NC Democrat takes down attack ad after defamation lawsuit from opponent, lawyer says
A Democratic candidate for state Senate has voluntarily taken down an attack ad against her Republican opponent, the GOP candidate’s attorney says.
Sen. Michael Lee of New Hanover County, the Republican incumbent, sued the campaign of Democrat Marcia Morgan earlier this week, calling a television ad defamatory to his business.
Lee’s law firm is Lee Kaess PLLC in Wilmington. The firm handles commercial real estate, land use and zoning, trusts and estates, and commercial litigation.
Lee is trying to keep his coastal Senate District 7 seat in one of a handful of swing districts that could determine control of the General Assembly. Republicans have majorities in the Senate and House, but not the supermajorities needed to easily override a veto from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. Morgan, of Carolina Beach, is a retired U.S. Army colonel.
A judge declined to order the ad’s removal as Lee’s lawsuit requests, instead scheduling the case for trial, Lee’s lawyer said Thursday. But Morgan and her campaign chose to remove it voluntarily, the lawyer said.
Lee announced the lawsuit via a news release on Monday, saying that Morgan attacked and defamed him, his law firm and his law partners so he needed to “defend myself and set the record straight.” The lawsuit claims that because the ad says he used his elected position to benefit himself and the law firm’s clients, it causes harm to his reputation and business.
On Thursday, Lee said in a statement that the case will still proceed to a trial.
“While I am disappointed in this ruling, I remain confident that justice will ultimately prevail, both in the lawsuit against Marcia Morgan for her defamatory attack ad against me and a Wilmington small business and in the poll booths on Election Day when the voters of New Hanover County reject Morgan’s radical and dangerous positions,” Lee said.
Morgan’s campaign has not yet responded to The News & Observer’s request for comment.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, subscribe to the Under the Dome politics newsletter from The News & Observer and the NC Insider and follow our weekly Under the Dome podcast at campsite.bio/underthedome or wherever you get your podcasts.
.jpg)