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Democrat Bev Perdue came to Republican Pat McCrory's backyard today and slammed the Charlotte mayor for “whining about crime” while vetoing a move to put more cops on the street.
Speaking at the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Forum, a westside group, Perdue also criticized her GOP opponent for supporting school vouchers, which she said would take $1 billion out of public education, and opposing children's health insurance.
“The mayor of Charlotte may be a good guy,” she told about 40 people. “He's a good mayor of Charlotte. And I'm asking you to let him remain as mayor.”
Perdue referred to McCrory's 2006 veto of a city budget that included money for 70 new police officers. It also included a 9 perent property tax increase, the first hike in 10 years and the reason for McCrory's veto. The Democratic-controlled city council overrode the veto.
Since McCrory was first elected in 1995, the city has added 400 police officers. He's also pushed for more state money for prosecutors.
Perdue has run ads attacking McCrory on vouchers. She says giving state money to families who might choose private schools would drain money from public schools. McCrory has said he supports "selective use” of vouchers for special needs students.
Although she said vouchers would take $1 billion out of public education, her ads say they would cost the state $900 million. That assumes that every student home schooled or enrolled in private school in North Carolina would get a voucher.
Perdue described what she called a quote by McCrory suggesting that government-provided health care is "sending the wrong signals" by encouraging teenagers to have babies. McCrory has said he didn't recall the quote and didn't mean that he wanted to take away health insurance from childen.
The McCrory campaign wasn't immediately available for comment.
