E-mail doubts commitment to abortion rights

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue's record on abortion rights is being criticized by her Democratic opponent for governor.

The criticism came in an e-mail message from Stephanie Dorko, finance director for state Treasurer Richard Moore, who faces Perdue in the May primary. The e-mail, which was widely circulated Wednesday, was in response to an invitation Dorko received to join a group called Women for Perdue.

"I am uncomfortable with Beverly Perdue's wavering position on choice," Dorko wrote. "Over the course of her public career, she has taken a variety of conflicting positions on a women's right to choose."

Dorko wrote that Perdue, as chairwoman of the Senate appropriations committee in 1995, cut the abortion fund for poor women by 96 percent.

At the time, North Carolina was the only Southern state to fund abortions for poor women, taking over responsibility after Congress ended abortion funding for Medicaid recipients in what is commonly known as the Hyde Amendment.

Republicans took control of the N.C. House in 1995 and vowed to end tax-financed abortions.

Dorko also criticized Perdue for her answers to the 1996 National Political Awareness Test, in which Perdue indicated she believed abortions should only be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest, rape or when the life of the woman is endangered.

Perdue's campaign said she is strongly pro-choice.

"It's just another desperate distortion from the same campaign that attacked the teachers last week," said David Kochman, Perdue's spokesman. "Beverly Perdue is strongly pro-choice. That's why this year, she's already been endorsed by the Women's Campaign Forum and in previous campaigns by groups such as NARAL.

"Her position has developed over the years just as Richard Moore's positions have on so many other issues. But she is the pro-choice candidate in the race."

A niche at wildlife agency

The turmoil at the Wildlife Resources Commission may be over.

Joan Troy, the embattled agency legal specialist whose attempted ouster in July by the Wildlife Resource Commission led to the resignation of Executive Director Dick Hamilton, will now work in the Commission's Enforcement Division. The announcement was made by Fred Harris, interim executive director, at the commissioners meeting Wednesday.

"She is the person in that position. We don't envision a change," Harris said. "We came to the conclusion that the position is necessary, and we were able to define the duties and tasks that needed to be accomplished by that position, and when we looked at the sum total of all of all of that, everyone agreed that the Division of Law Enforcement would be the logical place to house that position."

Harris said Troy is well-qualified for the position.

Contacted at her home after the meeting, Troy said, "I believe the commission got better legal advice for the revision of my duties than they did for the attempt to abolish my job in July."

Troy said she is not entirely happy, despite retaining her job.

"I have a job, but Dick Hamilton does not, and he is one of the finest public servants I ever had the honor to serve with," she said.

Troy will report to her new job in about a week.

Two want Cowell's seat

Two Triangle Democrats said this week that they plan to run for the state Senate seat being vacated by Janet Cowell, a Raleigh Democrat.

Jack Nichols, a former Wake County commissioner who lost to Cowell in the 2004 Democratic primary, said he wants to take another shot.

Nichols is a well-known figure in Raleigh politics, having served as lobbyist for former Gov. Jim Hunt, and has been involved in numerous civic causes. He works as a lawyer for Allen and Pinnix.

Josh Stein, head of the consumer protection division in the Attorney General's Office, also said he will seek the seat.

Stein, a 40-year-old Harvard-educated attorney, is no political neophyte. He managed John Edwards' successful Senate campaign in 1998 and then served in Washington as Edwards' deputy chief of staff and legal counsel.

Cowell is running for state treasurer.