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State Rep. Allred says he's leaving Republican Party
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Published: May 22, 2009
RALEIGH
State Rep. Cary Allred, facing calls from fellow Republicans to resign his seat, declared Thursday that he plans to reregister as unaffiliated after a report critical of his behavior on April 27.
In that report, other GOP lawmakers harshly assessed the Alamance County Republican's actions.
Some said he smelled of alcohol, and most said they thought he behaved inappropriately during debate and toward a young volunteer that evening, the News & Record of Greensboro reported.
"I think I've been stabbed in the back by my Republican colleagues," Allred said Thursday.
When asked if he was sure he would switch his party affiliation to unaffiliated, Allred said, "I'm pretty damned sure."
On his way to an evening session of the General Assembly on April 27, Allred was stopped by a state trooper for speeding102 mph on Interstate 40. He flashed his legislative identification and was only charged four days later after news of the stop became public.
Once he arrived in Raleigh, colleagues say that Allred was overly combative during floor debate, several times defying calls by House Speaker Joe Hackney, a Democrat, to focus on the bill under debate.
And finally, colleagues say Allred embraced a House page in what one colleague described as a "gruesome bear hug." Accounts differ on whether Allred kissed the 17-year-old girl either on the cheek or lips.
Allred denies kissing the girl on the lips and said that he lives near the teenager and she is "like my granddaughter."
Hackney ordered House Sergeant at Arms Robert Samuels to compile a report on the incident. In that report, it was Allred's fellow Republicans who were most critical.
Rep. Daniel "Danny" McComas, a Republican from Wilmington, likened Allred to a "bomb that could explode at any time."
Rep. Mitchell Setzer, a Catawba Republican, said of Allred's behavior, "I have never witnessed anything as unsettling as this in the 11 years that I have been a member of the General Assembly."
Allred said he was undecided on whether he would switch back to the GOP to run again in 2010 or whether he would run as an unaffiliated candidate.
"That would certainly be an historical event here in North Carolina, wouldn't it?" Allred said.
Unaffiliated candidates rarely make it on the ballot, much less win .
Fellow legislators said they don't think Samuels' report was overly harsh.
Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam, an Apex Republican and his party's leader in the House, said he thought the report as a whole gave an accurate picture of the April 27 incident.
N.C. Republican Party Chairman Linda Daves called on Allred to resign his legislative seat Thursday, basing her call not on Allred's threat to leave the party but the behavior detailed in the House report.
"I am asking Cary Allred to resign his seat in the N.C. General Assembly," Daves wrote in an e-mail late Thursday. In a letter to Allred, Daves wrote, "By your actions, you have sacrificed the privilege you hold to serve in public office."
Allred said he did not think he would be hampered in his job as a legislator by leaving the Republican party. He noted that members of the GOP were often hamstrung in their efforts by Democrats who hold the majority in the chamber.
"The Democrats can go to hell, and so can the Republicans," Allred said.
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