NC's Pitt GOP sues over Democratic group's methods

By: JournalNow Staff | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 26, 2008

GREENVILLE
The Pitt County Republican Party and a voter sued Thursday a national Democratic group and its sister organization in the state, arguing its methods to raise money to support legislative candidates breaks the law.
The complaint filed in Pitt Superior Court against the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee comes as the State Board of Elections has been investigating whether the group circumvents state barring corporate money in state campaigns.
The plaintiffs also want a judge to issue an injunction preventing the two groups from performing campaign transactions until the lawsuit is heard, arguing their actions would harm irreparably the Nov. 4 elections.
"The injunction sought in this lawsuit is essential to the voters in North Carolina if we are to have a fair and honest election conducted on a level playing field," said Kieran Shanahan, the plaintiffs' lawyer said in a news release.
Matt Compton, a spokesman for the DLCC in Washington, said the lawsuit would be dismissed.
"We feel that this is a classic publicity stunt lawsuit," he said. "There's nothing to it."
The GOP and voter Kimberley Hendrix allege that the DLCC accepts corporate contributions and transfers it to another group, called the DLCC North Carolina Political Action Committee, in violation of state law.
The lawsuit also says the national committee raises money unlawfully for the state group by raising money in its own name, then transferring those contributions to the state group, which reports the donations as its own.
The state group reported on its campaign finance disclosure that it has received $1.4 million in donations since early 2007, much coming from thousands of contributions of less than $100.
But at the same time, the group reported no expenses to solicit those donations, according to the lawsuit. That's proof the money is originating from the national committee but is being treated as state contributions, the plaintiffs say.
Shanahan wrote that the State Board of Elections is aware of the issue, citing an August memorandum by a board investigator that concludes the DLCC is not following state law. The board may consider new disclosure guidelines that these groups must follow, the lawsuit said.
State elections director Gary Bartlett didn't immediately return a phone call seeking comment Thursday evening.
The campaign finance reform group Democracy North Carolina filed a complaint with the elections board in late July about a political action committee of the Republican Governors Association.
The complaint said that the association earmarked donations it collected nationwide for the North Carolina campaign but treated them as if they were given directly to the new committee. The association said it was following state law.

NC's Pitt GOP sues over Democratic group's methods

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