Ten North Carolina mayors are going to Washington this weekend.

The group will join over 250 mayors from across the country to call for local help in the upcoming Congressional stimulus package.

Expected to attend are Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, the former GOP gubernatorial candidate; Durham Mayor Bill Bell; Fayetteville Mayor Tony Chavonne; Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines; Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy; and the mayors of Asheville, Concord, Gastonia, Salisbury and Waxhaw.

They will be attending the winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

The conference will release a report this weekend on projected job losses in metropolitan areas, a particular concern for McCrory, who founded the N.C. Metropolitan Mayors Coalition to concentrate on urban issues.

The mayor of Winston-Salem is leaning toward Barack Obama.

According to James Romoser's Trail Mix blog, Democratic mayor Allen Joines said he is not yet ready to formally endorse Obama, but he is leaning toward it.

Joines said he has talked with Durham Mayor Bill Bell (who endorsed Obama last year) about forming a group of North Carolina mayors in support of Obama. Obama will visit Greensboro tomorrow, but Joines said he has not heard anything from the campaign about an Obama visit to Winston-Salem.

Obama already has the endorsements of the mayors of Durham and Greensboro, plus the likely endorsements of another half-dozen mayors of mid-sized and large cities in North Carolina.

And Hillary Clinton? Not so much. 

Beverly Perdue has received $60,300 from other politicians campaign funds since 2005.

According to campaign finance reports filed since her 2004 re-election as lieutenant governor, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate received donations from 38 campaigns.

The top contributor was state Rep. Bill Owens of Elizabeth City, who gave $6,000.

She received $4,000 donations from former Sen. Pete Bland of Craven County; Sens. Clark Jenkins of Tarboro and Dan Clodfelter of Charlotte, Rep. Jim Harrell of Surry County; Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand; Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines; and Rep. Arthur Williams of Beaufort County.

She also received $2,500 from New York Lt. Governor David Patterson.

Perdue got $2,000 each from state Sens. Linda Garrou, Julia Boseman and Bill Purcell; New Hanover County Sheriff Sid Causey and former Gov. Jim Hunt.

She received $1,700 from former Rep. Pete Cunningham, $1,500 from Asheville District Attorney Ron Moore, and $1,000 apiece from Bob Atwater, Mark Jones and A.B. Swindell.

Other donations came from Sens. David Hoyle, Katie Dorsett, Charles Albertson and R.C. Soles; Orange County Commissioner Mike Nelson; Madison County Sheriff John Ledford; Pennsylvania Lt. Governor Catherine Baker Knoll and lieutenant governor candidate Hampton Dellinger, among others.

Dan Besse raised $81,903 by the end of 2007.

The Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor raised $66,694 from large donors, including Wake Forest University professor Stephen Boyd and state Rep. Pricey Harrison of Greensboro.

He also raised $9,648 from donors who gave less than $50, and $2,500 from other candidates' campaigns, including Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines and Chapel Hill Councilman Ed Harrison, according to a campaign finance report filed with the State Board of Elections last week.

He also loaned his campaign $50,000, donated $4,000, transferred $3,060 from his city council campaign fund and gave $643 worth of in-kind contributions. In addition, he received a $4,000 loan from retiree Kay House.

At the same time, Besse spent $7,130 on campaign buttons, gas and event planning.

That left him with cash on hand of $122,402.

Dan Besse has raised $2,500 from other politicians' campaign funds.

According to his campaign finance reports, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor has received donations from four campaigns.

The largest donation came from Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines, who gave $2,000. Bill McDonough, a Winston-Salem man who ran unsuccessfully for county commissioner in 2006, gave $250.

Elisabeth Motsinger, a member of the Forsyth County school board, gave $200. Ed Harrison, a member of the Chapel Hill Town Council, gave $50.

Pat McCrory founded the N.C. Metropolitan Coalition of Mayors in 2002.

But when the group meets Thursday in Chapel Hill to tackle the issue of global warming, McCrory will be leaving early.

Mayors of some of the 25 biggest cities in the state, including Bill Bell of Durham, Allen Joines of Winston-Salem, Tony Chavonne of Fayetteville and Bill Saffo of Wilmington, will meet Wednesday and Thursday.

McCrory, who is the immediate past chairman of the group, will be there all day Wednesday, but he'll head out after just a half hour Thursday morning.

The mayor's office told Dome that McCrory has "other meetings" that day. They would not say whether that includes, say, a trip to Jamestown.

Beau Mills, director of the Metropolitan Coalition, said that he did not know why McCrory was leaving early.

"I'm not sure about that," he said, laughing. "You'll have to ask him."

Dome left a message for the mayor to call us back.