RALEIGH - Republican Co-Speaker of the N.C. House Richard Morgan charged last week that Sen. Robert Pittenger, a fellow Republican from Mecklenburg, tried to pay off Morgan with a $500 campaign contribution in exchange for his help in getting Pittenger a better district.

"It certainly appears that you made the contribution to try and influence me to do something that I consider improper," Morgan wrote in a Dec. 6 letter, "and not because you wanted to support my candidacy. Those kinds of contributions I can do without!"

Pittenger, who ended up being placed in a district with another Republican, denied having any conversation about districts with Morgan. Pittenger characterized the letter as "deceptive, devious and self-serving."

"Mr. Morgan may choose to twist anything in his favor," Pittenger said. "He doesn't care about the Republican Party, he cares about Richard Morgan. A majority of House Republicans, all Senate Republicans and the party chairman want him removed. ...I don't see him as a loyal Republican and I'd like my money back."

Morgan agreed to refund the money.

The testy exchange illustrates the depth of the fissures within the N.C. Republican Party. Here's what happened:

Pittenger gave the $500 -- the minimum contribution to get in the door -- to Morgan at a November fund-raiser. Morgan said Pittenger asked for help with his district at the event, while Pittenger said he asked Morgan to sit down with Republican leaders to talk about redistricting.

A few days later, during Thanksgiving week, the General Assembly convened to approve new districts. On the second day of a two-day special session, Pittenger didn't call Morgan but he called Morgan's political consultant, Paul Shumaker, and asked him to talk to Morgan, according to all three men.

Shumaker is also Pittenger's consultant.

Morgan and several Republican supporters in the House formed a coalition this year with Democratic Co-Speaker Jim Black and have established a working relationship with Democrats in both the House and Senate. Morgan attended a "seafood social" fund-raiser for Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight, D-Dare, last weekend.

Pittenger said he asked Shumaker to see if Morgan would help in the Democratic-controlled Senate with several Republican complaints over the new district maps. Republicans charged that, in Mecklenburg County, the maps diluted minority voting strength and also lumped Pittenger in the same district with Sen. Bob Rucho, a Republican from Matthews. They currently have separate districts, so one would lose his seat in next year's party primary.

"We were ... trying to get him to come and talk with the party chairman, the attorneys and the Senate Republican leader," Pittenger said, "to work through a plan that would be good for House and Senate Republicans."

Shumaker remembers the conversation slightly differently.

He said Pittenger wanted Republicans and Democrats to work together on problems with the map, but his first request was to fix the Mecklenburg districts. In exchange, Pittenger said Republicans would not file a lawsuit, Shumaker said.

Pittenger told him Republican Party chairman Ferrell Blount was in the room, along with Tom Farr, a Raleigh lawyer who has handled successful Republican lawsuits over redistricting.

"That was the initial request," Shumaker said. "That if they could get the Senate districts changed in Mecklenburg County then there wouldn't be any need for the lawsuits."

While Shumaker was trying to reach Morgan, Pittenger called again with a request to let Farr help draw one element of the maps, according to Shumaker.

"We were just throwing out ideas," Pittenger said later.

Shumaker spoke with Rep. Harold Brubaker, R-Randolph, a former speaker and close Morgan ally, who declined the requests to talk.

Blount, the Republican chairman, disputed Morgan's allegations against Pittenger but said he was not privy to any conversation Pittenger had with Shumaker. Farr, the redistricting lawyer, said he was certain Pittenger asked that Morgan push for a map that follows the state constitution and recent court rulings.

On Dec. 1, Pittenger dispatched a 20-word letter to Morgan asking for the $500 back.

Jesse Rutledge, associate director of the nonpartisan N.C. Center for Voter Education, said such infighting will persist as long as legislators draw their own districts, wheeling and dealing for their own political survival.

"Who knows what bargains and deals are really offered?" said Rutledge, whose organization advocates that an independent commission draw districts. "Even if it is just the appearance of cash-and-carry politics, it's the sort of thing that turns voters off of their government."