John Tedesco, the Republican nominee for state Schools Superintendent, is denying it was inappropriate for him to have taken campaign contributions from officers of a company that does business with the Wake County school system.

At last week's Wake school board meeting, Democratic activist Greg Flynn accused Tedesco, a Wake school board member since 2009, of a "breach of trust" for having taken the donations and voted for the contract with the company.

Tedesco said today that "we don't believe we did anything wrong" when his campaign accepted around $275 in campaign contributions from those people. But Tedesco said he'd be willing to return the money if he got legal advice that it was inappropriate for him to keep the "nominal amount."

Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo has raised a record total of more than $80,000 in her bid to unseat incumbent Kevin Hill.

New campaign finance reports made public today show that Losurdo had reported raising $82,357 through Oct. 24. The prior record was the $79,500 that conservative businessman Bob Luddy had raised, largely out of his own pocket, in his unsuccessful run for the school board in 1997.

Hill’s new report shows he’s raised $42,748 through Oct 24. While Hill has almost half of Losurdo’s total, outside groups not connected to his campaign have spent tens of thousands of dollars on mailers and television ads attacking Losurdo.

SEE END OF POST FOR REACTIONS FROM BOTH CAMPAIGNS

Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo has raised more than $30,000 in her bid to win the District 3 seat.

The new campaign finance report filed today shows that Losurdo had raised $30,529.55 as of Aug. 30 with $11,801.85 on hand. No updated reports are in yet for school board member Kevin Hill or challenger Jennifer Mansfield. Eric Squires doesn't have to file one because he's spending less than $1,000.

Losurdo's biggest donors in the new report are the $4,000 apiece from Art Pope, Katherine Pope and Bob Luddy.

Wake County school board chairman Ron Margiotta and Susan Evans are both pulling in substantial amounts of cash in the District 8 race, including money from the Popes, Bob Luddy and the Campbells.

The new campaign report filed today by Margiotta shows he had raised $40,367.33 as of Aug. 30 with $34,111.23 on hand. The new report for Evans shows she had raised $26,406.43 as of Aug. 30 with $21,405.30 on hand.

The biggest donors for Margiotta in his new report are the $4,000 apiece from conservative businessman Art Pope, his wife Katherine Pope and conservative businessman Bob Luddy.

There's no question this election cycle about conservative businessman Art Pope's direct financial involvement in the Wake County school board elections.

Campaign finance reports filed last week by school board candidate Donna Williams showed she had raised $22,456.33. That includes $4,000 from Pope, $4,000 from his wife and $4,000 from conservative businessman Bob Luddy.

Pope's role in the 2009 school board elections has been hotly debated. Pope has repeatedly pointed to how he only gave money to the Wake County Republican Party in 2009 and not to any individual school board candidates.

Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo has announced a new round of endorsements from Republican elected officials.

In a press release Friday, Losurdo said her campaign "is proud to announce the endorsement and full support of the following members of the North Carolina Legislature." She listed state Sen. Neal Hunt, state House Majority Leader Paul Stam, state Rep. Marilyn Avila and state Rep. Tom Murry.

Losurdo, who in all likelihood will be the GOP endorsed candidate in District 3, has already picked up endorsements from several Wake County commissioners and school board members.

Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo has raised $12,749.55 in her bid to oust incumbent Kevin Hill from his District 3 seat.

In her latest report filed today, Losurdo's biggest donor is Wake County Commissioner Tony Gurley, who gave her $4,000. Other notable donors include Wake County Commissioners Chairman Paul Coble, state Rep. Marilyn Avila, school board member Deborah Prickett and state Sen. Neal Hunt's campaign committee.

Click here, here and here to view the various sections of Losurdo's new report.

Wake County school board member Carolyn Morrison says she's not endorsing school board chairman Ron Margiotta in his re-election bid even though she appeared at his campaign kickoff event.

Morrison said she attended Margiotta's July 18 event as a sign of respect to the board's longest serving member. She said he respected how he persevered as a member of the board's minority for several years.

But Morrison said she's not planning on endorsing Margiotta, his District 8 opponent Susan Evans or any other candidate in this fall's races. She said she might change her mind if there are run-off contests.

Amid all of the hullabaloo on the state budget Tuesday, a pair of bills of interest to Wake County were passed by the state Senate.

On Tuesday, the Senate passed by 32-15 the high school accreditation bill. It mirrored the earlier House vote that went along largely partisan lines in which Republicans supported the bill and Democrats voted on.

Also on Tuesday, the Senate approved by a voice vote the bill allowing the chair of the Wake school board to vote on all issues. It's in contrast to the largely partisan House vote which saw Republicans in support and Democrats in opposition.

CORRECTION

The local legislation granting the Wake school board chair the ability to vote on any issue doesn't require Gov. Perdue's approval. It automatically goes into law.

A bill, H498, was introduced Monday in the state House that would allow the Wake County school board chair to vote on all issues and not just to break ties.

The bill was sponsored by Rep Nelson Dollar and co-sponsored by House Majority Leader Paul Stam, Rep. Marilyn Avila and Rep. Tom Murry. None of the Democratic members of the Wake delegation are sponsors of this local bill.

The bill was requested by the school board as part of this year's legislative agenda. School board chairman Ron Margiotta had pitched the bill when he met with the Wake delegation last week.

If passed, it would change the law that's been in place since the 1976 merger of the Raleigh and Wake school systems.