Anti-toll Lake Norman business group endorses Democrat Roy Cooper for governor

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Roy Cooper headed a bipartisan slate endorsed Tuesday by a group of Lake Norman business leaders who oppose Interstate 77 toll lanes.

Among the leaders of I-77 Business Plan are officials from two notable NASCAR businesses, Michael Waltrip Racing and Rusty Wallace Inc.

The group, which includes many Republicans, led efforts to try to convince the General Assembly and Republican Gov. Pat McCrory to cancel the state’s toll lanes contract with Cintra, the corporation from Spain selected to build and operate the lanes.

The group endorsed candidates based on their responses to questionnaires that asked whether they would work to cancel the project if elected and support repealing Mecklenburg County’s half-cent transit tax.

McCrory has been criticized for not working to end the Cintra contract. In the Republican primary for governor, he lost solidly GOP precincts in north Mecklenburg and southern Iredell County to former GOP Rep. Robert Brawley of Mooresville. Brawley vowed to nix the lanes.

Group spokesman John Hettwer, a former chairman of Lake Norman Chamber, predicted the issue could mean a 30,000-vote swing for McCrory, with 10,000 Republican voters defecting to Cooper and another 10,000 sitting out the race.

“This is the largest issue in our area going back a number of election cycles,” he said, “and those individuals who have been in office and failed to acknowledge the needs of the people aren’t going to get endorsed.”

Cooper spokesperson Jamal Little told the group that Cooper would investigate the true cost of canceling the project.

“From the beginning, too many details involving this contract and its negotiation have been shrouded in secrecy – and that lack of transparency is troubling,” Little said. “The I-77 tolling plan is not just a bad deal for the state, but a burden on the families who use I‐77.”

I-77 Business Plan also endorsed Republicans Dan Forest for lieutenant governor, Buck Newton for attorney general and Dale Folwell for State Treasurer.

In state House races, the group backed both Democrat Chaz Beasley and Republican Danae Caulfield for District 92; Republican John Bradford in District 98; Democrat Rochelle Rivas for District 103; and Democrat Constance Green-Johnson for District 105.

For Senate, it backed Republicans Jeff Tarte in District 41 and David Curtis in District 44.

For Mecklenburg County commissioner, the group endorses Republican Jim Puckett in District 1 and Democrats Pat Cotham and Ella Scarborough for at-large.

Staff writer Jim Morrill contributed.

This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Anti-toll Lake Norman business group endorses Democrat Roy Cooper for governor."