Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory rolled out his first TV advertisement June 1. The 30-second spot featured McCrory casually walking in an empty warehouse, talking to the camera. It was paid for by the Pat McCrory Committee. 

Claim: "Let's forget about politics for a while and think about us. That's what we tried in Charlotte when I was mayor.” 

Context: McCrory’s line suggests he was beyond partisan politics during his tenure in Charlotte. But it depends on who you ask.

Sponsor: A 527 group as labeled under tax code designations that can receive unlimited donations. Funded by the Democratic Governors Association.

Claim: “Tree.com: A company that paid Pat McCrory over $140,000 to sit on its board while he was mayor of Charlotte.”

Context: Pat McCrory joined the Tree.com board of directors in January 2009. He served 14 years as mayor, ending in early December 2009. The ad doesn’t specify that McCrory’s tenure as mayor and board member overlapped for only about 11 months.

Republicans launched the first television commercial Tuesday in the November governor’s race, an attack ad that tries to link Democratic nominee Walter Dalton to the unpopular Gov. Bev Perdue.

The Republican Governors Association is spending about $850,000 to air the commercial as it seeks to help elect GOP nominee Pat McCrory. But the 30-second spot’s major points don’t fully meet the truth test.

Here’s a claim-by-claim fact check below.

Which one of the candidates for governor strikes you as being more likely to be in the office on the weekend, sweating over how to get more people to work in North Carolina?

Pat McCrory, the former mayor of Charlotte and presumptive GOP gubernatorial candidate, is praising Heather Losurdo for her campaign run for Wake County school board.

As noted in The Under the Dome blog, McCrory told Losurdo that “I want to thank you for having the courage to run for public office." He made the remarks to Losurdo as she stood to ask a question at a fundraiser for McCrory at the North Raleigh Hilton on Tuesday.

“I just think unwarranted personal attacks against you hurt our democratic system,” McCrory added. “I feel for your and your family for what you had to go through. I commend you for the courage to stand up to it. Regardless of whether you are democrat or Republican, it doesn't make any difference to me. no one deserves some of the personal attacks you went through.”

McCrory may find the robocall he made for Losurdo used against him in next year's gubernatorial race by those who try to label him as a Tea Partier.

Will Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo be able to turn things around today thanks to the help of some outside political advice she picked up after the runoff?

After Losurdo only picked up 40 percent of the vote on Oct. 11, the campaign reached out to Jack Hawke to be a consultant for the runoff. Hawke is a longtime figure in state politics, having been the former chairman of the state Republican Party, a former president of the conservative Civitas Institute and a consultant to presumptive GOP gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory.

"I knew we had to change things," Hawke said. "She was 10 points down (as of Oct. 11). I'm proud of what she's done but we had a lot of ground to make up."

Pat McCrory, the former Charlotte mayor and likely Republican gubernatorial candidate next year, has endorsed Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo.

In a robocall today McCrory is making to voters today, he asks voters to "reject untrue, negative personal attacks, and vote on the serious issues." He also says that Losurdo "is the only candidate committed to this non-partisan (student assignment) plan moving schools forward."

Here's the text of the robocall:

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST FOR DEMOCRATIC RESPONSE TO MCCRORY'S ROBOCALL

Wake County Commissioner Tony Gurley talked today about his bid for lieutenant governor, this year's school budget and the upcoming fall school board elections.

In an interview today on the Rick and Donna Martinez Show on WPTF, Gurley said the Wake County Republican Party "is very excited" about this year's school board elections in which five of the nine seats are on the ballot.  Without mentioning Debra Goldman by name, Gurley talked about increasing the GOP board majority in light of how fractured things have gotten.

"I believe that people were a little concerned when Republicans elected a majority during the last election but there was a little fracturing of that alliance and so everyone is seeing that you can't count on a one-person majority always holding together," Gurley said. "People are very excited about the potential of expanding on that majority that we already have."

A long-awaited report on air travel by gubernatorial candidates in North Carolina discloses one additional unreported flight by Gov. Bev Perdue, bringing to 42 the number of flights she took in the 2004 and 2008 campaign cycles that were not disclosed on public reports.

The flight was to a Michigan fundraiser in Sept. 2007. 

Previously, the Perdue campaign had said that a computer glitch helped identify problems and gave several reasons why so many flights were not reported as required by state elections law.

But the report offers new detail.

"The Perdue Committee has provided several reasons as to why flights were not timely disclosed, including: the fast paced nature of the campaign; lack of staff when the campaign was over; and constant turnover of staff. One reason expressed ... was that the campaign had no process in place to track and disclose information regarding flights," says the report, which was authored by longtime elections investigator Kim Strach.

"Based on the documentation provided by the Perdue Committee and interviews that have been conducted, the committee did have a process in place to obtain information on all flights and calculate the costs of the flight if no invoice was received for the flight. Based on documents produced, the Perdue Committee used a form for capturing data related to flights as early as 2005."

The report details efforts by one Perdue friend, Buzzy Stubbs, to properly account for flights he provided. But ultimately, his more than $28,000 in flights were not paid until recently, documents show.

The report also says:

• Former state treasurer Richard Moore, a Democrat, has destroyed all of his campaign's documents in violation of the state's campaign finance guidelines. "No records should have been destroyed until January 2011," the report says.
• Former Republican candidate for governor Fred Smith did not properly account for use of a plane he owned and traveled on during the 2008 campaign. According to an affidvait from Smith's lawyer, Smith believed he had been advised by the state Board of Elections that it could "be treated like the candidate’s vehicle." But the report says that's not the case, and that all expenses should have been disclosed.
• Former Republican candidate Pat McCrory didn't properly disclose a helicopter flight he took in the final days of the 2008 campaign. It was paid in Feb. 2010.

The report arose out of an earlier probe that dealt with flights provided, but not paid, by the campaign of former Gov. Mike Easley. Easley was fined $100,000 related to flights he took with friend and supporter McQueen Campbell.

A major basis of elections law is that campaigns properly disclose what money they take in and how they spend it. Air travel has been an increasing part of campaigns, moving candidates quickly around the state -- and elsewhere -- to meet with supporters at fundraisers. Because many of those supplying the planes are also donors who had given the maximum amount allowed, the law required that the campaign pay for their travel.

Elections director Gary Bartlett said the full state elections board could take up the new report next month, but in a memo he says that all campaigns had problems and that there appears to be no evidence of "any intent of wrongdoing."

The board could issue rebukes, levy fines or take other action.

Bartlett said that an educational campaign should be undertaken so candidates do better, but otherwise he recommends that "it is time for us to move forward."

-- J. Andrew Curliss

Documents:

Every Monday in October, TriangleMom2Mom.com, The N&O's Web site for moms, is featuring local politically active moms who are supporting either McCain or Obama for president. The first mom, Katy Benningfield, is featured today. Benningfield, the mom of a three-year-old boy, is an active blogger and conservative.

Read more about Katy by clicking here.