Heather Losurdo is running for the District 3 seat on the Wake County school board.
RALEIGH -- An advocacy group is citing social media postings to support its claim that Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo has extreme right-wing views.
Gerrick Brenner, executive director of the group Progress NC Action, described several of Losurdo's Facebook statements as "racially loaded" and inappropriate for someone who aspires to be a community leader and role model to children.
Losurdo, a candidate in the Oct. 11 elections for the North Raleigh District 3 seat along with incumbent Kevin Hill and Jennifer Mansfield, said she regretted having made some of the postings. But she questioned the appropriateness of using Facebook comments that she and her husband made before she was a candidate.
"It's shocking to me that people who disagree with me personally have chosen to attack me through my Facebook postings, and those of my husband," Losurdo said. "He's not the candidate. I am."
In one Facebook post, Losurdo uses the acronym "LMAO!!!," short for "laughing my (expletive) off," in response to a 2010 post by her husband, Craig Losurdo: "The skunk has replaced the Eagle as the new symbol of the American Presidency. It is half black, half white, and every thing it does stinks!"
Brenner said: "They really raise questions about her ability and willingness to build consensus to lead diverse communities and her sensitivity to different communities."
In another 2010 exchange, Losurdo responds to a photo, posted by her husband, of a car with the bumper sticker, "Did you vote for Obama? Thanks a lot, (expletive)."
Another poster asks if the photo is of Heather Losurdo's car. Heather Losurdo responded, according to the Facebook page: "It's not mine, but if I can find out who does that around here, you're damn skippy it's going on mine."
On Thursday, she said that the remarks about President Barack Obama were in "poor taste." But she said Progress NC Action was engaging in character assassination by going after year-old personal comments and not her positions as a candidate.
"It was inappropriate," Losurdo said of the remarks on Obama. "It was a joke. It has nothing to do with the service that I'll provide to the residents of Wake County."
Losurdo said she can work with groups, including those who disagree with her.
"We're all human beings who are going to disagree on things," Losurdo said. "What I've repeatedly said is I can represent all the people, all the students of Wake County."
Progress NC Action is an officially nonpartisan advocacy group that says its role is to advocate for "a strong educational system, business competitiveness, forward-thinking government, thriving democracy, protection of natural resources and rich cultural traditions."
The group says its criticism of Losurdo is not connected to any political party or campaign.
Brenner's group has been critical of Republicans. But Brenner pointed out that the group recently toured the state to criticize the state budget passed this year, which received support from both Republicans and some Democrats.
He would not disclose any funding sources for the group but said they were individual people from North Carolina.
Losurdo is backed by the Wake County Republican Party. Hill is backed by the Wake County Democratic Party.
The District 3 seat is considered a swing seat. Republicans think they have a good chance to win it to increase their majority.
Democrats would need to retain the seat and win the other four on the ballot to retake the majority they lost in 2009 elections.
Democrats and various affiliated liberal groups have backed Hill, a retired educator, in his re-election bid.
