LaRoque makes second accusation of negative campaigning

Although the campaign for the 10th House district is only officially about three weeks old, the accusations and counter-accusations are flying back and forth between opponents Stephen LaRoque and Van Braxton.

LaRoque, the Republican candidate, took Democrat Braxton to task about negative campaigning for the second time in the race on Thursday.

He issued a press release after learning that pollsters had contacted local voters on behalf of Braxton and made what LaRoque called "false and malicious statements" about his record while serving in the N.C. House from 2003-2006.

"My opponent isn't interested in solving the problems facing eastern North Carolina," LaRoque said in the statement. "Instead, he is spending all his time and money playing political games and trying to mislead voters about me." 

LaRoque accused Braxton of "push-polling," or conducting negative campaigning under the guise of standard telephone polling. He said two supporters in Wayne and Greene counties had contacted him after receiving calls from the pollsters.

A statement posted on the American Association for Public Opinion Research's Web site characterized push polling as "rather unethical political telemarketing - telephone calls disguised as research that aim to persuade large numbers of voters and affect election outcomes, rather than measure opinions."

LaRoque, who will formally kick off his campaign later this month, issued a statement last month demanding that Braxton apologize for remarks he made during his campaign kickoff ceremony.

Braxton told supporters at the time that LaRoque's campaign had mailed postcards to voters attacking his first-term record. LaRoque denied mailing any postcards and demanded an apology.

"The people deserve an honest debate on the issues, not this type of gutter politics," he said.

He reiterated Thursday that he wants to focus on issues such as protecting property rights, the death penalty, state spending policies and others.

"I have never personally attacked Van Braxton and I don't plan on personally attacking Van Braxton," he said.

Braxton acknowledged Thursday that his campaign had authorized the N.C. Democratic Party to conduct the polls, but said they were designed to learn 10th District voters' views on the issues affecting them.

"I don't know that I've done anything derogatory," he said. "(Telephone polling is) a standard campaign tool; we look to see what the issues are in the district and what's on the voters' minds."

Braxton accused LaRoque of "looking for anything where he can stir the pot and get a little free publicity."

He also said he wants to focus on pertinent issues, such as economic growth, education, jobs, promoting tourism and developing local infrastructure to support Spirit, Sanderson and Reliance.

"That's what our campaign's going to be about," Braxton said. "It's not going to be about petty sniping and innuendo and who did what."

Kerra Bolton, spokeswoman for the N.C. Democrats, said Thursday that the party had hired the award-winning Mellman Group of Washington, D.C. to conduct the polls. She said the firm had signed an agreement not to do push polling.

"We have seen this in other parts of the state," she said. "Republicans are using this ploy to generate free publicity while launching negative attacks against Democrats."

David Anderson can be reached at (252) 559-1077 or danderson@freedomenc.com.