Matt McWilliams, a 24-year-old golf instructor who was elected vice chairman of the Moore County Republican Party in March, will challenge House Co-Speaker Richard Morgan in next year’s GOP primary for North Carolina House.

McWilliams was one of the few defenders of Morgan at the state Republican convention in May, where GOP delegates passed a resolution condemning five dissident members, including the co-speaker, for disloyalty to the party. Morgan and four other House members withheld support for caucus nominee George Holmes when the legislative session began in January, enraging a majority of the House Republicans.

“I almost became famous in the state GOP for condemning those resolutions against Morgan,” McWilliams said. “Looking back, I regret that.”

McWilliams said he became increasingly disturbed after observing Morgan’s behavior during this year’s session — especially during budget negotiations with Democrats. He said Morgan told him that he was proud of the budget that came out of the General Assembly. McWilliams, emphasizing his own conservatism, said that pride over “the biggest budget in state history” didn’t sound very Republican.

He said Morgan accused him of being recruited to run by Republicans from outside Moore County, which McWilliams denied. Morgan did not return messages seeking comment.

“It was nothing Sam Ellis or Frank Mitchell said,” McWilliams said. “Nothing anyone else said convinced me that Richard Morgan is dangerous to the party.” Reps. Ellis and Mitchell, from Wake County and Iredell County respectively, are two of Morgan’s fiercest opponents.

McWilliams said that when he spoke to Republicans around the state, most referred him to quotes attributed to Morgan in articles from The News & Observer and The Pilot in Southern Pines.

“The same words came over and over again: ‘Go and read what Richard said,’ and that’s all it took,” McWilliams said.

Morgan didn’t assign any legislative assistants to eight fellow GOP representatives, including Ellis and Mitchell, while the House is not in session. Those who lost the secretarial help told the N&O that their constituents would have reduced access to their representatives as a result. Mitchell said Morgan was vindictive.

McWilliams also cited an interview in The Pilot, in which Morgan did not promise to help Republicans during the upcoming redistricting process, as another reason for his challenge against the co-speaker.

“I’m loyal to my friends, and I’ll continue to be, and so is (Democratic Co-Speaker) Jim Black,” Morgan told the newspaper. “These folks that voted for me voted for Jim Black, too, so they’re going to take a high priority.”

In another N&O article, Morgan said, “To me, loyalty is more important than competence…” — another comment that angered Republicans.

Once McWilliams decided to run, he said he received enthusiastic support from fellow party members. He said many promised to send the maximum contribution of $4,000 for his campaign and was told he could expect to be able to match Morgan’s funds “dollar for dollar.”

“This is a statewide referendum on our party,” McWilliams said.

Chesser is associate editor at Carolina Journal.