The legal bills keep mounting for outside attorneys to defend North Carolina election law changes that critics call the strictest in the country. Gov. Pat McCrory last year hired his own lawyer.
The governor hired South Carolina lawyer Karl "Butch" Bowers Jr. to represent him in a federal lawsuit alleging Republican-backed voting changes are intended to suppress minority voter turnout. Invoices show that Bowers has billed the state $300,000.
McCrory spokesman Ryan Tronovitch said Tuesday that Bowers was hired after state Attorney General Roy Cooper last year opposed the changes and said he was "appalled" it was made law. Tronovitch says Bowers was needed to defend a law protecting the integrity of elections.
State attorneys from Cooper's office defended the law before a federal appeals court last week. Bowers didn't respond to messages seeking comment.
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