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Dan Forest is leading Tony Gurley more than 2 to 1 in early returns of the runoff election to decide who will represent Republicans this fall in the Lt. Governor’s race.

Forest has 29,333 votes to Gurley’s 13,619 votes with five counties reporting and results steadily trickling in. Forest leads more than 4 to 1 in Mecklenburg County, the largest in the state, which was expected to have higher turnout because it also has a Congressional runoff.

In the Republican race for Insurance Commissioner, Mike Causey is leading Richard Morgan by 60 percent to 40 percent with four counties reporting. Turnout is near an all-time been low for such an election.

Read more of The News & Observer's coverage here and check back often for updates.

Dome pokes fun a political advertising a good bit -- but for Richard Morgan's new radio advertisement, no words can do it justice. Morgan, the former Republican House co-speaker ousted and disowned by many in his own party, is running state insurance commissioner.

The 30-second ad, which launched a week ago, features an upbeat woman telling voters about Morgan while hip-hop elevator music plays in the background. The best lines: "Richard Morgan is not your typical guy in politics. Richard Morgan rates high on the scale of awesomeness." (Not making this up.)

"Richard Morgan is an amazing friend. (Shows picture of Morgan hugging two dogs in YouTube version.) And Morgan is "nothing short of a fairytale dream come true for us." Take a listen above.

Former House Speaker Richard Morgan filed today as a Republican candidate for state insurance commissioner.

He will face Mike Causey of Greensboro in a Republican primary, with the winner going up against Democratic incumbent Wayne Goodwin in the fall.

Morgan, an insurance broker and cattle farmer from Moore County, is a former House member who rose to be co-House speaker with Democrat Jim Black in 2003.

He was defeated for re-election in 2006 in a Republican primary, in an a party lead effort financed in part by Raleigh businessman Art Pope.

Morgan was the Republican nominee for superintendent of public instruction in 2008, losing to Democrat June Atkinson. In 2010,he lost the Republican state Senate primary to Harris Blake.

--The state's largest civil rights group, the NAACP, is asking voters to reject what it says is an invitation to discriminate. A prominent Raleigh minister, meanwhile, says that same invitation is an opportunity to strengthen the state's stance against relationships that go against the Bible.

These are just two examples of how well-known institutions with significant African-American followings are on opposite sides of a hot-button political and social question that all of North Carolina's voters will be asked to decide May 8: whether a ban on gay marriage and civil unions should be written into the state constitution. Read today's story about how black voters factor into the debate.

--Lawyers for John Edwards on Friday issued statements that said the hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenditures incurred last year by the campaign committee of the former presidential candidate were above board.

The statements were issued in a response to a widely distributed report by the Associated Press raising questions about $836,712 in expenditures reported for 2011 on a finance report filed last month. The money spent last year, the lawyers said, was related to expenses the committee incurred recovering campaign email messages that were subpoenaed by federal investigators or to flying campaign staffers from one coast to the other for investigative interviews related to the probe. Get more details here.

--Former House Speaker Richard Morgan looks at old photos of himself from when he weighed 265 pounds and sometimes cries. "I don't understand ... why I would ever let myself get in that shape," he said this week.

Morgan, 59, who is just under 6 feet tall, now weighs 164 pounds. He used to have trouble carrying his big briefcase - and himself - up a flight of stairs to his Raleigh apartment. Now he hops over fences at his farm near Pinehurst. Read the full story and see before and after photos here.

Sabra Faires, a tax expert who worked for former legislative leaders, has affiliated with the Raleigh law firm Bailey & Dixon.

She will concentrate on taxation, finance, and administrative law.

Her 30 years in state government included an administrative post in the N.C. Department of Revenue, tax counsel to former Senate leader Marc Basnight, and chief of staff to former House Co-speaker Richard Morgan.

The State Ethics Commission has dismissed a complaint filed against state Health and Human Services Sec. Lanier Cansler over the awarding of no-bid contracts to former lobbying clients.

In it's ruling, the commission concluded there was no evidence that Cansler participated directly in approving a $30 million deal with the Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence, a company that reviews state Medicaid claims and procedures. The commission also concluded that Cansler received no direct financial benefit from the contracts awarded his former client.

The complaint was filed in April by former state House speaker Richard Morgan over Cansler's admission that he still receives income from Cansler Fuquay Solutions, the lobbying firm he founded in 2005 after leaving state employment as the deputy DHHS secretary.

When he was appointed as secretary by Gov. Beverly Perdue in 2009, Cansler quit his lobbying job and sold his stake in the firm. At the time, Perdue brushed aside concerns about Cansler's cozy ties with his former clients.

After Cansler went back to DHHS, CCME retained Cansler Fuquay Solutions to lobby state government on its behalf. Meanwhile, Cansler, a former Republican legislator, was paid $3,000 a month by his former firm as part of the deal under which he sold his share of the company.

Former House Speaker Richard Morgan was an ardent an opponent of North Carolina getting a lottery – or at least was until a few days ago, when his wife Cindy won $10,000 on a scratch off game.

“I didn't vote for it,” said Morgan, a Moore County Republican. “I did everything I could to stop it. It didn't pass while I was in office.”

That was before his wife played a new game in which the ultimate winner takes home $200,000 for life.  She called her husband to say she had won $10,000, which was one of the lesser prizes

“I said, 'get out of here,'” said Morgan.

Asked if his wife's luck had changed his view of the lottery, Morgan quipped:  “I always thought it a good deal.''

 

Former co-House Speaker Richard Morgan is reminding some of his Republican critics that they said the redistricting plan draw up under his leadership would never result in another GOP majority in the House.

“Listen carefully,” Morgan writes. “See if they hear that deafening silence from some of my Republican critics that said we drew districts that would not allow another Republican majority this century. I listen and I hear silence. Could  be just me.”

Morgan, the Moore County Republican, was co-speaker with Democrat Jim Black in 2003 and helped write the House redistricting plan that year.

Morgan was later ousted in a GOP primary in which his opponent was heavily financed by his arch enemy Raleigh businessman Art Pope.

When he's not running for state senate or filing ethics complaints against state officials, former House Speaker Richard Morgan is apparently hitting the nightlife circuit.

Triangle.com, which is owned by The News & Observer, offers a regular feature of nightlife photos. The images, which are produced by lazyday.com feature young partiers showing off clubwear.

Well, right there in a June 3 gallery is Morgan, with his arm around two young women, one wearing what can be accurately described as a revealing outfit. And yes, it's actually Richard Morgan.

As he explains, the club, Still Life, is located in the same building that houses his insurance brokerage and consulting office. The club's owners invited him to a preview event. Morgan was two hours late, he told Dome.

He was introduced to the two women and someone called for a picture.

"They wanted to have a picture and I guess the pictures are in the public domain," he said. "My life is an open book anyway."

The photos, first posted on Triangle.com and then re-posted on a Civitas blog, set off a minor flutter among political types Tuesday. 

Morgan, who lost his Republican state Senate primary, says there's nothing to worry about. His wife was the first to see them.

Dome asked Morgan if he plans to be a regular on the club circuit. Any more openings on his calendar? 

"I don't have any on the schedule," he said.

LIQUOR CHANGES: A special legislative committee on Thursday presented a proposal for broad changes to the state's system for selling liquor, including giving state officials the power to remove local Alcoholic Beverage Control board members. The draft legislation, however, did not mention the idea of privatizing liquor stores, suggesting that the House and Senate members on the committee don't have an appetite for such a dramatic move. (N&O)

TEACHER TRAINING NEEDED: Rookie teachers are much less effective than their more experienced colleagues, a new report says, pointing to a need for better preparation for prospective teachers and for more support once they're standing in front of classrooms. (N&O)

THE GRUDGE: N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Lanier Cansler said that an ethics complaint filed against him by former House Speaker Richard Morgan is baseless. Cansler said that Morgan has a beef against him going back more than a decade, when the two served together in the state House.

"I've been completely open about all of this," Cansler said Thursday. "I've complied with every ethical requirement under state law. I'm confident there are no ethical violations." (N&O)