‘Cass-gate’
BY ANDREW MACKIE
HICKORY
Lance Sigmon of Newton, who is challenging Rep. Patrick McHenry of Cherryville in the 10th District GOP primary, Monday began airing a taped endorsement from retired Rep. Cass Ballenger, despite a letter signed by Ballenger and his wife asking the tape not be aired.
McHenry disputes the last-minute endorsement of Ballenger and Sigmon disputes Ballenger’s letter retracting the endorsement.
Sigmon and his campaign manager said Monday they never received the letter asking for the taped endorsement to be stopped from reaching the voters of throughout the 10 counties of the 10th District.
“If Cass had called me personally and asked me to pull the recording, I would have,” Sigmon said Monday.
Tommy Luckadoo, Ballenger’s former district manager, said he attempted to deliver the letter disavowing the endorsement to the Sigmon campaign several ways on Sunday, but was unsuccessful.
Luckadoo said Sigmon’s campaign is not telling the truth about not having knowledge of the letter. The Sigmon campaign ran the voice message de-spite knowing about the second letter, said Luckadoo, who supports McHenry.
Sigmon Campaign Manager Joe Brannock said he had not received the letter as of Monday evening.
Ballenger, a well-regarded Republican political figure, still carries weight in the 10th Congressional District in North Carolina - Avery, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland, Lincoln and Mitchell counties, along with parts of Gaston, Iredell and Rutherford counties.
“We’re proud to have the endorsement,” Brannock said. “We stand by it. We have a written and verbal endorsement.”
Sigmon began using the endorsement in an automated campaign call to voters in the district Monday.
Ballenger has backed McHenry in past elections and has contributed to his campaigns. McHenry spokesman Wes Climer said the congressman stands by Ballenger’s endorsement rejection letter.
“I think Congressman Ballenger’s vote, his 11 separate financial contribu-tions and his letter disavowing the Sigmon campaign speak for them-selves,” he said.
In the Sigmon endorsement letter, Ballenger said he changed his mind about supporting McHenry because of Sigmon’s military background and honesty.
“After careful deliberation I have come to the conclusion that Lance best represents the values of the 10th Congressional District,” Ballenger said in the letter. “Honesty, integrity and solid values are values we expect from our representative.”
In his taped message, Ballenger mentions he voted for McHenry, but changed his allegiance after new information came to light. No one in ei-ther camp would go on the record about what information Ballenger was referring to in the message.
In the letter rejecting the endorsement, Ballenger said he has already voted for McHenry and requested Sigmon to cease using his name, like-ness or voice as an endorsement for the campaign.
On Saturday, Ballenger signed a letter endorsing Sigmon, according to Sigmon’s campaign. When McHenry, running for his third term, ques-tioned the validity of that letter, Sigmon’s campaign obtained the taped endorsement from Ballenger for the district-wide phone message, accord-ing to a spokesman for Sigmon.
McHenry’s campaign said late Sunday it had obtained a letter from Ballenger asking that the taped endorsement not be used. The Sigmon campaign denies that Ballenger sent the letter and instead claims it was produced by a public relations firm in Raleigh.
McHenry and Sigmon face off in today’s primary. The winner will take on the winner of today’s Democratic primary retired businessman Steve Ivester or attorney Daniel Johnson, both of Hickory.
Attempts to reach Ballenger Monday for comment were unsuccessful. His wife, Donna, said her husband was not available for comment.
Ballenger, 81, served as congressman of the 10th District from 1986 to 2005.
