The party’s state Executive Committee overwhelmingly approved a resolution last Thursday authorizing the state GOP chairman to support Morgan’s opponents “in any manner he sees as expedient and prudent.”
Moore County Republican Party Chairman John Owen immediately lashed out at those behind the resolution. In a column on page B3 in today’s Opinion section, Owen calls last Thursday “a day that will go down in infamy for the North Carolina Republican Party” and “the day the party’s headquarters declared war on Moore County.”
He said in an interview that the resolution sets “a bad precedent” and goes against party tradition by interfering with local party operations.
“I was disappointed,” Owen said Monday. “If you do it to me today, what county will you do it to next?” He called it an attempt by the state to take over the county party and compared the Saturday action to those judges whose rulings represent legislative action.
The unofficial vote in favor of the resolution was 124-32. At least nine Republicans from Moore County attended the Saturday meeting of the State Republican Executive Commit-tee meeting in Raleigh. Several are members of the state committee.
Introduced by the Wake County GOP Executive Com-mittee, the two-and-a-half page resolution cites complaints against Morgan, who has represented Moore County in the State House of Representatives since 1991.
The resolution opens with the assertion that “Morgan has stated publicly his intention as speaker to defeat his political enemies within the Republican House Caucus.” It ends by authorizing the state chairman “to further the Republican cause by lending aid and support to Republican primary opponents of Richard Morgan in any manner he sees as expedient and prudent.”
Joe Boylan, who has announced his intention to oppose Morgan in the 2006 primary election, is mentioned in the resolution as “at least one publicly announced candidate.”
Owen said the state action represents an effort of the state committee to take over the county party and expressed the opinion that “they just re-elected Richard Morgan.”
“Richard Morgan is Moore County’s elected official,” Owen said. “To me, the state party is trying to inject themselves into our county business. I reject this idea and resent their trying to do so.”
Owen said that he intends to conduct the business of the Moore County Republican Party in a fair and impartial manner and to encourage Republicans to run for office to the best of his ability.
“Our people will not just roll over and do what they tell us to do,” he said. “They can’t tell us what to think, or how to vote or what to do.”
Owen was one of several persons who spoke against the resolution when it was introduced Saturday.
Resolution in Compliance
Bill Peaslee, an attorney and chief of staff to the state Republican Party, said Monday that the resolution was in compliance with the party’s Plan of Organization, which serves as the party’s state constitution.
Peaslee quoted the Plan of Organization as saying that “each officer and each member of the State Executive Commit-tee shall refrain from utilizing the powers and dignity of his or her office or position in any Republican primary for public office at any level.”
Peaslee said that the committee decided the resolution does not break that provision of the plan because the clause applies to individuals, not to the committee as a body. He said the issue had been debated, but the decision was reached that the prohibition applies to “each official and each member,” not the committee as a whole.
Asked about rumors that he and Ferrell Blount, the state chairman, had written the resolution and delivered it, Peaslee scoffed and said they had nothing to do with the resolution other than complying with a request by the Wake County party to place it on the agenda.
“It originated out of the Wake County Party,” said Peaslee, adding that it “passed by an overwhelming majority. They asked us to put it on the agenda.”
Chris Farr, chairperson of the 4th District Executive Committee, made the motion to adopt the resolution, Peaslee reported.
‘Outraged’
Morgan supporters objected strongly to the action.
Joan Thurman, who helped with Morgan’s 2004 campaign, along with her husband, Bill Thurman, said the meeting was not well attended and that fewer than 25 percent of the committee was present.
“I was outraged,” she said.
Owen spoke against the resolution on the floor during the meeting, as did several other opponents.
Among the opponents who spoke up during the discussion was state Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry, a former state legislator.
“It’s my job to encourage candidates,” Owen said.
He said it is not his job to promote individual candidates within the party until after primary elections and the opponent is a member of another party.
“We criticize liberal judges for making law from the bench. This is close to writing the law from the podium.”
Owen said the Moore County Party now ranks among the leading GOP counties in North Carolina. Not only does the county hold a large majority of registrants here, but it is also a major contributor to GOP coffers and boasts record turnout at the polls on every election day, he said.
In the last six months alone, he said, Republicans have added about 230 registrants to the Moore County books, and it isn’t even a general election year. He said the county has the largest Republican men’s club in the state and the largest Republican women’s club in the state.
“I work hard at this job,” Owen said. “I may appear to be a dumb country boy, and I joke a lot, but I’m serious about this work.
“This is not just a casual thing. This is a tremendous breaking with tradition, something that Republicans hold sacred. I cannot accept the state coming into our county and taking over,” Owen said.
Owen said that if the county has problems within the party, it would deal with them at the local level. The party has not asked the state party to deal with issues for the local party, he said.
Owen said the state party is “on a slippery slope trying to rewrite our constitution.”
‘Gratified and Humbled’
Boylan, the one announced candidate against Morgan, said Tuesday that he was grateful for the state support for his campaign.
“I’m really gratified and humbled to get this support from across the state,” he said. “I’m running to represent Moore County conservative values, and it’s really humbling to have this support.”
Boylan said it was his understanding that this was only the second time in state history that such a resolution has passed the state committee.
This will be Boylan’s first try at public office, and he said that he is studying campaign requirements in an effort to avoid rookie mistakes. He said he is unaware of any other Republican candidates for the state House seat.
Morgan was in Florida for a conference early this week, and The Pilot was unable to reach him for comment.
Boylan is not a committee member and did not attend the Saturday afternoon meetings.
One of Boylan’s supporters, Elizabeth Kelly, did attend as an observer. The immediate past chair of the Moore County Republican Party, Kelly stirred controversy herself last year when she went on public record as supporting Morgan’s opponent in the primary, Peggy Cructhfield. Such support for one candidate over another from the same party is a rarity.
Kelly said that many people who voted for the resolution were not really all that happy with the resolution but “they saw it as a necessity because of the problems created” by Morgan’s actions. She said that many Republicans see Morgan as playing more with the opposing team than with his own team.
Brad McNeill of Robbins, also a Boylan supporter, accompanied Kelly to Raleigh for the committee meeting. Kelly did not remain for the GOP Hall of Fame awards banquet that night, but McNeill and Boylan did attend. The two men drove home together after the banquet.
“I heard that people were standing in line to meet Joe at the banquet Saturday night,” Kelly said. “Joe has become an overnight celebrity.”
‘Culpable of Disloyalty’
The resolution lists, among other things, complaints about Morgan’s involvement in adoption of “redistricting maps that likely prevented the Republican Party from obtaining a Republican majority” in the House last year.
It says that Morgan has joined plaintiffs in legal actions “designed and contrived to prevent a Republican majority” and also “refused to vote for either of the Republican House Caucus nominees for speaker of the House in 2003.”
The controversial action in 2003 came about when the House was evenly divided between the parties and the Republicans were not decisive about their candidate for the speaker’s position. Morgan formed a coalition of GOP members and came out as the party nominee.
Because of the even split, the legislature elected, for the first time in history, two speakers, known as co-speakers of the House. Morgan served in that capacity during the 2003-04 sessions. This year, however, Democrats hold a majority and elected Jim Black as speaker and Morgan was chosen as speaker pro tempore. Black is the Democrat with whom Morgan shared speakership duties in 2003 and 2004.
The resolution says that Morgan’s action in the co-speakership effort “falls within the meaning of ‘influencing the outcome of any election against a Republican endorsed by the appropriate Legislative Cau-cus.’”
It recalls the executive committee’s 2004 action to remove Morgan from membership in the committee and repeats charges that he was “culpable of disloyalty.”
The resolution also says that Morgan “publicly criticized” Republican gubernatorial candidate Patrick Ballantine and worked against his election.
The resolution closes with “therefore be it resolved that the North Carolina Republican State Executive Committee urges the Republican voters of Moore County to select a Republican nominee other than Richard Morgan for the N.C. House of Representatives.” It ends by authorizing the state chairman, Ferrell Blount, to work toward election of Morgan’s primary election opponent.
In addition to the Owens, Kelly and Brad McNeill, others attending the committee meeting from Moore County included Bill and Joan Thurman, Ellis Hardison and his wife, Gail Prevatte of the Young Republicans, Lee Settle, president of the North Carolina Federation of Republican Men, and Elizabeth Kelly, immediate past chairperson of the Moore County Party.
Florence Gilkeson can be reached at 947-4962 or by e-mail at florence@thepilot.com.
