B.J. Lawson, Republican candidate for the congressional seat held by Rep. David Price, called reporters to a news conference Tuesday to celebrate four-tenths.
That's the lead - four-tenths of a percentage point - that Lawson says he has in a poll his campaign commissioned in August.
But the headline of that poll, which Lawson's campaign trumpeted as "a major campaign update that will change the dynamics of the race and the interest in North Carolina congressional politics," is that Lawson had 46.5 percent to Price's 46.1 percent.
"We are pulling slightly ahead of Mr. Price," Lawson said to applause of his supporters.
Lawson said that such a result against an incumbent in a largely Democratic district shows "a deep degree of dissatisfaction" among voters.
Lawson's campaign sent a summary of the poll. Action Solutions asked 1,038 registered voters in the 4th District on Aug. 11 if they preferred "Democrat David Price" or "Republican William 'B.J.' Lawson."
The margin of error was 3percentage points.
ALE firing upheld
The N.C. Court of Appeals upheld the firing of an alcohol enforcement agent who admitted she wasn't working all the hours for which she was paid.
Karen Haas was a 16-year agent with the state division of Alcohol Law Enforcement when in 2005 she was transferred from New Bern to Fayetteville. Haas was allowed to continue living in Havelock, 65 miles from her new assignment, despite a rule requiring agents to live within 40 miles of their district, according to the appeals court opinion.
In late 2006, Haas' supervisor received a tip that she was not working all of her scheduled hours. He confirmed the tip after following her for three days, according to the opinion.
In an interview with superiors, Haas admitted she occasionally did not work all of the hours she claimed on weekly reports. Agency officials fired Haas.
She appealed, and the State Personnel Commission upheld the firing even though it found ALE didn't give Haas enough time to respond to the charges against her. A Superior Court judge overturned the firing after reviewing the case.
The appeals court found that the judge, Superior Court Judge Carl Fox, did not have the authority to conduct his own review of the facts of the case. The court ordered Fox to revisit the case and uphold the firing.
Donation questioned
The Democratic Party is calling on Republican Sen. Richard Burr to return $9,600 in campaign contributions from two leading executives of a Texas-based tax firm being prosecuted for deceptive trade practices.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott charged TaxMasters and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Cox with violating the state's consumer protections law, after receiving more than 1,000 complaints from customers who said they had been deceived or lost money.
Cox and Alex Clamon, the company's vice president, each donated $4,800 to Burr's re-election campaign during a Houston fundraiser in February. They have also contributed to many other Republican candidates.
"These individuals have been charged with stealing money from hard-working families," said Andrew Whalen, the state Democratic Party's executive director. "They've used that ill-gotten money to fund racing teams and Senator Burr's campaign. It's despicable. Burr should immediately return the $9,600 he's received from the management of this firm to show that he does not condone this type of consumer fraud."
The Burr campaign however, was not inclined to act immediately.
"We still live in an America where people are innocent until proven otherwise," said Samantha Smith, Burr's campaign spokeswoman. "And if found guilty, the contributions will be returned."
"Given the North Carolina Democratic Party's track record of donors, they are in no position to make such claims and should hold themselves to the same standard," Smith added.
By staff writers Benjamin Niolet and Rob Christensen
