RALEIGH, N.C. – A former Board of Transportation member who helped raise money for Republican Pat McCrory’s gubernatorial campaign faced conflict-of-interest allegations nearly 20 years ago.

McCrory attended a fundraiser last week where Tommy Pollard, a board member from 1985 to 1990, said he helped raised more than $50,000, The News & Observer reported Thursday, citing an internal campaign document about the Emerald Isle event.

McCrory’s campaign has no plans to return the money. The Charlotte mayor has, however, called on Democratic nominee Beverly Perdue to give back donations linked to a Perdue fundraiser and board member facing similar conflict questions. The board member, Louis Sewell of Jacksonville, resigned from the powerful panel last week.

Jack Hawke, McCrory’s chief campaign consultant, said the Pollard situation is very different from Sewell.
 
“It’s a bogus story to compare someone who is – as a volunteer citizen of the state of North Carolina with no power – out raising money, compared to someone who is sitting on the Board of Transportation and is using that position to raise money,” Hawke said. “What happened … years ago has nothing to do with what’s happening today.”

The Perdue campaign said Thursday that McCrory should back the lieutenant governor’s proposal of a private endowment that would give funds to candidates who agree to fundraising restrictions.

“If Pat McCrory believes his own words he should join Bev Perdue in supporting campaign finance reform that would take the big money out of gubernatorial elections,” Perdue campaign spokesman David Kochman said.

The State Bureau of Investigation examined in 1989 whether Pollard, also a former state senator, violated the law by pushing for 10 traffic lights at an intersection where he owned property that he later sold. The probe also examined whether he steered the course of a road extension in Jacksonville to benefit landowners from whom he raised political contributions, the newspaper reported.

Investigators said no laws were broken, but then-Attorney General Lacy Thornburg said the law needed to be improved to address conflict of interests.

McCrory has pledged not to put fundraisers on the DOT board, including Pollard, Hawke said.
 
Pollard told the newspaper he would have not sought public money for the intersection if he had it to do over again.

“Anything that you do in government, particularly on the Board of Transportation, that slightly resembles favoritism is a no-no,” Pollard said.

Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin will be in Greensboro Oct. 16 for a fundraiser.

RALEIGH, N.C. — N.C. Board of Transportation member Louis W. Sewell Jr. on Tuesday canceled a fundraiser for Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, hours after Perdue equivocated about whether she would attend, the N&O reports.

RALEIGH, N.C. – A state Board of Transportation member under scrutiny for steering public money to projects near family properties is hosting a fundraiser for Beverly Perdue.

Louis Sewell and his wife are holding a campaign event Thursday for the Democratic candidate for governor.

The event is scheduled after a newspaper report this weekend questioned Sewell’s efforts to get $375,000 in transportation projects going near properties he or his son co-owned.

Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett has referred the situation to the State Ethics Commission.

Perdue told The Charlotte Observer on Tuesday she supports the ethics investigation. It was unclear whether she would attend the fundraiser.

Republican candidate Pat McCrory has said Perdue should return more than $30,000 in contributions from Sewell and family members.

RALEIGH, N.C. — The John McCain campaign will host a victory 2008 party and fundraiser in Raleigh Monday with Fred Thompson.

A party in Charlotte will take place earlier in the day, while the Raleigh event is from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Cardinal Club. Pictures will be taken for $1,000. Reception tickets are $500.

RSVP to NCGOP Finance Director, Megan Varsamis (919) 828-6423 or by email to varsamis@ncgop.org.

ATLANTA (AP) – John McCain raised more than $1.75 million for Republicans Monday at a fundraiser clouded by confusion over the role of a political operative connected to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The downtown event was promoted by Ralph Reed, a former head of the Christian Coalition. McCain’s campaign said the event was organized by the Republican National Committee – not Reed, who was linked to the Abramoff scandal that McCain investigated in the Senate.

McCain didn’t raise the issue during his 22-minute appearance. Instead, he thanked donors to the Republicans’ umbrella campaign fund.

“Everybody in this room could be someplace else,” the Arizona senator told the crowd of several hundred. “Everybody in this room could be donating to some other cause or to their own well-being. But I want to thank you.”

Reed was not seen inside the hotel ballroom; a McCain campaign spokeswoman said he did not attend. But Democrat Barack Obama’s rival presidential campaign sought to make him an issue, asking how much Reed-linked money was raised or would be kept.

“Faced with the embarrassing prospect of holding a fundraiser with one of Jack Abramoff’s closest associates, the McCain campaign scrambled today to scratch Ralph Reed from tonight’s program, but voters deserve to know the answers to the real questions raised by Reed’s involvement,” Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

“If the McCain campaign won’t return the money Reed has raised for them, then voters should rightly ask why it matters that Reed didn’t show up at tonight’s event. The real question isn’t why Reed isn’t showing up, but why a so-called reformer would invite him at all.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last week that Reed said he had agreed to be on McCain’s “Victory 2008 Team.” In a follow-up statement to reporters, he said he has no position in the McCain campaign.

Reed did not return telephone calls Monday seeking comment.

McCain adviser Mark Salter said Reed sent the messages on his own and was not coordinating with the campaign. McCain led a Senate investigation into Abramoff’s dealings with Indian tribes, which included information about his ties to Reed.

A House investigative committee in 2006 did not call Reed as a witness, but concluded that he interceded with the Bush White House to help some of Abramoff’s clients. Reed’s public relations firm also received $4.2 million from Abramoff to mobilize Christian voters to fight the opening of casinos that could compete with Abramoff’s Indian tribe clients.

Reed later said he regretted the actions, which contributed to his 2006 Republican primary loss in a bid to be Georgia’s lieutenant governor. Abramoff went to prison for conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion.

McCain did not mention Reed or Abramoff, but decried the “extreme left-wing organization” of MoveOn.org and Obama’s policies.

“I respect Sen. Obama for his victory. I respect his candidacy,” McCain said. “And I will always have admiration for what he’s been able to achieve. But I can also tell you there are very stark differences for the future of this country, and we will continue to draw them.”