By SETH EFFRON
StateGovernmentRadio.com

Until recently it was a private discussion among Republicans concerning the party's candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction's obstinate challenge in the still undecided election. The talk, that the challenge was doing more harm than good, has started to go public.

For weeks several key Republican legislators have privately said they hoped Fletcher would drop his challenge and concede the race to Democrat June Atkinson. Some said they've even suggested as much directly to Fletcher - but to no avail.

Last Thursday, a special legislative committee spent nearly eight hours listening to testimony, reviewing evidence and questioning witnesses as it prepares to make a recommendation to the full General Assembly on how to resolve the matter.

The much-repeated facts of the case are that Atkinson received 8,535 more votes than Fletcher. But Fletcher contends that about 11,300 so-called provisional ballots were cast illegally. His appeals have gone up and down the state's court system and landed in the General Assembly. The legislature is exercising a previously obscure provision of the state Constitution that empowers it to resolve disputed elections.

The behind-the-scenes talk spilled into the public late last week. Stalwart Republican-leaning commentator Rick Martinez announced: "Let Atkinson do the job," in his newspaper column. He confessed he'd tracked her down and hoped to bait her into a "first-class rant."

His column turned into an Atkinson endorsement, calling her goals "ambitious and important."

Even more significant, a day after the legislative hearings, a man who's among the state's most prominent Republican voices, John Hood, contemplated "Why Atkinson Will Be Superintendent," in his daily blog.

"Atkinson is the duly elected state superintendent of public instruction," he concluded.

John Hood isn't your run-of-the-mill blogger. His patron is Art Pope, a former legislator and wealthy Republican activist who bankrolls Hood's Republican-oriented political operation, the John Locke Foundation. Pope has financed intramural GOP challenges to state Rep. Richard Morgan, the Moore County Republican, as well as Republican-leaning organizations such as Americans for Prosperity, the Civitas Institute and another that promotes a conservative agenda in higher education.

Pope's John Hood said not only won't Fletcher's arguments prevail, they are "contrary to basic fairness."

State Sen. Jim Forrester, a Gaston County Republican who chairs the legislature's joint Republican caucus, said there's been no formal caucus discussion of the issue.

He said it's his sense that if, and when, the matter comes before the full legislature, there won't be any pressure on Republicans to present a unified front. They'll be free to vote as they choose.

During the weeks after the November election, Democrat Britt Cobb was challenging the results of the much-closer Agriculture Commissioner contest against Republican Steve Troxler. Several very prominent Democrats, including Senate President ProTem Marc Basnight, made it clear they'd back the person with the most votes. In that case it was Troxler. Britt dropped his 12-week challenge and conceded.

Several Republicans say Fletcher's continued challenge makes him appear bitter and head-strong. It's weakening what might otherwise be the foundation for a strong campaign for the office in 2008. Few Republican legislators are looking forward to being put on the spot and on the record, as the challenge moves to resolution.