Charges, counter-charges flying in NC gubernatorial race

We’re a month away from North Carolina’s primary election and it’s not just the presidential race that’s heating up. Charges and counter charges have been flying in the North Carolina gubernatorial race.

State Treasurer Richard Moore and Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue are at odds over multiple radio and TV ads. We often see political advertisements that can turn into attack ads.

A recent issue to arise is a radio ad sponsored by the National Education Association praising Perdue’s work for North Carolina schools.

Moore’s campaign filed a complaint with the state Board of Elections, claiming the NEA supports Perdue in the ad, which by law, it’s not allowed to do.

“It is possible for an interest group to cross the line by advocating indirectly so strongly for a candidate that even though they don’t say vote for candidate x, that clearly is the intent of the ad.”

Roger Lowery is the chair of the public and international affairs department at UNCW. He says there’s a gray area when it comes to candidate advocacy versus issue advocacy.

“The law is not crystal clear on when the line is crossed.”

In the case of the NEA ad, the Board of Elections responded by saying the ad doesn’t use what it calls magic words, such as: “elect,” “vote for” and “support.”

Lowery says there are some North Carolina public interest groups pushing to get stricter campaign finance restrictions in place — more along the lines of what we see at the federal level.