The North Carolina Republican Party took a big gamble in going after one of its own, former House Speaker Richard Morgan -- and on Tuesday night it won.

But the victory raises questions about the future of bipartisanship in the state legislature. It also could prompt a debate about the role of GOP party moderates.

The victory provides a short-term strategic advantage for Republicans as they try to regain the state House in 2006 or 2008. Not only did the party knock out Morgan, but it also defeated some of Morgan's allies, whom Republican conservatives disparaged as RINOs -- Republicans in name only.

"The RINO reign is over," read the headline on one conservative Web site.

As long as Morgan led a splinter group, he was a stumbling block to Republicans' regaining control of the House, where Democrats hold a 63-57 majority. If Morgan cut a deal with Democrats, Republicans needed a supermajority to control the House.

"What I can see now," said state GOP Chairman Ferrell Blount, "when we get in a close situation, we can elect a speaker."

The speaker is the kingpin of the House, the one who controls the flow of legislation, appoints committees and raises money for the party caucus.

By purging party dissidents, the House Republican caucus emerges as more cohesive and more conservative.

But the post-primary environment makes it much more difficult to achieve bipartisan cooperation. Any Republican who works with Democrats faces political retribution from his own party.

The move to oust Morgan carried a larger message, as former U.S. Rep. Bill Cobey said at a recent rally in Southern Pines.

"We want a resounding victory so that not only that Richard Morgan knows, but that all the elected officials who go to Raleigh know, we expect them to represent Republican values when they get to Raleigh," said Cobey, a former state GOP chairman.

But a hardening of ideological and partisan lines could return the state House to Washington-style gridlock. That was the situation in Raleigh before Morgan formed a power-sharing agreement in 2003 with Democratic House Speaker Jim Black.

Passing budgets on time is one measure of effective government, although not the only one. A dysfunctional legislature adjourned Dec. 6 in 2001 and Oct. 4 in 2002. Under the Black/Morgan regime, budgets passed June 30, 2003, and July 18, 2004, and adjournment came soon thereafter.

Neither conservatives nor liberals were happy with the Black/Morgan regime. Conservatives were angry that some temporary tax increases were not repealed, while liberals were dissatisfied that anti-death penalty measures were pocketed.

But the collaboration produced effective centrist government.

"The times called for that," Morgan said, "because there are not the decisive majorities to govern with discipline and there will not be for the rest of the decade. I chose to work together, and I think it was the right thing to do if you care about the institution of the House and the state."

Morgan also suggested that there needs to be a debate about what is a Republican value. Is it a Republican value, Morgan asks, to support the state university system and help create a new cancer center in Chapel Hill? He supported those projects in the legislature.

The new political environment also poses political risks for Republicans. Jesse Helms-style, libertarian, conservative politics has worked well in national races such as the U.S. Senate. But there is little evidence that it has caught on in Raleigh.

In the past century, North Carolina has elected two Republican governors -- Jim Holshouser and Jim Martin. They governed as moderate conservatives, pushing through new government programs, raising the gas tax, pushing bond issues and adopting environmental programs. The only other Republican House speaker of the past century, Harold Brubaker, helped push through major education spending.

Democrats have learned the lesson of governing from the center. Democrats are in the middle of at least 16 years of control of the governor's mansion because they have elected moderate, pro-business pragmatists in Jim Hunt and Mike Easley, who have governed as centrists with a leftward tilt. Hunt and Easley could be Republicans in the mold of Gov. George Pataki or Sen. Arlen Specter -- moderates from New York and Pennsylvania, respectively.

Tuesday's primary might have made it more difficult for Republicans to learn the same lesson.