Joe Sam Queen (D-Waynesville) is suing Senator Ralph Hise (R-Spruce Pine) for ads used to unseat him. Queen is one of ten defeated Democrats in the suit alleging their victorious opponents had claimed they had paid for TV ads when in fact the NC Republican Party had. By claiming personal ownership, the candidates qualified for lower rates and dissociated themselves from Republican vapours that may have made the candidates odious to a larger number of people. The Republican Party is not taking the lawsuit seriously.