Harvey West: ‘I TRIED to warn Whatley, NCGOP’
The US Senate campaigns in North Carolina are busily running criminal background checks on everyone who appears (or who has appeared) within a radius of 20 feet of either of the two major party candidates. The latest sex offender revelation has someone who knows a thing or two about how convicted sex offenders can impact a Senate campaign offering up his two cents:
[…] In an interview, West said he has always been transparent with party leaders about his past and noted that the main job he held in the state GOP was an elected position. He acknowledged, however, that he had been appointed to other roles when Whatley was chairman.
“I’m not going to say Michael Whatley put me up there,” West said. “But I wasn’t taken off either.”
West said he has sought to atone for his past and expressed frustration that his conviction had become a campaign issue.
“I wanted to serve as I followed my own redemption path. We have a right to be part of the political process,” West said. “For 20 years, I have been upfront and open about who I am and what happened to me. Not everyone does that.”
West also said he was familiar with King’s convictions and warned others in the party about associating with the pastor when he was considered for a GOP position. “I just said, ‘Hey, y’all might want to take a look at this,’” said West.
