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"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
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A State House Divided
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Race
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| Contributor | Chronicler |
| Last Edited | Chronicler Aug 27, 2006 03:40pm |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Sunday, May 14, 2006 09:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | by Rob Christensen
The question haunting state House Democrats is this: Is Edd Nye the canary in the mineshaft?
Nye, a veteran lawmaker and close ally of House Speaker Jim Black, was defeated in the Democratic primary this month.
Nye's ties to Black were not specifically mentioned by his opponent, William Brisson, a popular former county commissioner.
But someone tacked on Nye's campaign signs a photograph of Black with the following words -- "House for Sale."
"I think it had an effect," said Nye, a 73-year-old insurance agent who was first elected to the House in 1975.
Nye's defeat is one reason it was an edgy group of lawmakers that returned to Raleigh last week. Was it a hint of things to come in November -- like the canary who first breathes in the poison fumes?
Black is under a cloud, with a federal grand jury, federal and local prosecutors, the State Board of Elections and the media breathing down his neck.
Signs abound that Republicans will try to tie Black around Democrats' necks in November. It won't take much to shift the partisan balance in the state House, where Democrats hold a slim 63-57 margin.
This session looks like Black's last hurrah. Even if Democrats retain control of the House, many Democrats will be looking for new leadership after eight years under the Mecklenburg County optometrist.
If House Democrats are unhappy, House Republicans are not in a much better mood.
They have just gone through another bruising primary in which the party marshaled its resources to topple Richard Morgan, the former House co-speaker and the highest-ranking Republican in the legislature.
Rep. Robert Grady, 56, a Jacksonville merchant, feels as if he's in the middle of a civil war.
There was an effort bankrolled by Raleigh retail executive Art Pope to oust Grady in the GOP primary. Grady survived when his major opponent, former state Sen. Tommy Pollard, was ruled ineligible because he did not live in the district.
Pollard ha |
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