House 6 race takes an ignivomous turn | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

    There is now less than a week left before the run-off election for House District 6. It has turned out that the biggest issue of the campaign has come down to something neither candidate is talking about. It is an anonymous flyer that has been mailed to a number of people in the District.

    The flyer appears at first glance to be an attack on Arthur Williams' campaign manager Ashley Woolard, and by implication on Williams. The single page mailer in a plain envelope with no return address on it and no legal label saying who paid for it reviews the allegations made in a domestic dispute between Woolard and his wife and mentions a business dispute involving a suit filed by a bank against Woolard.

    Our first assumption, when we received a copy in the mail from someone to whom it was sent, was that it came from the Lawson camp. So we immediately contacted Mattie Lawson and ask her about it. She had not seen the flyer but had heard about it. She not only categorically denied being behind it but also condemned any such tactics. When we asked her for a comment for the record she simply said: "Neither I nor anyone I know of had anything to do with this flyer. I really don't even want to comment on it and would hope you (the Observer) would not even give it any publicity." We also checked with Hood Richardson, who heads Lawson's campaign committee in Beaufort County, and he too categorically denied having anything to do with it, or even that he knew who was involved. Likewise, we have been unable to find anyone who does know who the author was or who was behind the mailings. But there is no shortage of people who are speculating what is behind the flyer.

    One of the most frequently mentioned speculations was that it was Arthur Williams himself. That theory is that the mailer was designed to make it look like it came from the Lawson camp and thus to cast dispersion on her. "It is so despicable most people would react negatively to it and would assume it was meant to give Mattie an advantage," one knowledgeable source who declined to be identified said: "This kind of thing fits a pattern with Arthur. Several years ago he did something similar to this. His camp sent out some mailers that were apparently designed to fool black voters who did not know him into thinking he was a black candidate.

    We have not solicited a comment from Williams, following a long-standing policy at the Observer that we cease seeking comments once a person has refused to respond three times. Williams has never responded to any of our offers to publish his comments, even while serving in office.

    The second most frequently mentioned speculation we have received was that the mailer came from the divorce dispute between Woolard and his wife. That theory is based on an assumption that such disputes are often acrimonious and the fact that most of the actual verbiage in the flyer focuses on the accusations Woolard's wife made in the divorce filing.

    The flyer was a topic of conversation among attendees at Saturday's (7-7-12) Third District GOP meeting in Kinston. Woolard was elected as one the District's presidential electors at the recent convention. That position is mainly one of symbolism and is typically considered an honor. The flyer provoked discussions about whether Woolard should now be removed from that position.

    Woolard did not attend the GOP meeting. His cohort and co-manager of Williams' campaign, Bill Tarpenning did attend and spoke as Williams' surrogate. At the conclusion of Tarpenning's speech on Williams' behalf there was only a scattering of polite applause, contrasted with a rousing response to Lawson's comments.

    The Williams campaign has split the local Republican party. Many longtime Republicans see Williams' recent switch of parties after decades of being a Democrat as political opportunism. A growing number of conservative Republicans do not view Williams as an honest Republican, pointing to his prior support for Jim Black, Mike Easley, Bev. Perdue and Barack Obama. Some believe he switched from Democrat to Republican after the Democrats jilted him in filling Marc Basnight's seat when Basnight resigned.

    "I believe if Arthur were to get the GOP nomination that it would insure the election of Democrat Paul Tine," said Hood Richardson. He went on to say: "Most true Republicans could not vote for Arthur under any circumstances and would either vote for Paul or simply sit out that race. The way the numbers fall out in the district Arthur cannot win without strong grassroots Republican support. The political machine in Raleigh that 'selected' Arthur made a bad mistake and if we don't get Mattie elected our seat in the House will be held by a Democrat who will have zero effectiveness in representing this district if the Democrats remain in the minority."

    When asked if he thought this split in the GOP might be behind the flyer, Richardson said: "No way. That would not make any sense. I am absolutely confident Mattie had nothing to do with it. If any of Mattie's supporters were going to do an anonymous mailer it would not make sense to attack Ashley. Ashley is already toast in the GOP. And there is more than enough dirt out there on Arthur that could have been used to go after him if that is the road we wanted to travel. Take the Coeur deal as one example. Take his support of ObamaCare as another. Lawson's supporters have been more than kind to Arthur considering what they could have done. No, I don't think Republicans are behind the mailer. I think I would know if that were true. I would tend to side with those who think Arthur is actually behind it. He would certainly throw Ashley under the bus if he thought for a minute that he could garner some sympathy or generate a backlash against Mattie. Arthur needs any distraction he can get from his record as a liberal Democrat and this mailer may just be his way of trying to create a diversion from his record."

    The flyer has certainly been a distraction from the important issues in the campaign.