Clay Aiken opponent dead

Keith Crisco, a North Carolina Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, still locked in a tight post-election-day vote count with former American Idol performer Clay Aiken, was found dead Monday. According to the Ashboro currier tribune, Crisco was injured in a fall at his home. He was 71.

Crisco and Aiken were matched in last Tuesday’s Democratic primary. As of Monday, Aiken held a 369-vote lead, with an official re-canvassing scheduled for tomorrow.

Crisco, a successful textile entrepreneur, is reported to have spent several hundred thousand dollars on his own campaign. He had previously served on the Asheboro city council and as state secretary of commerce under former Governor Bev Perdue.

The race has ben closely watched, in part because of Aiken’s fame as a singer and TV personality, and in part because the incumbent, Republican Renee Ellmers, has made friendly noises about immigration reform. The position had angered some GOP faithful, but netted Ellmers $250,000 in support from Americans for a Conservative Direction, an affiliate of FWD.us, the nonprofit social welfare group — or 501(c)(4) — cofounded by tech millionaires, including as Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, to advocate for immigration reform.

Ellmers was also recently lampooned in a segment of The Colbert Report for her vocal campaign against an Islamic Cultural Center’s proposed move into a downtown New York City building, and for her refusal to defer her salary during last year’s government shutdown. “The thing of it is,” Ellmers explained, “I need my paycheck.”

Aiken, in a statement released Monday, praised Crisco, “He was a gentleman, a good and honorable man and an extraordinary public servant. I was honored to know him.” Aiken said he was suspending campaign activities to pray for Crisco’s family.

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