Subject: FW: RGA Chair Cancels Event With McCrory, Amid HB2 Crisis
From: "Walker, Eric" <[email-masked]>
To: Comm_D <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2016 10:19:24 -0700

From: DGA Press [mailto:[email-masked]]
Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2016 1:19 PM
To: DGA Press
Subject: RGA Chair Cancels Event With McCrory, Amid HB2 Crisis

For Immediate Release:
April 19, 2016

Contact:
Jared Leopold, 202-772-5600

RGA Chair Cancels Event With McCrory, Amid HB2 Crisis

NM Gov. Susana Martinez suddenly quits planned May 7 speech at NCGOP Convention

Martinez faced pressure at home over connection to McCrory

Pat McCrory’s HB 2 crisis in North Carolina has his top political ally running for cover.

Republican Governors Association Chair, Susana Martinez, announced last night that she is backing out<http://m.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/gov-martinez-backs-out-of-north-carolina-speaking-gig/article_140ae8c5-664f-59bb-813d-aadb7884eeb5.html?mode=jqm> of a dinner at the North Carolina GOP state convention on May 7th in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that Martinez has faced criticism in New Mexico over her support of McCrory, amid the withering controversy sparked by North Carolina's sweeping anti-LGBT law.

As Chair of the RGA, Martinez is in charge of supporting candidates for the 2016 cycle. McCrory is her most vulnerable incumbent, and North Carolina is the largest state with a governor’s race in 2016.

For more than a month, Martinez has been scheduled to host a dinner and deliver a speech at the NCGOP convention. Last night however, Martinez blamed a “scheduling conflict” as reason to cancel her campaign trip with McCrory in the Tar Heel State.

“Susana Martinez can’t run fast enough from Pat McCrory’s toxic brand,” said DGA Communications Director Jared Leopold. “It’s stunning to see the RGA Chair abandon her most endangered governor in 2016. Pat McCrory is rapidly becoming political Kryptonite for his fellow Republican governors who are running away in droves.”

Martinez has not answered what her scheduling conflict is – nor whether she will continue to direct RGA funds to McCrory in 2016.

Pat McCrory’s HB 2 “Carolina Backlash” has already cost North Carolina millions of dollars and thousands of jobs. Both PayPal<http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/05/technology/paypal-north-carolina-lgbt/> and Deutsche Bank<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/13/business/dealbook/deutsche-bank-freezes-north-carolina-expansion-in-protest-of-bias-law.html?_r=0> canceled projects to bring hundreds of high-paying jobs to the state over HB 2, and a growing list of over 160 businesses<http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article72407477.html> – including the state’s top employers such as Bank of America and American Airlines – have condemned McCrory’s discrimination law.

Now, McCrory – who has been named<http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/under-the-dome/article10184366.html> 2016’s most vulnerable GOP governor – has even sent his RGA Chair running.

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