Perdue says PACs are cozying up to McCrory

RALEIGH -- Democratic candidate for governor Bev Perdue is criticizing Republican rival Pat McCrory for turning to lobbyists to help fund his campaign.

McCrory, Charlotte's mayor, last week sent a fundraising letter to political action committees. PACs help those aligned with an interest group -- such as employees of a company or members of a trade association -- to focus their political giving.

"Once elected," McCrory writes in the letter, "you will have a governor that will work with you to develop solutions and initiate constructive change to state government."

McCrory's campaign sent copies of the letters to lobbyists connected with the PACs.

Critics say that allowing lobbyists also to raise money for candidates creates at least the appearance of a "pay-to-play" system.

State law bans lobbyists from giving personally to campaigns and from serving as treasurer of a candidate's campaign committee. They also are prohibited from collecting and delivering contributions under certain circumstances.

McCrory's campaign manager Richard Hudson said the campaign is following the law. It contacted the lobbyists, he said, because many still advise PACs on whom they should support.

"Those are the folks who typically make the decision about where the money's going to go," Hudson said. "My understanding is that's normal procedure."

State lawmakers from both parties have been doing the same thing. In a fundraising letter this spring, one lawmaker solicited lobbyists to name sources of "new support" given that lobbyists can no longer contribute.

The new restrictions grew out of scandals involving former House Speaker Jim Black, a Mecklenburg Democrat now serving a federal prison term for political corruption. Black was known for his close associations with lobbyists -- a culture that McCrory, on the campaign trail, has railed against.

Perdue spokesman David Kochman argued that McCrory's fundraising practices undermine his message.

"Pat McCrory's not trying to change Raleigh's political culture. He's trying to replace it with Washington's," Kochman wrote in an e-mail.