Anti-Trump Republican sues NC GOP for banning him from 9th District campaign events

A 9th District Republican candidate who opposes President Donald Trump has sued North Carolina’s state party for blackballing him from GOP events.

Chris Anglin filed the suit in Wake County Superior Court. The Raleigh lawyer is one of 10 candidates running in the May 14 special congressional primary.

Anglin is asking the court to force the state GOP to share voter resources and lift a ban on him participating in party forums and other events.

“It’s difficult to campaign when you’re not allowed information about the voters or invited to any candidate forums,” he said Monday. “I’ve been severely handicapped because they’re afraid of my message and, if given a fair playing field, I’ll beat the other candidates.”

A state GOP spokesman dismissed the suit.

The party’s antipathy toward Anglin stems from last year’s Supreme Court election.

Last June, Anglin switched his registration from Democrat to Republican three weeks before filing to run for the N.C. Supreme Court. Because legislative Republicans had eliminated judicial primaries, Republicans worried that Anglin would siphon votes from Justice Barbara Jackson, a GOP incumbent, and tip the court’s partisan balance.

“(Anglin) will be treated like the enemy he is,” party executive director Dallas Woodhouse said at the time.

Republicans took the issue to court but the state appeals court ruled in August that he could be on the ballot as a Republican. In November, he finished third with 16 percent of the vote. Republicans believe that helped Democrat Anita Earls win with just under 50 percent.

“Basically he is solely responsible for us losing Barbara Jackson’s seat, and Republicans have a long memory about things like that,” said John Steward, the 9th District GOP chairman.

When Anglin filed for Congress in March, state GOP Chairman Robin Hayes issued a news release citing the Supreme Court race and saying, “Chris Anglin is not a Republican” and “will not be allowed to access any GOP data, information, or infrastructure.”

Anglin was later turned away from Republican conventions and events in Mecklenburg, Cumberland and Anson counties.

Despite not raising or spending much money — he hasn’t raised enough to meet federal filing threshholds — Anglin insists he’s a serious candidate. In a GOP primary expected to draw the party’s most conservative voters, he believes he can bring out moderates and unaffiliated voters with a message that sets him apart from other candidates.

“The North Carolina GOP has gone off the rails,” he said. “They have no respect for the rule of law and no respect for traditional conservative values like fiscal responsibility, free trade and honesty. . . . Dissent needs to be allowed within the Republican primary because they are allowing President Trump to pull the party off of a cliff.”

This story was originally published April 29, 2019 at 1:50 PM.