Over in the Triad, the race for Rick Gunn’s state senate seat is heating up. Gunn, a Republican who has held the seat since winning it the 2010 Republican wave, announced last year that he was retiring. We’re now finding out that he’s being sued by the husband of his legislative assistant for breaking up their marriage. Ironically, Democrats have been trying to get rid of the Alienation of Affection law for years but Republicans have kept it on the books.

Now, attorney and former Air Force officer J.D. Wooten, who lost to Gunn in 2018, is running again. His opponent is Amy Galey, the Chair of the Alamance County Board of Commissioners. The race is shaping up to be a barnburner.

Galey has opened the race with a hit on Wooten that’s dubious at best. She claims he got a VA loan in order to buy a rental property, a violation of VA rules, and she dropped mail accusing Wooten of fraud. However, Wooten bought the property, which was outside of the district, moved in and stayed until he decided to take another shot at the state senate seat. The News & Observer fact checked the hit and found that Wooten did nothing wrong. Galey and the North Carolina Republican Party twisted facts to attack Wooten’s character. They are attacking the integrity of somebody who spent ten years in the service of his country.

Galey wasn’t satisfied with making the attack based on flimsy evidence, though. She’s trying to build a case that Wooten has a pattern of deception. She’s also accused him of filing a false report with the State Board of Elections. In reality, Wooten filed an amended report, a very common practice and totally acceptable.

Galey’s problem, though, is her own finance reports. She lists herself as Treasurer, according to the State Board of Elections. However, somebody else is signing her reports as the Treasurer. Either Galey will need to file an amendment herself, or admit that something is fraudulent in her own reports. Hypocrisy is not a good look in politics but might be a staple of the Galey campaign.

Galey’s hits on Wooten are weak at best but they indicate a lack of character and willingness to distort facts to fit her narrative. We’ve seen enough of that in Raleigh. Galey could run on her record and integrity, but, unfortunately, she has squandered the opportunity to claim the latter.