An independent group associated with Raleigh businessman Art Pope has begun early mailings targeting Democratic legislators.
A group called Real Jobs NC has sent mailers into the House districts of Majority Leader Hugh Holliman of Lexington, Cullie Tarleton of Blowing Rock, Alice Underhill of New Bern, Chris Heagarty of Raleigh and Sens. Don Davis of Snow Hill, Tony Foriest of Graham, Steve Goss of Boone, John Snow of Murphy and Joe Sam Queen of Waynesville, according to the state Democratic Party.
The mailer accuses the lawmakers of having "voted to raise taxes over a billion dollars to pay for their pork spending projects." It is illustrated with photographs of a tablecloth, barbecue sauce and utensils.
The mailer missed its mark in the case of Heagarty, who was not in the legislature in 2009 when the tax increase passed.
Heagarty's campaign called the ad "dishonest and desperate" and said it was looking into legal action.
"The voters need an explicit correction of the mistake, a real one and not just one more attack ad, and an apology from this special interest group for misleading them," said Mike Radionchenko, Heagarty's campaign manager.
Roger Knight, an attorney for Real Jobs NC, said the flier sent into Heagarty's district had the wrong citation when it noted the 2009 vote.
"The citation was wrong," Knight said. "Real Jobs NC will clarify the issue in future mailings."
The group is a so-called 527 organization, named after a section of the federal tax code. Among its officers are Pope, a former state House member and Republican candidate for lieutenant governor. Pope has been active in funding a number of conservative organizations in Raleigh.
According to campaign records, the group has received donations of $100,000 from Variety Wholesalers, Pope's company; $300,000 from the Republican State Leadership Committee in Alexandria, Va., a group headed by former national GOP Chairman Ed Gillespie; and $100,000 from Rightchange.com, a website started by Wilmington businessman Fred Eshelman.
Travel money questioned
U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield has been contacted by the Office of Congressional Ethics over his handling of travel stipends.
On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the ethics office is investigating a half dozen lawmakers regarding leftover travel money. Butterfield, a Wilson Democrat, had previously told the newspaper that he kept money that was left over.
House members are given per diems that are meant to cover travel expenses. In some cases, the costs are picked up by other people. The rules appear to be murky on how to handle the leftovers, according to the newspaper.
Butterfield's office issued a statement regarding the ethics inquiry.
"I informed OCE that the funds were spent on legitimate travel expenses and that if any funds went unspent, they were nominal," the statement said. "I also informed OCE that I had received a per diem on the trip but did not maintain detailed records, because it is not required."
Butterfield said the OCE had forwarded the matter to the Ethics Committee. "I have complied with the requests of OCE and will comply with any other request from the Ethics Committee," he said.
On Wednesday, Republican challenger Ashley Woolard called on Butterfield to resign.
"This is a disgrace. Citizens of the First District need honest leadership that will help our struggling economy, not another greedy politician feeding at the public trough as our economy burns," Woolard said.
Beason testifies
Former top lobbyist Don Beason testified Wednesday on the last day of a hearing at which he's appealing the $111,000 fine the state wants him to pay for violating lobbying laws.
Senior Administrative Law Judge Fred G. Morrison Jr. will likely rule within 90 days.
The state is arguing that Beason failed to disclose lobbying clients in 2007 who wanted to change state law to allow them to sell iron imported from India to the state Department of Transportation. The $111,000 fine is said to be the largest in history.
Beason said he did not know that one of the companies was collecting money from other companies to pay him. Beason said he did not contact any legislators or DOT employees on the issue but enlisted two other lobbyists, his son Mark Beason and T. Jerry Williams, to work on it. Williams also testified.
Beason was ranked the state's top lobbyist in 2007. He left the business that year, having been linked to the scandal that enveloped former House Speaker Jim Black.
By staff writers Rob Christensen, Benjamin Niolet and Lynn Bonner
