High Court Hopeful: Foe Violated Hatch Act

By JIMMY RYALS Washington Daily News

A state Supreme Court candidate this week accused her opponent of breaking a federal regulation.

Rachel Lea Hunter accused Paul Newby Tuesday of violating the Hatch Act, which forbids federal employees from running in partisan political elections.

The 2004 election marks the first time in North Carolina history that races for the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals to be nonpartisan.

Hunter claims, however, that endorsement by a political party changes a race from nonpartisan to partisan.

"It's my understanding from discussions and from what I've read that that is what has happened here," Hunter said.

The North Carolina Republican Party endorsed Newby on Aug. 21.

Hunter said she has been in contact with federal officials about the potential violation and added that she is not Newby's "judge and jury."

She said it remains for federal officials to decide the issue.

(See the October 23 edition of the Washington Daily News for the remainder of the article.)