RALEIGH, N.C. – The chairman of the Wake County Republican Party wants to lead the North Carolina GOP.

David Robinson said Tuesday he will seek the party chairmanship during the state Republican convention in June. Current chairwoman Linda Daves has said she won’t seek another two-year term.

Robinson said he has a long record of Republican activism and believes the party must use every method of modern communication to tell its story. Robinson also currently serves as the state party’s assistant treasurer.
 
Former Guilford County chairman Marcus Kindley also has entered the race.

Former state senator and gubernatorial candidate Fred Smith has decided not to seek the job. He told The News & Observer of Raleigh he needs to focus on his family and business interests.

RALEIGH, N.C. – North Carolina Republican Party chairwoman Linda Daves says she won’t seek another term as head of the state GOP.

Daves said Tuesday it is healthy for the party to take on fresh leadership. She will step aside at the end of her term in June, when the party will elect a new leader at its convention.

Daves became party’s chairwoman in 2006 after Ferrell Blount stepped down. She was elected to the position in 2007, vowing to aggressively target Democrats.

She did just that in the presidential race, and drew scorn from GOP presidential candidate John McCain when the state party aired a television ad showing the fiery remarks of President-elect Barack Obama’s former pastor.

Daves defended the ad, and refused McCain’s call to pull it off the air.