23 minutes passed before Speaker Tim Moore’s race for Congress turned ugly. What now?

Only 23 minutes passed before the first attack from a candidate in the 14th Congressional District race took place.

On Thursday night, House Speaker Tim Moore’s campaign adviser, Paul Shumaker, confirmed to McClatchy that Moore would announce he would run for Congress.

Pat Harrigan, a Republican who declared his run more than two months ago, immediately sent out a news release attacking Moore on the scandal that recently plagued Moore’s tenure in the state House.

“Lets be clear: Tim Moore carries a legacy of corruption, from being bought and paid for by the casino and gambling bosses, to taxpayer-funded sexual escapades,” Harrigan said in a news release. “Such a man does not represent NC14’s values, nor does he deserve its trust.“

Moore recently found himself a defendant in an alienation of affection lawsuit, accused of having an affair with a married state employee that resulted in the couple’s divorce. He also navigated an intraparty battle over whether to allow four casinos to be built across the state, which he publicly supported.

“My experience, which is a little bit more extensive in this than most people in politics, is that those who are behind and those that are desperate, tend to be the ones who lash out first,” Shumaker said in response to Harrigan’s statement.

Michael Bitzer, a political science professor at Catawba College, said because the 14th District is a safe Republican seat, based on past voting data, the Republican primary will determine the election.

“And I think that is probably where all the gloves will come off and we will have a very intensive primary battle,” Bitzer said. “And because it’s an open seat. Nobody has the power of the incumbency.”

Moore’s politics

Bitzer said the candidates will focus on their own track records, and he fully expects Moore to tout his ability as speaker to “reorient the state.”

On Friday morning, Moore, 53, a Republican from Kings Mountain, did just that during a check presentation at Gaston Community College that he used as a soft launch of his campaign, confirming the official announcement would come Monday, Business North Carolina first reported.

“Look at our record in the legislature. I’m proud of that track record and what we’ve done in this state,” Moore said at the speech.

Shumaker also amplified that message Friday afternoon when talking about Harrigan’s response to Moore’s run.

Moore is the longest-serving House speaker in the state’s history. And Shumaker said that gives Moore the ability to stand in front of any Republican primary crowd, any major donor, any grassroots activists and list off his major accomplishments. Shumaker proceeded to name things like lowering taxes, creating a good business environment, passing voter ID and preventing sanctuary cities for undocumented immigrants.

“You know how I’m going to vote,” Shumaker said, of what Moore can tell people. “All these other ones are going to tell you how they’re going to vote when they get there, but the reality is you don’t know how they’re going to vote.”

Chris Cooper, political science professor at Western Carolina University, said despite not having incumbency, Moore has over the years been able to provide the 14th district with investments as House speaker, and has made sure to tout that.

Cooper said that with any negative attention Moore receives, his campaign will try to deflect it by reminding the people of Cleveland County and the rest of the district of how he’s been looking out for them.

But Moore has also given Harrigan ample ammunition to use against him.

“I think it’s going to be a nasty primary,” Cooper said. “I would be shocked if Harrigan does not continue to hit Moore and hit him hard. What I don’t know is what Moore’s reaction is going to be.”

Teflon Tim?

In the 10 years that Moore has led the House, he developed a nickname as “Teflon Tim” after repeatedly being at the center of ethical and legal problems, but never getting in official trouble for any of it.

That includes his most recent scandal, a lawsuit filed by Scott Lassiter containing salacious allegations of group sex and other degrading sexual acts, and espionage-like retaliation. Lassiter accused Moore of breaking up his marriage to Jamie Liles Lassiter. Lassiter said Moore used his influence — Liles Lassiter is a state employee — in order to gain sexual favors.

Moore admitted to an on-again, off-again relationship but otherwise said the lawsuit was baseless. Liles Lassiter said in a statement at the time, through her attorney, that the lawsuit was “outrageous and defamatory.”

Within weeks, Moore and Scott Lassiter resolved the lawsuit, though neither will discuss what that means, signaling the possibility of a settlement with a nondisclosure agreement.

Gambling

Moore was also part of a contentious disagreement among the Republican caucus about whether to allow four new casinos and video gambling machines in North Carolina.

Moore had long recused himself from voting on gambling issues in the state after doing legal work connected to the casino in Kings Mountain, operated by the Catawba Nation. But earlier this year, he received an ethics committee opinion saying he could vote on the issue going forward.

Both Moore and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger publicly supported the additional casinos, but could not get enough support from the House Republican caucus. The battle for the casinos held up the passage of the state’s budget until September, when lawmakers decided to drop the issue until next year’s session.

Moore plans to continue serving out his term while campaigning and will be speaker if that issue is taken up in the short session that begins in April.

Opposition

Meanwhile, Harrigan, 36, a Republican from Gastonia, is an Army combat Green Beret who, in Afghanistan, earned two Bronze Stars, an award given to service members for heroic work. When Harrigan returned to the United States he and his wife moved to North Carolina and created a firearms business.

This is the second time that Harrigan is seeking the 14th congressional seat. In 2022, he and Rep. Jeff Jackson, a Democrat from Charlotte, campaigned against one another in a race that became vitriolic.

Harrigan blamed Jackson for a gunshot into his parent’s house in Hickory after Jackson aired a commercial saying that Harrigan made a fortune off his gun manufacturing business and bought a lake house. The commercial included a image of Harrigan’s own house in Hickory.

Jackson also wanted an investigation into Harrigan’s voter registration because public records showed he owns a home in Hickory, but rents an apartment in Charlotte. That investigation never moved forward.

Jackson ultimately came out on top, winning the election 58%-42%.

Jackson is not seeking reelection this year, after the General Assembly redrew Jackson’s congressional district to lean Republican, seeming to help secure a win for a Republican, and many believe specifically for Moore.

Name recognition

Cooper believes that Moore is the front-runner in the race, but he must contend with the scandal.

Bitzer said that he believes Harrigan built up a base of support — he won the primary with three quarters of the vote — in the district by running in 2022, and that he could come in with potentially the same amount of name recognition as Moore.

“Usually you have one with greater name ID than the other, but this this could be an equalizer in terms of the intensity of what we would expect in this primary,” Bitzer said.

Moore also has the advantage that he is from Kings Mountain.

“Neighbors and friends in a politician’s home base, usually don’t react well to other candidates attacking that politician,” Bitzer said. “The thing that gives me pause is we’re dealing with a really weird environment on the ground, and that’s to put it nicely, and there are so many different factors that may come into play that we don’t know about or recognize.”

Bitzer said that could include: Who else might run? What major donors might come into play? Could there be an endorsement by former President Donald Trump? And could Moore’s recent scandal cost him?

Last election cycle, former Rep. Madison Cawthorn, a now 27-year-old, was hit with a deluge of scandals right before the Republican primary and that ultimately cost him his congressional run.

Ironically, Cawthorn challenged Moore that cycle for this congressional district, after the General Assembly had diluted Cawthorn’s district of Republican voters seemingly as a slap on the hand for acting out. Cawthorn saw what many believed to be a district drawn out for Moore and announced he would run there instead, since congressional candidates aren’t required to live in the district they run in.

When Cawthorn made the announcement on social media, he said: “Knowing the political realities of the 13th district, I’m afraid that another establishment, go-along-to-get-along Republican would prevail there. I will not let that happen.”

When Harrigan took his shot at Moore Thursday night, he echoed Cawthorn’s words.

“NC14 demands leaders forged in adversity, capable of making tough decisions that put our economy back on track and are unafraid to stand against the establishment for the betterment of our state and nation,” Harrigan wrote. “What they do not need is another go-along-to-get-along Republican who prioritizes political survival over principled action and the hard-fought interests of North Carolinians.”