Anderson Clayton, Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, and Lisa Jewel, President of the NCDP Jewish Caucus, issued the following statement in response to today’s attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan.

For the last six years, North Carolina Republican judicial candidates have flocked east to an annual picnic to raise “big $$” at the home of a convicted child sex predator. Recent reporting detailed how Harvey L. West had “established himself as a fundraiser in a newly created space” by “seizing an opportunity to influence judicial candidates who are unaccustomed to raising money to campaign”.

New reporting from the Asheville Watchdog reveals that a convicted child sex predator is one of the pre-eminent fundraisers for NCGOP judicial candidates, hosting one of the biggest annual fundraising events in North Carolina.

According to data released by AAA, gas prices in North Carolina have increased by more than 20% over the last month while the price of diesel has shot up 37% in that same period. President Trump campaigned on “getting gasoline below $2 a gallon”, a target that has been massively missed.