RALEIGH — The head of the N.C. Republican Party said Monday that he is frustrated that the State Board of Elections hasn't dropped the hammer on Gov. Bev Perdue over campaign finance problems.
As he has in a series of news conferences held in the past several months, party Chairman Tom Fetzer said that Perdue, a Democrat, deserves a public hearing with sworn witnesses — the type of event the board held for former Democratic Gov. Mike Easley, who was eventually fined $100,000 for failing to disclose campaign flights.
"Why hasn't Gov. Perdue been put under oath to answer the same questions that Mike Easley has been asked?" Fetzer said at the party headquarters in Raleigh.
Perdue's campaign says it has been open and aggressive about finding and fixing problems in her campaign finance reports.
The elections board is looking into all gubernatorial candidates for the last two election cycles. The investigations take time, said Gary Bartlett, executive director of the elections board.
"We're working on it," Bartlett said. "I'm certain that what he is trying to do is keep everything in the public domain to keep doing what he thinks is right for his party. You just can't do everything instantly."
Campaign finances have become a political mud ball in the wake of Easley's hearing. Fetzer and the Republican party have been trying to link Perdue to Easley's troubles. Easley's administration has been the focus of a federal criminal investigation for about a year.
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