Rep. Myrick cuts ties to longtime GOP ally

In a rare public rebuff, U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick on Tuesday severed ties with fellow Charlotte Republican and longtime supporter Robert Pittenger.

Myrick told Pittenger, a state senator, that she was kicking him off her congressional finance committee and asked him to remove her picture from a Web site.

"I no longer think it appropriate for you to have a part in the strategic direction of my political future," she wrote.

Pittenger blamed the spat on an aide for Myrick with "a twisted attitude" and ambitions of his own. The head of the state Republican Party weighed in on Myrick's side.

The feud caps months of speculation over Myrick's future. In May, she announced she would not run for governor in 2008, a notion she had toyed with.

Some wondered whether the 65-year-old Myrick, who has had health issues, might retire.

In her letter to Pittenger, Myrick said she had heard "from numerous sources" that the two of them had "cut a deal" where Myrick would run for governor and endorse Pittenger for her congressional seat.

"I am not going to run for governor, and I am not going to support you for Congress," she wrote.

Myrick, who was recently re-elected, said she was compelled to announce that she will run for an eighth term in 2008.

Myrick asked Pittenger to remove her picture from the Web site of his nonprofit, the Foundation for NC Future. She called the group "a vehicle to promote your congressional ambitions."

"I deeply regret that your sources have disseminated inaccurate information," Pittenger wrote back.

Pittenger, who has hosted fundraisers for Myrick, defended his foundation and denied saying they had made any deals or that she would endorse him. He offered to take a lie detector test or "swear on a stack of Bibles."

State Republican chairwoman Linda Daves said Pittenger recently told her that he wouldn't seek re-election in 2008 and would run for Congress at some point with Myrick's blessing.

"He said, 'I have Sue's endorsement,' " Daves said. "Sounds to me like somebody's trying to force Sue Myrick out of her congressional seat."

Pittenger said Daves misinterpreted his remarks. As he recalls, he said, "If [Myrick] endorses anybody, I hope she endorses me."

Pittenger blamed the feud on Myrick's chief of staff. "Frankly all this is being stirred up by Hal Weatherman because he wanted to run for Congress," Pittenger said in an interview. "He's an angry young man."

Weatherman declined to comment.