Wake County Democratic Party Chairman Mack Paul is accusing the GOP of trying to "deceive" voters by saying President Barack Obama's campaign is involved in the school board races.

In a press release today, Paul says statements made this week by Wake County Republican Party Chairwoman Susan Bryant about the involvement of Obama and other "national forces" in school board elections is false. He calls it "an attempt to distract voters from the real issues and the record of the Ron Margiotta-led Majority."

"Clearly, Wake County Republican Chair Susan Bryant is dead-set on running a campaign that has nothing to do with the actual issues facing our schools," Paul said in the release. "The Wake Republicans, and their special interest allies, continue to mislead the voters of Wake County by sending them mailers filled with wild claims because they understand how unpopular their Tea Party agenda has become."

What do Tuesday's national Republican congressional wins and today's visit to the Triangle by President Barack Obama have in common?

How about the Wake County school board? That's the connection that Wake County Republican Party Chairwoman Susan Bryant points to today in this week's issue of the Elephant Express.

"The twin wins for the GOP mean the Republican resurgence which began right here in Wake County two years ago is alive and well and still gaining momentum nationally," Bryant writes. "Yes. We started it."

Republicans and Democrats are going after each other in another round of squabbling about the Wake County school board elections.

In this week's issue of the Elephant Express, Wake County Republican Party Chairwoman Susan Bryant responds to state Democratic Party Chairman David Parker's Aug. 20 call to action to his party's members.

Parker blames the changes in Wake schools on the "vicious fanaticism" of those carrying on Jesse Helms' legacy. In the process, Parker invokes the Tea Party, the Koch brothers and Wake County Commissioners Chairman Paul Coble.

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.

Both political parties have now officially weighed in with their endorsements for this fall's Wake County school board and municipal elections.

As expected, the Wake County Democratic Party announced Tuesday that it was endorsing Kevin Hill in District 3, Keith Sutton in District 4, Jim Martin in District 5, Christine Kushner in District 6 and Susan Evans in District 8.

In the announcement, the Democrats accused the Republican school board majority of having "made a number of empty promises to voters (in 2009) that they have not met."

Wake County Republican Party Chairwoman Susan Bryant is disputing the idea that the school board races were ever really non-partisan.

In the latest issue of the Elephant Express on Wednesday, Bryant takes Bob Geary of the liberal Independent weekly to task for a recent blog post accusing the GOP of making the Wake County school board races partisan.

"We blamed the non-partisan Democratic-controlled school board for the well-documented failures of the past," Bryant writes. "And, the Democrats continue to accuse our Republican members of the school board of all kinds of sins as they seek to take all seats on the board in the next election."

The Wake County Republican Party has announced its endorsements for this fall's school board and municipal elections.

As expected, the press release sent today shows that the GOP-endorsed school board candidates are Heather Losurdo in District 3, Venita Peyton in District 4, Cynthia Matson in District 5, Donna Williams in District 6 and Ron Margiotta in District 8. This makes official the split in the opposition to Kevin Hill in District 3 with the Wake Schools Community Alliance having backed Jennifer Mansfield.

“The Wake County Republican Party is pleased to present these well qualified candidates on our endorsed slate," said Wake GOP Chairwoman Susan Bryant in the press release. "The process of recruiting and endorsing took over a year, with hard work from a strong recruitment committee. I am pleased with the final endorsements by the Wake County GOP Executive Board.

The Party is unified around this slate and we are looking forward to helping them achieve victory in the upcoming municipal elections this fall!"

Bob Geary is criticizing the Wake County Republican Party for showing partisanship in the school board elections.

"The Wake County Republican Party is making no bones about it," Geary writes in a blog post today for the liberal Independent weekly. "As far as they're concerned, it's great if the non-partisan school board elections are partisan. To that end, they've rolled out their 'A' team of GOP candidates, capped off by the announcement today that Donna Williams, founding leader of the Northern Wake Republican Club, will run in District 6."

It's worth noting that there will be Democrats running in all five school board races who will be backed by the Wake County Democratic Party's "coordinated campaign."

We've got more squabbling between Republicans and Democrats about this fall's Wake County school board elections.

In the latest issue of the Elephant Express, Wake County Republican Party Chairwoman Susan Bryant responds today to the Wake County Democratic Party's blast at last week's edition. Democrats had called last week's attack by Bryant as focusing on "two year old debates regarding student assignment" instead of discussing the board majority's record.

"We will stand on our record of the past 2 years – show us yours!" Bryant fired back at Democrats today. "Also, since the Democrats are so eager to move on to other issues, let us remind you:  Not so fast - the work to change the student assignment process is still not done. Here is a lesson for all: If you want quality, you have to finish what you start."

The Wake County Democratic Party will emulate the Republicans this year in choosing sides in non-partisan races where there is more than one Democrat running for office.

Historically, the county Democrats have endorsed all party members who are running, even when they're competing against one other. Unlike partisan races, there's no primary in races like Wake County school board to whittle things down to one person per party.

But based on the significance of this year's contests, Wake Democratic Party Chairman Mack Paul said they will narrow the official endorsement to one candidate in each contest.