'Political assassination': Convicted GOP hopeful with Nazi ties to stay on ballot despite party pushback

North Carolina's State Board of Elections has decided to allow Joseph Gibson III — a House GOP candidate and convicted felon with alleged neo-Nazi ties — to remain on the ballot, "finding that his citizenship rights had been restored," News & Observer reports.

State House GOP Caucus Director Stephen Wiley, according to the report, "first raised the alarm about Gibson after finding out he had been convicted of several felonies, including robbery, while living in Connecticut." He then found Gibson has "ties to a neo-Nazi organization," saying, "He's got pretty despicable views and doesn't have any room in polite society as far as I'm concerned."

News & Observer notes, "A report from the Anti-Defamation League describes Gibson as a 'white supremacist and anti-government extremist,' and "says that the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement (NSM) described Gibson as 'one of our members in NC' and supported his campaign online."

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Gibson calls the GOP's opposition to his candidacy "political assassination."

The newspaper reports:

Gibson was initially removed from the ballot by the Rockingham County Board of Elections on Jan. 3. The board found that he had been convicted of a felony in Connecticut and had not 'presented evidence that his rights have been restored.' The board also said that Gibson failed to appear at his own hearing. He appealed to the state board, which sent the case back to Rockingham, asking the board to determine if Gibson’s citizenship rights had been restored.

The Rockingham board then approved Gibson’s candidacy on party lines, with all Democrats voting in favor and all Republicans voting against. In the board’' decision, it said that Gibson had completed his probation in 2008 for crimes committed in Connecticut and had not been convicted of a felony in North Carolina since.

Parnell then appealed back to the state board, which ruled in Gibson's favor on Tuesday.

News & Observer also notes, "Wiley anticipated this result," saying, "I fully expect us to lose and for Mr. Gibson to remain on the ballot — and then I fully expect Rep. Pyrtle will be able to handily beat him on the primary date."

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The News & Observer's full report is here (subscription required).