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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John C. Brooks says he would be a progressive labor commissioner.

The candidate for the Democratic nomination and former longtime commissioner says he has three top goals if elected to the office:

1. Boost OSHA staff. Brooks would ask the legislature to double the size of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration program, which inspects workplaces. He says the staff is "miserably small" and would take 130 years to inspect each existing business one time.

2. Start a skills academy. He would start a four-year residential college focused on training workers for high-skilled manufacturing jobs beyond the community college level. He would ask the University of North Carolina system to run it, similar to an existing biotech center run by N.C. State.

3. Work with national labor lawyers. A lawyer, Brooks says he would join the American Bar Association's working group on labor law, which has been a leading voice on workplace reforms in recent years. He notes that neither his Democratic opponent, Mary Fant Donnan, or incumbent Republican Cherie Berry could join since they do not have law degrees.

James Wynn Jr. is making history this month.

The N.C. Appeals Court judge began his tenure as chairman of the Judicial Division of the American Bar Association — making him the first ever African-American elected to the position, Titan Barksdale reports.

Association officials say the division, which has more than 4,000 members, is designed to help make the judicial system more understandable, accessible and affordable. As chairman, Wynn will have to help develop programs and initiatives for the division and manage a staff and a budget.

Wynn has nearly 20 years experience as an appellate judge in North Carolina,  joining the N.C. Supreme Court in 1998 to fill a vacancy. He returned to the N.C. Court of Appeals the next year, and remains on the bench as a senior associate judge.

Wynn’s tenure as chairman ends in August.

Some of North Carolina's top judges, attorneys and legal experts will gather this month to discuss something taken for granted in the United States, but which is rare in many parts of the world — the rule of law.

Former Govs. Jim Hunt and Jim Holshouser are among the scheduled speakers at the Rule of Law Conference, which is to be held at the N.C. Bar Center in Cary on July 26, reports Rob Christensen.

The half-day confernce is being organized locally by Supreme Court Justice Mark Martin and Appeals Court Judge Jim Wynn.

It is part of the American Bar Association’s World Justice Project, which is trying to spread the rule of law around the world.