UNION COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — The Republican candidate for attorney general in North Carolina has filed a lawsuit against his opponent. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-District 8) filed the lawsuit against the campaign of Rep. Jeff Jackson (D-District 14), as well as the North Carolina Democratic Party, Democratic Attorneys General Association Inc., DAGA North Carolina People's Lawyer Project, DAGA People's Lawyer Project, 10 unidentified individuals and a marketing firm, on Oct. 3 in Union County. Bishop alleges that some or all of the defendants "conspired," in the words of the lawsuit, to defame him. Mark Robinson hints at CNN lawsuit during campaign stop Bishop claims that, on July 29, 2024, the Delaware-based marketing research firm Dynata called a home in Union County to conduct a political survey that the resident had agreed to participate in. According to the lawsuit, "the Surveyor then asked the Recipient a series of questions. One of the questions asked, 'Would you be more or less likely to vote for Dan Bishop for Attorney General if you knew that, as a lawyer, he represented people who stole money from the elderly?' or words substantially to that effect (the 'Law Practice Question')." Bishop claims that this question "sounded as a factual assertion" about Bishop's law practice, and he says that the assertion is false. The lawsuit also infers that, if one resident was asked this question, it is likely that hundreds more were asked as well. "From his admission to the bar in 1990 until 2019, Bishop practiced commercial litigation in North Carolina for almost 30 years without professional blemish, appearing of record in 403 proceedings in the state and federal trial and appellate courts of North Carolina," the suit states, going on to say "Bishop never 'represented people who stole money from the elderly.'" The "false assertion," Bishop's legal team writes, "vaguely echoed" statements from an article in the left-wing magazine The New Republic, which goes over Bishop's legal career in North Carolina. They describe the article as accusing the representative of defending "the rights of shady corporations that had taken advantage of consumers in his home state" and cite the article as stating, "Bishop's track record shows a tendency to side ... with the rich and powerful." Court documents allege that these case descriptions were "riddled with falsehoods," and that the article was later edited and republished, still containing "false and baseless conclusory assertions." Bishop's legal team claims that Jackson, the North Carolina Democratic Party, Democratic Attorneys General Association Inc., DAGA North Carolina People's Lawyer Project, DAGA People's Lawyer Project, 10 unidentified individuals and Dynata "conspired all together or any one or more of them" to publish the article on The New Republic and to have the polling question asked. "The Interested Defendant(s) who acted as alleged did so with the motivation and purpose to find information about Bishop's legal career detrimental to his professional reputation, and failing that, to concoct and contrive damaging characterizations of his career unsupported by facts, all to the end of undermining Bishop's prospects of winning the attorney general's race." The lawsuit also highlights claims that "the past two attorneys general of North Carolina defamed their opponents' professional legal careers in mass communications in the final weeks of close election campaigns." A breakdown of Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s history amid bombshell CNN report, calls to step aside This line appears to reference lawsuits filed against Attorney General Josh Stein, when he ran against current Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O'Neill in 2020, and a long-running legal fight from when Gov. Roy Cooper was attorney general in the early 2000s that was eventually settled in 2014. In the lawsuit, Bishop's legal team claims that the defendants are working "at the direction of or on behalf of" Jackson, and that they "already laid groundwork to repeat this unethical and unlawful tactic in the campaign that concludes on November 5, 2024." Bishop is demanding a jury trial and monetary relief. Jackson's campaign provided the following statement regarding the lawsuit: "We look forward to its swift resolution. Mr. Bishop says he wants to be Mark Robinson's sidekick and we imagine this will have as much success as Mark Robinson's legal actions." Bishop's campaign was reached for comment but did not respond. Read the full text of the lawsuit here: bishop-v-jackson-defamationDownload Background Jackson, who has built a following across social media platforms like TikTok and Reddit over the years of his political career, has been leading Bishop in the polls. Democrat Jackson came under fire for his frequent use of TikTok despite voting for a bill that would essentially ban the app. Bishop was the primary sponsor of HB2, the "bathroom bill" back in 2014 that attempted to limit the bathroom that transgender people could use, and made it illegal for municipalities to pass civil rights rulings at the local level. Bishop has been accused of "setting the stage" for the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol by spreading falsehoods about the 2020 election, having ties to organizations behind Project 2025 like The Claremont Institute.