Gubernatorial candidates Walter Dalton and Pat McCrory have agreed to two televised debates in October, with a twist.
They will be aired the same night as the first two presidential debates.
The N.C. Association of Broadcasters Educational Foundation announced Thursday that they had reached an agreement for two debates to broadcast live on statewide TV and radio on Oct. 3 and 16 at 7 p.m. The one-hour debates will be broadcast from the UNC-TV studio in the Research Triangle Park.
Those same nights, beginning at 9 p.m., Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney will hold 90-minute debates.
Industry officials said they thought that by holding the gubernatorial debates on the same nights as the presidential debates, they would attract a broader audience of public-minded citizens. But it is the first time it has been tried, and they risk the gubernatorial debates being overshadowed by the presidential debates or viewers deciding that 2-1/2 hours of debate is too much for one evening.
NASCAR for Romney
Mitt Romney’s NASCAR owner friends in North Carolina are revving up their support for the Republican presidential candidate with a big fundraiser next week.
Romney will attend a private fundraiser in Charlotte on Wednesday, just days after his bus tour through the state. The hosts listed on the event’s invite include NASCAR CEO Brian France and President Mike Helton; Lesa France Kennedy, CEO of the International Speedway Corp.; team owners Rick Hendrick, Richard Childress and Felix Sabates; and driver Jamie McMurray. Also, team owner Jack Roush hit the trail for Romney earlier this week. The fundraiser at the Duke Mansion costs $2,500 per person with special access to the candidate carrying a bigger price tag. Romney will attend a special reception and take photos with those who give or raise $15,000 and hold a private roundtable for those who give or raise $50,000.
State trooper case alive
A state appellate court panel this week kept alive the case of a fired state trooper who was visiting his girlfriend while on duty when her estranged husband showed up with a gun.
The three-judge panel reversed a Superior Court ruling that dismissed Anthony E. Scott’s lawsuit because he hadn’t paid a $20 filing fee at the time he filed a petition with the state Office of Administrative Hearings. The appellate judges interpreted administrative procedure in the ex-trooper’s favor.
Scott was visiting the woman, Jennifer Andrews, at her Pittsboro home in August 2009 when her estranged husband showed up earlier than expected with the couple’s children. The trooper went out the back door to avoid a confrontation.
Scott and the woman recently celebrated their first wedding anniversary. Now named Jennifer Scott, she is a lawyer with a firm in Raleigh. Her ex-husband, whom court documents alleged planned to kill her, the trooper and himself, later pleaded guilty to assault by pointing a gun and assault on a female, both misdemeanors.
Politics of chicken
Haven’t had your fill of chicken politics? Neither has Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm.
PPP announced results of a poll that suggest an ideological divide can be seen in North Carolinians’ preferred fast-food chicken chain.
Ninety-two percent of the poll’s participants who identified themselves as “very conservative” have a favorable view of Chick-fil-A, compared with 21 percent for those identifying themselves as “very liberal.”
Staff writers Rob Christensen, John Frank, Craig Jarvis and Austin Baird
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