Black has tried to shift blame and focus to former lottery commissioner Kevin Geddings, who resigned as lottery firm Scientific Games announced that it had been paying him to represent its interests in the state.
One Black supporter, Rep. Earl Jones of Greensboro, termed the daily barrage of media reports and various revelations about the inner workings within the speaker’s office “political harassment.”
No doubt Geddings’ dissembling regarding his involvement with Scientific Games rests squarely on his shoulders. But most of the sordidness involving the lottery shenanigans points back to Black. He made the Geddings appointment. It was his job to make sure the choice was a good one.
He allowed former staff member Meredith Norris to work as his political director while also lobbying for or being employed by companies, including Scientific Games, which had key issues before Black and the House. Norris also continued to do some work for his office.
Black later acknowledged the inappropriateness of the situation, dismissing Norris as political director. If he knew it was wrong after being publicly revealed, he certainly knew it before. Black, though, has continued to make the rounds on political fund-raisers for fellow House Democrats. And so far, none has come out and publicly questioned his leadership.
Still, at some point these disclosures have the potential to cause some real dissention within the ranks.
Many Democrats in the House have political aspirations of their own which have nothing to do with Jim Black. They have no interest in seeing their political careers short-circuited through a guilt-by-association process. But whether they view any taint as profoundly threatening is likely to be determined by ongoing state and federal criminal investigations.
A state examination of whether Norris, Geddings or Scientific Games broke state lobbying laws probably won’t create much political fallout beyond the damage already done.
The outcome of an ongoing investigation by a federal grand jury is another matter. Federal investigators aren’t looking solely at lottery dealings. They also are examining political connections to the video poker industry and wider lobbying efforts involving Black’s office.
Black’s current term as speaker runs through 2006, and he has publicly stated that he plans to stay in the job and seek another term.
The current campaign finance system setup, in which much of the money supporting candidates of the majority party flows through the chamber leaders, would make it difficult for Black to step away or be overthrown by those who are disgruntled.
Old legislative traditions of chamber leaders who served just one or two terms in the job also have become lost to time.
Federal investigations, though, have a way of making a lot of other concerns seem somewhat inconsequential. If this one leads to criminal indictments of anyone close to Black, any private grumbling about his leadership among House Democrats will start becoming public.
Scott Mooneyham writes for Capitol Press Association. Contact him at smooneyh@ ncinsider.com
