordan Green that she and fellow GOP candidates are feeling the pressure.

Green reported: Conrad said she probably wouldn’t have raised the matter except that she and fellow NC House candidate Donny Lambeth had just been commiserating over the pressure they were feeling from their party.

“He doesn’t even have an opponent, and he’s having a fundraiser,” Conrad said. “That’s why they’re putting pressure on him — because he doesn’t have an opponent, and he can just turn the money over to the general pool.”