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RALEIGH — Rep. Cary Allred faces a “preliminary inquiry” ordered by House Speaker Joe Hackney, who said Thursday he wants to know more about reports the Burlington lawmaker embraced a teenage page and drank alcohol before driving to session Monday.

Allred, an outspoken Republican, said the inquiry was “a witch hunt” by the Democratic speaker, with whom he frequently clashes.

A heated exchange during official proceedings and Allred’s behavior before the 7 p.m. Monday session have raised concerns, Hackney said.

“I am simply responding to what I would characterize as numerous reports from people of both parties,” Hackney said. When asked to characterize those reports, Hackney said, “I heard various reports of alcohol use by him, of speeding on the way to session and his embrace of a page.”

Pages are typically high school students who spend a week helping staff run committee hearings and floor sessions by passing out documents and doing other odd jobs. The volunteers must be recommended by a lawmaker, and Allred sponsored the page in question.

“The House page lives across the road from me,” Allred said before the House session Thursday. “And I’ve seen her grow up since she was a baby; she’s like my granddaughter.”

Allred is a legislative veteran who served two terms in the Senate and is serving in his eighth House term.

“I told the speaker it’s a witch hunt,” Allred said, adding, “He despises me.”

According to accounts from witnesses, the speaker’s office and Allred, the following is a summary of Monday’s events:
Allred said that before leaving Alamance County to drive to the legislative session, he remembered having one cocktail of beer, tomato juice and spices. On his way to Raleigh, Allred said, he was pulled over by a state trooper for speeding, although he declined to say how fast he was going. The stop, he said, occurred near Efland and the split of I-40 and I-85.

Allred was not issued a ticket by the trooper, although it’s unclear why. J.E. Brewer, a spokesman for the Highway Patrol, said he had not been able to track down a report from the traffic stop.

After Allred arrived in Raleigh and was on the House floor, witnesses said, he embraced the House page. Some witnesses reported Allred kissing the girl on the lips. Allred said he kissed the girl on the cheek. According to Hackney, witnesses also reported smelling alcohol on Allred.

The girl, 17, sat in Allred’s office Thursday near 5 p.m. As she was preparing to speak to two reporters, General Assembly police led her away. Earlier, to other reporters, she described the embrace with Allred as innocent.

The final episode of Allred’s day occurred during House debate of a bill making technical changes to state lottery laws. Allred pushed to amend the bill in a way Hackney ruled out of order more than once.

“I voted for the lottery, at great peril to my political career,” Allred said. “I received a lot of criticism for it, but I expected it to be what it said it was going to be — the Education Lottery.”

Hackney banged his gavel, saying, “Rep. Allred, I meant what I said, this is not a generalized discussion on the lottery. If the gentleman has a debate on this bill, please debate this bill.”

Allred started back at him.

“Mr. Speaker, the bill is titled an act to make various changes to the North Carolina State Lottery Act. I think that anything I say in regard to that is germane to the bill,” Allred said.

Allred’s tone went beyond his usual feisty demeanor, some observers said.

“We felt like the volume was ratcheted up a little more than usual,” said Rep. Thom Tillis, the House Republican Whip. GOP leaders urged Allred to sit and tugged on his coat.

Tillis and Rep. Paul Stam, the top Republican in the chamber, said they were coordinating the inquiry with Hackney’s office.

The House sergeant at arms office will investigate and report to legislative leaders, Hackney said. A decision will be made whether to refer the matter to an ethics committee.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com