State Rep. David Miner is one of the state’s most aggressive fundraisers. Asked in ’96 why he had set a fundraising goal of $500,000, Miner replied that that sum “will help scare off some people.” Rapid development is a major issue in Miner’s Wake County district and developers are top donors to his hefty war chest. “If you don’t like growth,” Miner said in ’97, “you should move out of Wake County.” As chair of the House Commerce Committee in ‘98, Miner moved a bill to allow liquor to be sold by the glass in conservative Robeson County. He moved the bill just five days after the Chamber of Commerce backing the bill took Miner’s suggestion that they hire his campaign consultant as its lobbyist. Miner was involved in a money-in-politics scandal involving the state’s filthy corporate pig farms. The State Board of Elections ruled in ’98 that the corporate pig industry—under the misnomer “Farmers for Fairness”—acted as a political action committee without registering as one. Corporate pig interests countered that the state Republican House leadership—including Miner—passed a state moratorium on new hog operations in ’96 to punish the industry for failing to meet their demands for $200,000 in contributions. The Board of Elections ruled that it lacked evidence to act on this complaint when the main witness lost his memory of the event. The pig industry then shifted new operations to the greener pastures of places such as Texas (see Pioneer Teel Bivins). During a contested GOP primary race for Congress in ’94, Republican activists said Miner responded with a racial slur when they told him they were backing Fred Heineman. One Heineman supporter said Miner retorted, “I don’t see how a Jew from New York can come down here and be a viable candidate.” Miner denies saying this about Heineman, who is Lutheran.