N.C. GOP to select new chair

The N.C. Republican Party will decide on a new leader this month.

After several defeats in 2008, the race for party chair has been particularly heated, with all four candidates vowing to mobilize voters and stay true to conservative values, the Associated Press reports.

Political observers say the frontrunners are Chad Adams, former Lee County commissioner and vice president of the John Locke Foundation, and Tom Fetzer, former Raleigh mayor and longtime political consultant.

Adams has the support of former Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr and much of the political machine run by Art Pope. Fetzer has the backing of a bevy of current and former state officials, most recently U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick.

Retired Navy officer Bill Randall and businessman Marcus Kindley are also running. 

In a political irony, the June 13 event will be held at the Raleigh convention center, a project famously opposed by Fetzer when he served as mayor.