McCrory stands by no-tax pledge from 2008 campaign

Pat McCrory stirred a bit of campaign dust earlier this week by apparently refusing to make a pledge against raising taxes if elected governor.

But to Patrick Gleason, the state director for Americans for Tax Reform, the answer to the question is clear. Gleason said Thursday that McCrory signed ATR's no-tax pledge in his 2008 gubernatorial bid and the campaign told him that McCrory "stands by that pledge."

The ATR pledge for gubernatorial candidates reads like this: "I (candidate) pledge to the taxpayers of the State of (North Carolina), that I will oppose and veto any and all efforts to increase taxes."

McCrory's campaign confirmed what he told Americans for Tax Reform about the 2012 campaign.

The tax issue is likely to be one of the most defining of the election season as Republicans and Gleason's group are highlighting Democratic rival Walter Dalton's votes in favor of tax increases. Democrats are countering by noting McCrory's record as Charlotte mayor where he supported tax increases for transit projects and ran a city with the highest tax burden in the state.

"From ATR's standpoint, there are stark tax policy differences from Walter Dalton to Pat McCrory," said Gleason, whose organization has targeted the Democrat in emails and web postings.

Schorr Johnson, a spokesman for Dalton, expressed skepticism about the pledge: "Pat McCrory's tax pledges aren’t worth the web space they’re posted on. This comes a week after he said he wanted taxes on consumption. In 2008, he broke his pledge within weeks by advocating for local tax increases. Grover Norquist's extreme group might turn a blind eye, but the people of North Carolina won't be fooled again."