The Wake County Republican Party is using last fall's school board election defeat to motivate members to be active politically in this year's races.

In the latest issue of The Elephant Express on Thursday, Wake GOP Chairwoman Susan Bryant warns members not to believe the talk about the Democrats being in disarray in North Carolina. She writes that "the Democratic machine is already in high gear," pointing to last fall's Wake County school board races when Democrats won all five seats on the ballot to take the board majority.

"We had recruited the best Republican candidates we could," Bryant writes. "We ran great races in several districts. We talked about the issues and the progress made so far under the Republican majority."

Wake County Republican Party Chairwoman Susan Bryant is accusing the new Democratic majority on the school board of engaging in "reckless behavior" with the potential changes to the student assignment plan.

"Lastly, as usual the Democrats didn’t understand the parents in the October and November School Board Elections," Bryant writes today in the latest issue of the Elephant Express. "They think they have a 'mandate' to return to the School Assignment Programs of the past.  

They are paying little attention to Superintendent Tony Tata and are headed right down the path of the past. Let the School Board know what you think of their reckless behavior."  

Wake County Republican Party Chairwoman Susan Bryant is putting the best face forward on election results that cost the GOP control of the school board.

In the Elephant Express on Friday, Bryant writes that "Election Night was not the wholesale sweep for the Democrats you may be reading about in the N & O." She writes that "the municipal candidates we endorsed did very well," adding that "we have won 12 out of 20 races for sure, and are leading in the only undecided race in Morrisville."

Whether those wins in the smaller towns are enough to counterbalance the results for school board and municipal races in Cary and Raleigh is something that Republicans will be considering.

Also in the newsletter, Bryant urges people to cancel their N&O subscriptions. Bryant and school board candidate Heather Losurdo have opted to take a blame the N&O approach to account for the electoral results.

On the eve of Tuesday's election, Wake County Republican Party chairwoman Susan Bryant is railing against the "racist" News & Observer and saying that Daniels Middle School should be renamed,

In an issue of The Elephant Express this evening, Bryant explains that she's decided not to renew her subscription to the newspaper. But Bryant writes that's it not because "of the biased political reporting" of the Wake County school board runoff.

Bryant writes that the reason she's cancelling is that she learned "the other day" about the role of former N&O publisher Josephus Daniels in the 1898 Wilmington Race Riots. (I guess she didn't read the "Ghosts of 1898" series that ran in the N&O in 2006 about how Daniels worked with white supremacists to overthrow Wilmington's fusion government.)

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

Local Democrats are pulling out all the stops to help Wake County school board member Kevin Hill defeat Heather Losurdo in the runoff election.

As noted in today's article, you've got groups like Common Sense Matters hiring The Strategy Group, a Washington political consulting firm, to develop mailers attacking Losurdo. Past clients for this firm include President Barack Obama, former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and current Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

You've also got the Wake County Democratic Party mounting, for them, an unprecedented field operation in an off-year election.

New Wake County school board members Susan Evans and Jim Martin are denouncing as "absolutely false" a rumor being spread by Republicans that they browbeat Superintendent Tony Tata and staff about the new student assignment plan.

In an issue of the Elephant Express sent today, Wake County Republican Party Chairwoman Susan Bryant says "there's a rumor floating around" that Evans and Martin "barged" into a student assignment task force meeting "and ordered him (Tata) to take no steps toward implementing the plan." Bryant writes that "we understand their yelling was so loud it could be heard out in the hall."

"I don't know how she can completely fabricate something like this," said Evans, in an interview today, about the charges from Bryant.

UPDATE

In en e-mail response, Tata said "we had a meaningful, frank, and sometimes spirited discussion" at the Oct. 21 meeting. I haven't gotten back a response from him clarifying what that means.

While I don't think shortening Tata's response changed anything, here's the full reply he gave me yesterday:

"I had not heard any rumors and had not seen the newsletter until you emailed it to me. As I announced two press conferences ago, I invited Dr. Martin, Ms. Evans, and Ms. Kushner to attend an update on the assignment plan so that we could answer their questions and provide more information in order to begin their transition as individual board members. The assignment task force was present along with some other senior staff personnel. Over the course of about two hours, we had a meaningful, frank, and sometimes spirited discussion. Our transition plan calls for more information exchange in the coming weeks leading up to their taking office. We have a full agenda and fixed timelines, making it vital that we share as much information as early as possible so that we can remain firmly focused on students and parents. Thx, Tony."

Wake County Republican Party Chairwoman Susan Bryant is citing a testimonial in support of neighborhood schools to motivate her members heading into the school board runoff election.

In the latest issue of the Elephant Express today, Bryant says she's sharing a letter she received from a fellow Wake County Republican. The letter writers talks about loving walking to his neighborhood schools as a child.

Now years later, he writes that "my wife and I quickly learned that they would never have the same great experience we had." He complains about reassignment, the possibility of being "bused somewhere across town to an area we would never know."

"On the news, we watched Kevin Hill vote against the new plan, and our right to choose our neighborhood school and that angered us," according to the letter writer. "Even the two Democrats not running for office this time voted for the plan. We cannot let this stand. We will be supporting Heather Losurdo for District 3. Please hear us.”

Wake County Republican Party Chairwoman Susan Bryant is attributing last week's school board election results to "President Obama’s national organization" while also trying to rally people around Heather Losurdo's runoff efforts.

In the first post-election issue of the Elephant Express, Bryant writes today that "President Obama, Governor Perdue, and Reverend Barber won last week." She charges that the various Democratic-leaning groups that sent out mailers attacking Losurdo and school board chairman Ron Margiotta are linked to Obama.

"Make no mistake!" Bryant writes. "President Obama’s national organization was very much involved in the recent elections, with particular emphasis on Ron Margiotta’s and Heather Losurdo’s campaigns. They hired 'volunteers' and spent tens of thousands on mailers cleverly disguised as coming from non-related groups.

If Democrats sweep the five Wake County school board seats to retake the majority today, it would arguably be due to the efforts of the 501 and 527 groups to link the Republicans to the Tea Party.

A steady stream of mailers, websites and skunk-wearing mascots from these Democrat-leaning groups has been pushing the message of a "Tea Party takeover of Wake County Schools." Democrats insist it's a powerful message while Republicans say the fears about the Tea Party are overblown.

"I'm confident that the average resident of Wake County has a negative view of the Tea Party in the United States," said Mack Paul, chairman of the Wake County Democratic Party.