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BY FLORENCE GILKESON: Senior Writer

Supporters of state House Co-Speaker Richard Morgan rallied against his opponents Friday night in a “Moore County First” event at a home in Pinewild Country Club.

Eighty local Republicans gathered to declare that Moore County, not Wake County, must decide its local elections, said Ina Keegan, one of the organizers and hosts of the event held at the home of Ted and Beverly Shebs.

“All of us were very pleased with the caliber of mainstream Republicans who responded to our call,” Keegan said. “We are trying to end this controversy and this invasion by a few Raleigh Republicans trying to control our county.”

Besides Keegan and the Shebs, the hosts and organizers included Joyce Omer, Bill and Joan Thurman, Bob and Lorraine Tweed, and Don and Marcy Van Roosen.

The evening began with a wine and cheese social hour, then turned into an hour of grassroots political endeavor.

Morgan, a seven-term representative in the state House of Representatives, was accompanied by his wife, Cindy. Also attending were members of Morgan’s staff in Raleigh, along with several colleagues in the House.

The visitors made it clear that they were not attending on state time or being paid for travel, according to Keegan.

The visitors included Dixie Epps, Morgan’s longtime legislative assistant, and Sabra Faires, his chief of staff. Epps told the gathering that she has been with Morgan since his first election and said her boss “is viewed as one of the most respected persons” in the Legislative Office Building.

Rep. David Miner, a Wake County Republican serving his sixth term in the House, said Morgan is respected by other House members and called his detractors a “very, very small group.”

Miner is chairman of the Finance Committee and a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

“If Richard told us (House Republicans) that he needed some help in his district, 95 percent of us would be in cars headed for Moore County,” Miner said.

Paul Shumaker, a GOP political strategist, advised the group not to worry about party leadership, but to be “a truth squad for the best interests of Moore County and the Republican Party in North Carolina.” Shumaker is Morgan’s political consultant.

Shumaker called it “a sad commentary on the Republican Party that you even need to be here tonight. This is a Moore County race and shouldn’t have to be a race against a few Raleigh Republicans.”

Shumaker recalled that for the 2000 election, Morgan raised $191,000 throughout the state for Republican candidates. He contrasted that with the $102,000 raised by the state party.

In closing, Shumaker reminded the group that President Reagan won without the support of the national GOP and Jesse Helms without support of the state GOP.

Bill Thurman, a retired Air Force lieutenant general, introduced Morgan and referred to what he called “his meteoric career of leadership” since his election in 1990. Morgan served as chairman of the House Rules Committee from 1995 to 1998, as House minority leader in 1999-2000 and was elected co-speaker in January 2003.

Morgan opened his remarks by revisiting 1990 and acknowledging that several of those present Friday night had worked hard for his first election. Among them were two couples whom he called instrumental in hosting the first coffees: Chet and Peg Schirmer and Hugh and Bunny Sinclair.

In his brief address, Morgan did not touch on redistricting, an attack point by his opponents.

Asked about this subject later, Morgan said that a majority of Republican representatives approved the House redistricting plan and that the U.S. Justice Department approved the maps for compliance with the Voter Rights Act. He said the plan was reviewed and declared fair to both political parties by NC Free, a nonpartisan government watch group. Morgan said that “not one credible source” had viewed the districting plan as favoring Democrats.

A two-page summary compiled by Morgan’s staff, bearing the title “What Speaker Morgan has done for Moore County,” was available to the gathering. Topics covered included roads and safety, tourism and resorts, help to local governments and business and community needs and grants.

Among the accomplishments mentioned in the document were the blocking of commercial swine operations in Moore County, creation of a single superior court district consisting only of Moore County and authorship of legislation requiring hospitals to provide itemized copies of patients’ bills when they are discharged from hospitals.

Moore County First was described by Keegan as an inclusive group. She said that any local Republican or unaffiliated voter wishing to help the cause is welcome to call anyone in the organizing group.