#NCSEN: Tillis responds to elections complaint
House speaker Thom Tillis has come out of hiding, thrown on his Big Boy Pants™, and hand-delivered a personal response to the state Board of Elections regarding allegations made by a former legislator:
l am in receipt of your letter dated March 31, 2014, in which you provided a copy of a complaint filed by John Rhodes. In 2006. Mr. Rhodes had an opportunity to campaign against me. At the end of that campaign, the people of our House District chose to support me by a 2-1 margin. Some eight years later, Mr. Rhodes is still campaigning against me, but this time he is doing so under the auspices of an elections complaint. For the reasons that follow, I respectfully request that Mr. Rhodes’ complaint be dismissed.
Let’s see. Rhodes’ complaint was based on publicity surrounding the GOP appointments to the UNC Board of Governors. Tillis forced a re-vote on board candidates by the caucus when one of his favored choices did not get approved. The N&O reprinted an email from Tillis to caucus members saying that they need to reconsider Tillis’ choice, because that man had dumped more than $100,000 into Tillis’ campaign fund and the House GOP caucus campaign fund.
Rather than provide you with verifiable facts, it appears Mr. Rhodes’ intent is to leave you with the impression that my campaign finance filings have been incomplete or that contributions may have influenced actions I have taken as the Speaker of the House.
Verifiable facts? The media had an email from Mr. Big Boy Pants™, himself. Rhodes based his complaint on the publicly-available information in The N&O’s reporting.
Just to address any such innuendo head on: I have never solicited or accepted anything of value, including any campaign contribution for myself or anyone else, in exchange for a promise to vote or take any official action on any subject whatsoever.
Soooooo …. it’s just a coincidence that a lending company hosted a fundraiser for Tillis just DAYS after Tillis ushered a bill the lender favored through the House. I guess it was also a coincedence that Tillis spoke out in favor of state movie incentives just days before getting a boat-load of cash from studio executives who stand to benefit from that state money.
More specifically, I have never solicited or accepted any form of support in exchange for an agreement to support an individual for election to the University of North Carolina Board of Governors.
Sooo — this South Carolina resident just GAVE ol’ Thom $100K for no particular reason? (I need to meet this guy.) Why did Tillis use the man’s financial largesse and “generosity” as a reason for reconsidering him for a seat on the UNC Board of Governors?
If you have specific questions or need additional information, I hope you will feel free to contact me at your convenience.
Hmmm. I hope the state board of elections has better luck with that than GOP primary voters and debate organizers have had.
Of course this is going to be dealt with by the Board of Elections first. One has to remember that the Establishment Republican majority on that board coddles Democrats, sweeps things under the rug for establishment Republicans, and comes down like a ton of bricks at any trivial excuse against conservative Republicans, grassroots Republicans, and Tea Partiers. I suspect the skids have already been greased for a dismissal for Tilli$. I was surprised that Rhodes even bothered with these toadies. They will certainly want to rush out to Tilli$’ defense before the primary.
I suspect that the cover up for Tilli$ will be a quite different operation than the kangaroo court they gave that conservative Beaufort County BOE member. With this crowd, it all depends on which side of the fence someone is on.
I also wonder if Rhodes sent his missile to the FBI, US Attorney, or those investigating political corruption in the Charlotte area. If he did, I suspect they will sit on it until after the primary, mostly for political reasons. Democrats want Tilli$ as the one they run against, and the poll results tell you why, but the target rich environment that his record creates is also a strong factor in that.
Tillis expects to win with more signs and name recognition. My Brannon bumper stickers remain on my vehicles.