Morgan at crux of GOP feud

Conservatives angling for his seat

PINEHURST -- The manicured greens, stately pines and ubiquitous golf carts of this resort town make it an unlikely battleground in the state Republican Party's civil war.

The pastoral setting is misleading. The GOP primary between former House Co-Speaker Richard Morgan and his challenger, Joe Boylan, more closely resembles a juke- joint brawl than a country club tiff.

Moore County residents have been inundated with attack ads and mail illustrated with grainy, unflattering photos and featuring allegations of backroom deals and $1 billion tax increases.

One resident called the police on Boylan when he showed up at the resident's door. A complaint alleging illegal corporate contributions has been filed. The locker-room chatter at the country clubs is full of angry words about "Wake County millionaires" and Chicago-style politics.

And last week, some of the biggest guns in the North Carolina Republican Party showed up to ask residents to unseat Morgan, the highest-ranking Republican in the legislature.

Former state GOP chairman Frank Rouse compared Morgan to notorious gangster Al Capone.

Morgan became a GOP lightning rod in 2003 when -- with the House split 60-60 -- he and four other Republicans cut a power-sharing deal with House Democrats. The deal elevated Morgan to co-speaker, a post he shared with Democrat Jim Black. The majority of Republicans -- who were trying to negotiate their own deal with Democrats -- were left out of power.

The feud has festered for three years. Morgan worked with Democrats on a plan that punished some of his GOP enemies when new legislative districts were drawn. Morgan and his allies helped Democrats pass a state budget that did not repeal earlier temporary tax increases.

Morgan's foes have given him and his allies a nickname -- RINOs. It stands for Republicans In Name Only.

As long as Morgan is in power, they say, the GOP cannot regain control of the House.

And so they've gone to war. Although Morgan is the focal point, Republicans are also trying to defeat four other GOP House incumbents. One of those races is in Raleigh, where state Rep. Rick Eddins is being challenged.

Drumming up funds

Party leaders, at a rally in Southern Pines on Thursday, said they don't just want to defeat Morgan. They want to trounce him by such a wide margin that it sends a message to other potential party renegades. The party has given Boylan at least $38,000, campaign records show.

"This effort in Moore County is about taking back the General Assembly of North Carolina," Ferrell Blount, the state GOP chairman, told about 40 people at a barbecue restaurant. "What you are going to do Tuesday is remove the absolute roadblock by removing Richard Morgan."

Helping bankroll the effort has been former state Rep. Art Pope, a Raleigh businessman whose company has been financing mass mailings accusing Morgan of raising taxes and linking him to Black.

Pope's committee reported sending out 217,876 pieces of mail into five House districts attacking GOP incumbents. Morgan says there have been at least four mailings since then -- likely pushing the total to 260,000. Morgan estimates that Pope has mailed 50,000 to 60,000 pieces into his district -- five or six for every likely primary vote.

Pope says he is merely exercising his constitutional right to inform voters about the records of lawmakers.

Morgan has filed a complaint with the State Board of Elections, saying Pope has been illegally using corporate contributions.

Morgan supporters say there could be a backlash against the effort to defeat Morgan.