Boylan is president of the Moore County Republican Men’s Club, described as the largest GOP men’s club in North Carolina.
A California native, Boylan made his concerns public in an article that first appeared in an October edition of The North Carolina Conservative, an online newspaper. He cited his goal to work toward full Republican control of the North Carolina General Assembly.
Despite his remarks in The Conservative, Boylan said Wednesday that he has not made a firm decision yet about launching a campaign for the N.C. House of Representatives. However, he acknowledged that he has accepted an invitation to address a Nov. 12 breakfast meeting of the Triangle West Republican Club.
Boylan said he recognizes that “Richard generates a lot of passion” but said it was not his intention to engage in a personal attack type of campaign.
“If I decide to run, it won’t be about Richard and me,” he said. “It won’t be a personality contest.”
Morgan, who has served in the legislature since 1991, is expected to seek re-election next year. He served as co-speaker of the House in the 2003-04 session of the General Assembly and in earlier years served as chairman of the Rules Committee and as minority leader.
The Pilot was unable to reach Morgan for comment.
In the online article, Boylan said North Carolina has potential as a “Republican stronghold,” but the party “has been held back by division, disloyalty and the self-interested actions of a few.” He added that North Carolina Republicans should not “settle for the crumbs that Democrats” scatter to the GOP.
“Low taxes, limited government, and traditional moral values are the principles that provide the foundation of our Party,” he wrote. “These are the principles that motivate volunteers of all ages to hammer political signs in the ground and make telephone calls to get out the Republican vote.”
Boylan said these are the same principles that inspire donors to the Republican Party.
“Why should we settle for anything less than Republican control, a Republican legislative agenda, and a complete end to the Democratic old boys’ network in our state?” Boylan wrote.
He went on to call Morgan “a part of this old boys’ network” and added his belief that “this man has set back Republican progress in our state significantly.”
Boylan reviewed the events in 2003 when Morgan cut a power-sharing deal with the Democratic leadership to establish a history-making coalition leading to the first House co-speakership in North Carolina. Morgan and Democrat Jim Black were elected co-speakers. Black is now speaker.
The co-speakership arrangement came about when a Republican member of the House switched affiliation, erasing the one-seat majority held by the GOP.
At the time the Republicans were tied up in gridlock and could not reach agreement on their candidate for speaker. The defection of Michael Decker of Winston-Salem left the House with a 60-60 split between the parties and the ultimate coalition peaked with the co-speakership. Decker later switched back to the GOP but was defeated in the Republican primary last year.
In 2004, Democrats won back the House but rewarded Morgan with his new title of speaker pro tempore.
The 2003 coalition “gave Morgan power, prestige and perks,” according to Boylan.
“He (Morgan) used his power to engineer a $1 billion tax increase and left Republican volunteers and activists wondering if we would ever reach the mountaintop,” Boylan wrote. “I, for one, am determined that we reach it.”
Boylan also takes aim at “government slush funds,” something that he says he would fight to end.
This was a reference to the controversy arising this year about the use of discretionary funds available to leaders of both parties in the 2004-05 sessions. Although the principal criticism was aimed at Jim Black and Senate leader Marc Basnight, both Democrats, Morgan also figured in that controversy.
Morgan secured more than $1 million in grants to Moore County and nonprofits here and elsewhere in the state.
“I want real Republican control, because the people of Moore County deserve conservative representation,” Boylan wrote. “It’s also a noble goal because our State needs a dramatic overhaul of its state government, not a pale imitation of its current form.”
Boylan said he would also work for session limits and an end of expansion of state bureaucracy.
Like Morgan, Boylan is a lifetime Republican and Republican activist. A graduate of the University of Southern California with a degree in finance, Boylan worked 17 years as a commercial banker and for the past eight years has operated small businesses. He and his wife, Linda, have a son at Wake Forest University and a daughter in high school.
Florence Gilkeson can be reached at 947-4962 or by e-mail at florence@thepilot.com.
