GOP Congressional candidate levies criminal allegations against opponent

RALEIGH, N.C. — One of the two Republicans fighting for U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick’s seat is calling for a criminal investigation of his opponent.

Jim Pendergraph claims Robert Pittenger broke the law and wants state and federal law enforcement to go after him.

Voters go to the polls Tuesday for the Republican runoff election. With just days to go, Pendergraph is accusing Pittenger of public corruption.

According to Pendergraph, when Pittenger was a state Senator in 2003, Pittenger voted for the annexation of some Union County land he partly owned. Pittenger eventually made money off the deal, Pendergraph said.

Now, Pendergraph wants the FBI, the State Bureau of Investigation and federal and state prosecutors to investigate Pittenger.

“You can call it what you want, but 40 years of law enforcement experience tells me that there’s some fire here that needs to be investigated. It should have been investigated a long time ago,” Pendergraph said when asked if the accusation was a political ploy.

Pittenger’s campaign called the allegations absurd and sad.

“Mr. Pendergraph is a long-time politician who will say anything, no matter how outrageous, in his last desperate attempt to attain yet another political job,” his campaign said.

Daune Gardner, the mayor of Waxhaw, said Wednesday evening the town needs the space for a park.

“We’re ready to accept the property now. We’re in a position where we’re ready to move forward with this, and so we’ve invited Mr. Pittenger to work with us on that,” Gardner said.

The winner of Tuesday’s GOP runoff will face Democrat Jennifer Roberts and Libertarian Curtis Campbell in November.

Myrick announced earlier this year she would not seek another term.

WSOC