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TAX PLAN COULD MEAN TAX HIKE IN LONG TERM: The majority of taxpayers likely would see a tax increase after the plan is fully implemented, according to early long-term projections from legislative fiscal researchers who analyzed the potential legislation – not a tax break as Senate Republican leaders suggested when announcing the plan this week.

A taxpayer with a federal adjusted gross income below $51,000 could pay an average $100 to $200 more in the 2017 tax year. Based on current tax brackets, 2.3 million taxpayers would fit that category, according to the analysis, while 1.8 million taxpayers could expect an average $300 to $3,000 tax cut that year. In announcing the plan Tuesday, Senate leader Phil Berger, an Eden Republican, emphasized that the legislation was not yet finalized, but said the “vast majority,” or roughly two-thirds of taxpayers, would initially get a tax cut as a result of the legislation. (More below.)

***This is the Dome Morning Memo -- the source for North Carolina political news and analysis. Send tips to dome@newsobserver.com. And read more new details about the tax plan below.***

A legislative reunion in honor of the statehouse's 50th birthday brought former lawmakers out of the woodwork. And the difference between the gray-haired Democrats and the Republican young guns was visually apparent.

Former Congressman Bob Etheridge, a Democrat who served two-terms in the N.C. House, said the legislature of the past is nothing like the current one under Republican control. "A lot of folks who were here today remember the days when you would come to this building -- you may argue and we had Democrats and Republicans -- but we were doing things to make a difference to move North Carolina forward," he said. "And what I saw in the paper the other day, the (legislative) proposals give me reason to be very concerned."

Pittsboro Mayor Randy Voller was elected chairman of the N.C. Democratic Party over former congressman Bob Etheridge by a vote of 309-298.

Voller was the only candidate campaigning after former state senator Eric Mansfield dropped out of the race. Etheridge left the meeting before he was nominated and did not speak on his own behalf.

Etheridge supporters said the party needed someone who could raise money and who had statewide and national connections.

Sen. Floyd McKissick of Durham urged voters to pass the baton to a new leader.

With former Sen. Eric Mansfield's withdrawal from the Democratic Party chairmanship race, party figures have begun to scramble.

Embattled current chairman David Parker, who had announced he would not seek another term, has begun making calls about possibly serving another term.

Meanwhile, former Rep. Bob Etheridge, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for governor last year, is being recruited by some party leaders, to run for party chairman.

Etheridge's name was floated last spring, but was apparently torpedoed by then Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton who thought Etheridge's entrance in the race made an already difficult Democratic run that much more problematic.

Meanwhile, Pittsboro Mayor Randy Voller may be in the strongest position, having campaigned aggressively for the post since late last year. This week he picked up the endorsement of Ben Chavis, the former national chairman of the NAACP.

UPDATE: Parker said he is not running for Democratic Party chair. He said he preside at the state Executive Committee meeting in Durham on Feb. 2 and hand over the gavel to the new chair.

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack will campaign across North Carolina on Wednesday for President Barack Obama's re-election.

Vilsack is scheduled to make appearances with former Congressman Bob Etheridges in Raleigh, Wilson and in Wilmington.

The Obama campaign will host more than 150 debate watch parties across North Carolina today, the campaign announced.

In Charlotte, the debate watch party will be headed by Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx and Newton Massachusetts Mayor Setti Warren. In Raleigh, it will be headed by David Both, an employee laid off by a Bain-acquired firm. In Wilmington, former Congressman Bob Etheridge will preside.

North Carolina Democrats went after GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney Tuesday, criticizing his comments that 47 percent of the public pay not taxes and view themselves as victims.

“This sort of disrespectful language has no place in a presidential campaign at all,” said Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx in a teleconference. “It's hard to be president of all the people when you you write off half of them.''

Barack Obama's campaign is making a national push to cast a budget proposal by Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney's promise to repeal Obamacare as bad news for seniors.

North Carolinians got a localized version of the message during a conference call to reporters Tuesday afternoon.

Rep. Bob Etheridge, D-N.C., and Jonathan Oberlander, a health policy professor University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, touted effects of the Affordable Care Act and said the Ryan plan would slash benefits for Medicare and Medicaid and up the amount seniors are expected to contribute.

Ahead of the SCOTUS ruling on the Affordable Care Act, Politico checked in with Democrats who served in Congress but lost their seats amid withering criticism about supporting President Barack Obama's health care law. North Carolina's Bob Etheridge said he would still be in Congress if he didn't vote for the bill -- but still stands by his vote.

"Former Rep. Bob Etheridge has little doubt that his health care vote cost him his reelection in 2010. But now, as he tends cattle on his North Carolina farm and awaits an epic Supreme Court ruling on the most consequential legislative vote of his Capitol Hill career, he’s got no regrets: “I wouldn’t have lost if I hadn’t voted for it, but there’s a time when you gotta do the right thing. And I did the right thing.”

Members of the Democratic establishment and the Gov. Bev Perdue administration are rallying behind Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton  at a fundraising reception at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Todd and Elisabeth McGowan will host the dinner at their home on Anderson Drive in Raleigh. The minimum donation is $50 and contributions up to $4,000 are being solicited. Former Gov. Jim Hunt, Erskine Bowles and former Democratic primary rival Bob Etheridge are on the host committee.

Click below for a list of those scheduled to attend.