In North Carolina, Harvey L. West Jr. was appointed to lead the GOP's 1st Congressional District committee in the state's eastern corner, and to head the party's powerful Plan of Organization committee, which effectively controls rulemaking. West (54) was a 28-year-old police officer in Washington, a small town in Beaufort County near the Outer Banks, in 1999 when he was arrested and charged with the statutory rape of three girls, two aged 14 and one aged 16.

NC 1st CD Population 752,478; 48% white