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Watchdog group names McCrory 'one of worst'

A left-leaning government watchdog group has named Governor Pat McCrory "one of the worst governors in America" for giving plum jobs to political donors. The governor's office has not yet responded.

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Gov. Pat McCrory
By
Laura Leslie
RALEIGH, N.C. — A left-leaning government watchdog group has named Gov. Pat McCrory "one of the worst governors in America" for giving plum jobs to political donors.

McCrory was one of 18 governors – 17 of them Republicans – singled out by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit that advocates for transparency and accountability, especially on the topic of money on politics.

The group describes its new report, "Worst Governors in America," as "an examination of shady and unethical conduct by the nation’s governors."

McCrory didn't make the top six, which includes Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, currently under state and federal investigation for potential self-dealing and corruption.

According to the release from CREW, McCrory made the second tier because he "has stacked his administration with some of his most generous campaign donors, including Art Pope, a millionaire retail magnate who fueled a Republican takeover in the state through a stable of nonprofits he has funded."

"Before Gov. Pat McCrory takes any action, he ponders the question, ‘What would Art Pope do?’ and, undoubtedly, then calls the real power behind the governor’s chair just to be sure he isn’t stepping out of line,” CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan said in a statement. “By making Art Pope the unelected and unaccountable leader of North Carolina, Gov. McCrory earned his title as one of the worst governors in America.”

The report also notes that 10 of the governor's Board of Transportation appointees are campaign donors, despite his position in 2008 that such seats shouldn't be given to political fundraisers, and that Secretary of Health and Human Services Aldona Wos was also a campaign co-chair and a generous political donor as well.

WRAL News has asked for a comment from McCrory, but his press office has not yet responded to the request.

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