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Lobbyist Calls Legislator “Nutcase”
RALEIGH — An administrator for a taxpayer-supported association characterized Rep. John Rhodes, who has asked State Auditor Ralph Campbell to investigate a state-funded economic development agency, as a “true nutcase” whose only allies “are the very religious right folks.” Meredith Norris, a former aide to House Speaker Jim Black, now is a registered lobbyist for the NC Partnership for Economic Development, an association for the state’s seven regional economic development partnerships. Norris made her “nutcase” comment in an e-mail exchange with an official and a consultant with North Carolina’s Northeast Partnership. She later expressed regret about the statement.