Changes at the top for NCGOP?
The word is being disseminated that NCGOP chairman Claude Pope is not interested in a second go-around. Sources tell me that state GOP vice chairman Carolyn Justice is being quietly maneuvered to succeed Pope in the party’s top job.
Justice is a former legislator from Pender County best known as a lieutenant of former state Rep. Richard Morgan (R-Moore) in his 
alliance with Democrat Jim Black. When elected to replace Joyce Krawiec — who resigned her vice chairman post to take over a senate seat — Justice downplayed her role in the Morgan-Black affair in the state House. Folks down at the southeastern coast tell me they remember Justice going on talk radio — at the time — bemoaning all of the “unfair attacks” on “poor” Richard Morgan.
In 2002, The Republicans had a slim majority in the state House. It appeared that Leo Daughtry was going to be the Republican choice for speaker. A Forsyth County Republican defected to the Democrats, throwing the House into a tie. Suddenly, you had Justice and a handful of other GOPers backing a co-speakership deal involving Morgan and Black. House Republicans got more votes from the people, but got the short end of 
the stick in the Morgan-Black deal. Committees were stacked in favor of Democrats. Temporary taxes were made permanent. Spending grew. Republicans like Justice who backed the deal got some sweet deals out of that “special” arrangement. Meanwhile, Morgan and his team devoted a lot of time and energy to retaliating against Republicans who dared to question Morgan’s unholy arrangement with Black.
Well, it appears there is another person on the horizon with his sights set on the party chairmanship. Sources tell me that A.J. Daoud — a Pilot Mountain funeral home director and the current 6th District GOP chairman — is quietly rounding up support for a run at the party’s top spot in the state. Daoud ran unsuccessfully for secretary of state in the 2012 primaries. When it became clear he was not going to win, he played the part of ”good soldier” and hit the trail in support of the party’s other candidates.
Carolyn is a nice lady, and filled in as vice chair when we needed someone. Listen to her interview on WFAE from June (http://wfae.org/post/nc-state-republican-party).
Who has worked harder to unite Republicans from all parts of the state. If Carolyn is our next leader, I might be taking a break, but if it is AJ, I think we will be energized and ready to do the hard work to win in 2016.
Carolyn Justice would not be vice chairman except that her opponent did not actively campaign against her. Most Republicans did not know her sordid past. She is not acceptable to party loyalists as a chairman due to her alliance with Richard Turncoat Morgan.
Carolyn Justice also thumbed her nose at hard working party activists. For ten years, she held a seat on the State Republican Executive Committee by virtue of her House seat, and she failed to attend a single meeting. If the Governor endorses her, he will be kicking the party activists in the state in the teeth. I hope he does not want to go there.
Pope was on paper a good choice, a successful and well liked former county GOP chairman, who had campaign experience, a good fundraising record, and was on decent terms with all wings of the party.
The Morganites like Justice are the hard left of the party. They openly described themselves as moderates during the Black – Morgan regime. They made war on the rest of the party, and many in the rest of the party still do not trust them because of that.
Brant isn’t the only one who has “sources.” Mine have leaked that during the spring NC Federated Rep. Women’s Board Meeting, Carolyn was overheard engaging in some disparaging chatter about the Tea Party. Her ties to Richard Morgan while she was in the house definitely makes me question her leadership abilities and loyalty. We certainly need a “friendlier” face representing our party in the upcoming gubernatorial and presidential races.
Anything with past can’t be part of the future. That’s like nominating John McCrap as the GOP nominee. We have to start fresh. That’s another reason we need Tim Moore for speaker.
Tim Moore was too close to Terrible Thom Tillis. We need someone outside that circle as Speaker. But most importantly, we do not need a King Speaker, and we need to cut the powers of the office, and give them to the caucus as a whole.
That is not a recent pic of Justice. It may be very very old. A newer pic may give a different impression.
So might want to talk to the major donors who they like…. since the check off funds have ended. the next chair will need to be a massive fund raiser.
We do not need anyone who’s been in the legislature to be in a leadership position in the Party. And frankly, it’s time to change to Program of Organization to remove sitting legislators from the State Party Executive Committee.
Agreed on both. All legislators were put on the Executive Committee back when the GOP caucus could meet in a phone booth, and it may have made some sense then, It does not under the current circumstances. There have been instances where Tillis called a GOP House caucus meeting at the same place as the executive committee meetings to turn out his troops to influence what happened at a meeting. One of those was the election of Carolyn Justice. Even before Tillis, Skippy Stam did it to stop a grassroots effort to close our primaries. Let the House and Senate caucuses each elect 2 or 3 representatives to the excom, but it is insane to let every legislator be a member.
A.J. Daoud would be an excellent Chairman. He has been a great promoter of the party and has a larger than life personality that excites people.
As usual, Raph and Tox are right on the money. Justice would thin Party participation even further, and office holders should not be on the Exec. The NCGA should not run the Party. They’ve proven that. I could support AJ as Chair, but being the “Party” is tone deaf, I expect to see Justice as Chair. There I go again, think positive, think positive, think positive…. Wait, the Governors McCrory and Hunt are suing Phil and Thom, and Cooper says good job? My head hurts.
Did Karl Rove shoot Liberty Valance?
In the movie the man who shot Liberty Valance did not go to the Senate but the man who got credit for shooting Liberty Valance did serve.
In other words did Karl Rove shoot the NC Tea Party? The NC Tea Party did not as far as I know have any success. They failed to foil the election of Renee or Tholl Thoad Thom Thillis. Now they talk of taking out Senator Burr when they could not even get the “most qualified candidate that Glen Beck had ever seen” into a runoff with Thom. The NC Tea Party hemmed and hawed and then Karl blew the house down.
What candidate in his or her right mind would align themselves with the NC Tea Party in a primary battle with Senator Richard Burr?
What could the NC Tea Party offer?
It is not just the newcomers of the Tea Party. Many of us old time Ronald Reagan / Jesse Helms conservative activists also cannot stand Tillis or Burr or McConnell or Rove.
In 2014, conservatives had as our best choice a guy who would have been a great senator but who was a mediocre candidate and ran a poor campaign. Still, until Rove and the USCOC dumped in millions to buy the nomination for Tillis, Brannon was very competitive with him in the polls. What we need in 2016 is a better candidate and a better run campaign. We also need party leaders who will loudly denounce Rove if he tries to meddle in our primaries.
You say this like you’re glad Rove forced Tillis on the Republicans of NC. And you like what Burr stands for? Are you mad bro? Or are you just another Progressive Republican?
And then along came the report that Kay might run against Senator Burr in 2016.
I do not believe that for one minute. First of all she did not want to run in 2008 but only accepted after it looked like the gay guy from Chapel Hill would be the Democratic nominee. And she really wasn’t much of a firebrand in this election either. It did not seem she wanted the seat as much as Tholl Rhoad Thom.
If the Dems recycle Kay maybe they will recycle John Edwards. The Dems forgave Teddy Kennedy, Jesse Jackson and Bill Clinton. Where is the love for John?
I don’t care so much about who the Democrats run in 2016. I am concerned more about who conservatives run in the primary against him. We need to pull out all the stops in the primary to beat Burr.
Yes. Another good change to the POO is to repeal Article VII, Section G in it’s entirety. It wasn’t enacted to keep County Party leaders neutral in Primaries, but to keep them neutralized, which is a totally different thing. Our public “servants” don’t fear Parties in the era of SuperPACS and this is one reason why.
Exactly. When special interest superPACs are meddling in our primaries with millions of dollars, we do NOT need to hogtie grassroots party leaders. That just tilts the playing field in favor of the special interests. The grassroots needs to be able to fully fight back against the out of state big boys.
I would not like to see Justice get the NCGoP Chair’s seat. More insider trading and back room deals would ensue. I have seen her snub her nose at some ” yankees” long enough down in SENC. She “helped” her friend Bettie Fennell campaign against that hideous Senator Rabon in a primary and never gave some of the yankees on the campaign the time of day. But when she was running for Vice Chair of the GOP she suddenly became their BFF’s. NO thanks. My husband had her spotted as a fraud from day 1 of meeting her. Beware.
My understanding is the Pope will step down before his term is expired and a EC only meeting will elect the next Chair, thus avoiding the common delegate from voting on this.