From the Raleigh News-Observer

Allred plans to drop GOP label
By EMERY P. DALESIO, Associated Press Writer

RALEIGH - A state House member accused of drinking before speeding to
work and embracing a teenage female page said Thursday he will quit the
Republican Party after a three-decade political career after comments by
fellow GOP legislators who participated in a probe of his conduct.

Rep. Cary Allred, R-Alamance, said next week would change his party
registration from GOP to unaffiliated after being betrayed by fellow
Republicans.

"If they don't like me they can go to hell," Allred said in a telephone
interview.

A report released Wednesday quoted several Republicans describing what
they observed as Allred embraced the 17-year-old page. Twelve
Republicans gave accounts of what they witnessed on April 27 for the
report collected by House Sergeant-at-Arms Bob Samuels and presented to
House Speaker Joe Hackney, D-Orange. Eight Republicans offered
observations critical of Allred's conduct. One Republican compared
Allred's embrace to a "gruesome bear hug."

"I personally found the scene distasteful and highly disturbing," wrote
Rep. Mitchell Setzer, R-Catawba.

The report was given to the Legislative Ethics Committee, a joint
House-Senate panel that will decide whether further scrutiny is needed
if ethics laws may have been violated.

House Minority Leader Rep. Paul Stam, R-Wake, said he hoped Allred would
not drop from the Republican ranks. There are now 52 Republicans in the
120-seat House, counting Allred.

"I think we've been very respectful of Rep. Allred and mutually
assisting him through this time of trial," Stam said. "This is an
unfortunate situation. I'm very sorry it came."

North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Linda Daves urged Allred to
resign his seat, saying the party "is committed to recruiting candidates
for public office who are men and women of unwavering integrity and
honesty. All others need not apply."

Allred said he had not decided whether to finish his two-year
legislative term, which he started in January. He is in his 10th term in
the Legislature, including eight in the House,

"I'm tired of living in a glass house," he said. "But I have done
nothing illegal or unethical."

Allred, 62, is a former chairman of the Alamance County Republican Party
and served as a county commissioner before being elected to the Legislature.

Allred said he had one drink on April 27 before being stopped by a
trooper on his way to Raleigh. He was cited four days later for driving
at 102 mph in a 65-mph zone. His court date is June 10 in Orange County.