RAND OUT: State Sen. Tony Rand is quitting the Senate. The news that the chamber's chief Democratic enforcer and most formidable political gamesmen is leaving likely thrilled liberal Democrats and conservatives alike. Rand is one of the great characters in state politics and the legislature just got a little more boring.

HOW MANY IS THAT: Gov. Bev Perdue's communications director David Kochman has resigned as her approval numbers remain in the sub-basment. From her days as lieutenant governor, Perdue has had four communications directors in six years, making the job a little bit like being the drummer for Spinal Tap. With luck, Perdue's approval rating will go above 11.

REP. HYPERBOLE: U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx said the Democrats' health reform proposals are more dangerous than terrorists. Republicans may have more to fear from Foxx's own mouth than anything Democrats have to say.

IN OTHER NEWS: President Barack Obama has nominated two North Carolina judges to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has had only six Tar Heels since 1801. With the election of a new mayor in Charlotte, Pat McCrory will be out of elected office, but his loss to Perdue is apparently still gnawing at him, so don't expect McCrory to be out of politics. N&O political cartoonist Dwane Powell has retired after 35 years of skewering politicians.

U.S. Sens. Kay Hagan and Richard Burr said they want to see North Carolinians on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.

President Barack Obama nominated Judges James Wynn and Albert Diaz to the court, which serves North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. North Carolina has had only six judges serve on the 15-judge panel since it was established in 1801, according to Hagan's office.

Judge Allyson Duncan is the only North Carolinian on the bench. The late Sen. Jesse Helms blocked Wynn's 1999 nomination to the court.

"Today’s announcement is a victory for North Carolina," Hagan said in a statement. "For too long partisan bickering and obstructionism on both sides of the aisle have unnecessarily derailed the nominations of qualified North Carolinians."

Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, whose opposition or support could prove pivotal to the confirmation of the nominees, said this morning he "looks forward to working with" Diaz and Wynn during the confirmation process.

"Since coming to the Senate, I have fought for greater representation for North Carolina on the United States Court of Appeals, and I plan to continue that fight for the people of North Carolina," he said.

The senators' complete statements after the jump.

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North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Jim Wynn and Superior Court Judge Albert Diaz, of Charlotte, have been nominated by President Barack Obama for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.

"Their distinguished judicial careers leave no doubt that they will be esteemed additions to the Fourth Circuit," Obama said in a prepared statement.

Wynn, of Cary, was nominated to the 4th Circuit in 1999 by President Bill Clinton but then-U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms blocked his confirmation. Wynn is a former Navy lawyer and remains a military trial judge. He has been on the state appeals court since 1990, except for 1998 when he was appointed to the state supreme court but lost the election that year to retain the seat.

Diaz, a former Marine Corps lawyer and the first Latino named to a superior court bench, would be the 4th Circuit's first Hispanic judge.

Their confirmation would end a 15-year impasse over one of the vacancies on the court, which hears federal cases from the Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland.

The federal appeals courts are often the last stop for many cases, since the U.S. Supreme Court takes so few.

Mecklenburg Superior Court Judge Albert Diaz of Charlotte appears to be moving toward a White House nomination to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, where he could become the court's first Hispanic judge.

The nomination, one of two possible for North Carolina, could help break a 15-year impasse that's created the longest appellate vacancy in the country and left the state under-represented on the powerful court, according to Gary L. Wright and Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer.

The FBI is conducting a background check on Diaz, who in 2001 became the first Hispanic to serve on North Carolina's Superior Court. The American Bar Association also is evaluating him.

Diaz, 48, declined to comment.

"Everybody who has looked at him has given him exceptionally high marks," says former N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Burley Mitchell, who led a panel that screened potential federal judges.

N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Jim Wynn of Cary is also widely expected to be nominated by President Obama to the federal appeals court. It would be Wynn's second attempt at the 4th Circuit, which hears appeals from the Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland.

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan this morning said she has no time frame on when North Carolina might see another nominee to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.

"I talk to the White House pretty often, and I’m hoping we’ll move forward quickly," Hagan told Dome during a conference call with reporters. "I’m working with Sen. (Richard) Burr and President [Barack] Obama and White House counsel to ensure North Carolina has adequate representation on the 4th Circuit."

The Court of Appeals, one tier below the Supreme Court, has just one member from North Carolina sitting on it now, Barb Barrett reports. Hagan and Burr have been pushing to add one, hopefully two or three, more members from the state to the court.

Obama has recently made several nominations to other circuits, but nothing so far for the 4th.

N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Jim Wynn was the subject of a federal background check late last spring, a sign that he may be nominated.

Wynn was nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1999 and 2001 for the 4th Circuit but he was never confirmed by the Senate, largely because of opposition by then Sen. Jesse Helms.

N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Jim Wynn has been the subject of a federal background check, a sign that he may be nominated for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond.

The FBI has been conducting a background investigation of Wynn, questioning people around the court houses in Raleigh, Rob Christensen reports.

"I’ve been interviewed by the FBI who didn’t tell me for what," said federal Magistrate Judge William W. Webb. "I know the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington has been calling people about him."

Wynn was nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1999 and 2001 for the 4th Circuit but he was never confirmed by the Senate, largely because of opposition by then Sen. Jesse Helms.

President Barack Obama has not indicated who he would nominate. But Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan is pushing hard for another North Carolinian on the 4th Circuit and there has considerable speculation that Wynn is one of the candidates she is pushing.

He is also being championed by Congressman G.K. Butterfield, his former law partner, who is a close Obama ally.

The speculation is based not only on gossip but the fact that Wynn has twice before nominated for the 4th Circuit only to have his nomination stalled by then Republican Sen. Jesse Helms, Rob Christensen reports.

Some of the key players, have been avoiding reporter’s calls.

Former NC. Chief Justice Burley Mitchell headed a four-member committee that screened potential candidates for Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan, would not say who the panel recommended.

But he heaped praise on Wynn, noting that he had known Wynn as a fellow judge and attorney for several decades.

"Nobody in the state is better qualified for the 4th Circuit in North Carolina in my view than Jim Wynn," Mitchell said.

More after the jump.

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