Jim Black, the Democratic speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, had a rough August.
A former Republican legislator pleaded guilty Aug. 1 to charges that he accepted $50,000 to switch parties and keep Black speaker of the house. Eleven days later, Black's former political director plead no contest to a misdemeanor charge that she broke lobbying law.
Within days, two House Democrats called for Black to step down from the speakership. "You don't need an indictment to realize that Jim Black should no longer be the speaker of the North Carolina House," said Bill Peaslee, chief of staff of the North Carolina Republican Party. "The real question is why Democrat legislators have not removed him as speaker." Black could not be reached for comment.
Some Democrats said they respected the speaker's role as a power broker, adding that he has been an efficient leader who speeds legislation through the House.
"Speaker Black has done an excellent job representing Mecklenburg County and done an enormous amount for the county and the state," said Michael Evans, the chair of the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party. "I've heard many legislators say that this short session was the most productive session in a number of years."
Some have said that Black-an optometrist from Mecklenburg County-has kept his leadership position because he has been a financial godsend for Democrats.
The Raleigh News & Observer reported that supporters gave the speaker checks with blank payee lines so he could funnel money to legislative allies-a practice of questionable legality according to state election law.
"Obviously, with his colleagues in the caucus, he's very strong," said Theodore Arrington, the chair of the political science department at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. "With this kind of publicity, any normal speaker would have been tossed out long ago."
Black has also enjoyed strong financial support from his fellow optometrists. Their contributions have drawn scrutiny since he pushed a law through the legislature that requires eye examinations for all North Carolina schoolchildren, drumming up business for himself and his optometric colleagues. Arrington said that the scandals increased the likelihood that Black would lose his seat in this year's election but added that Black's Republican opponent, Hal Jordan, suffered from a lack of name recognition and political experience.
Arrington and Peaslee both said that the low awareness of state politics among North Carolina voters makes it difficult to predict the fallout of Black's troubles. "Voters are not very attentive to state politics," Arrington said. "They're much more attentive to what happens in Washington and Baghdad than they are to what happens in Raleigh."
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