How much did Don Beason really make last year?

If Raleigh attorney Michael Weisel is correct, then most lobbyists' clients report from 15 to 30 percent of their payments to the state.

According to a report from Democracy North Carolina, Beason reported $145,521 from 16 clients in 2007.

That would put his actual income at between $485,070 and $970,140.

Of course, Beason is being investigated for underreporting his income — and we use this word to mean reporting below the traditional and reasonable amount used by other state lobbyists — so the real pay could be much higher.

As noted previously, Beason may have reported about 16 percent of his pay from the Albemarle Mental Health Center, five percent from IBM in 2004 and potentially 10 percent from BB&T.

Don Beason is being investigated for using the consulting loophole.

As previously noted, the lobbyists must tell the Secretary of State how much they are being paid to argue a special interest's cause before the legislature under state law.

But they do not have to disclose any secondary contracts for political consulting or other non-lobbying work.

Once the state's top lobbyist, Beason often broke up his contracts this way, possibly underreporting his pay from BB&T, IBM and Progress Energy.

His contract with BB&T was exactly one-tenth what he earned from Catawba County during a similar period. (Contracts with government agencies would not benefit from the loophole because they are public anyway.)

A special agent with the Secretary of State said in a court filing that the Albemarle Mental Health Center also underreported its payments.

"The Center was being directed by Donald R. Beason to report a significantly reduced amount and not the actual amount of compensation," agent John Lynch wrote in a court filing.

An audit of the mental health center first showed the discrepancy.

Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton raised $2.5 million by the end of the year.

According to campaign finance reports submitted to the State Board of Elections, the Rutherfordton Democrat raised $145,000 in the final quarter of the year.

Major donors during that period included Carolina Crossroads event coordinator Elizabeth Branham, Greenville attorney Marvin K. Blount III, Chapel Hill developer Michael Cucchiara and former UNC-Wilmington Chancellor Jim Leutze.

The political action committees for BB&T, the Carolina Asphalt Pavement Association, Caremark Rx employees, Dominion, the Eastern band of Cherokee Indians, John Deere, McGuire Woods, and the N.C. Association of Educators.

He also received donations from the campaigns of state Sens. Dan Clodfelter and Tony Rand, retiring Rep. Jim Harrell, Congressman Heath Shuler, among others.

In addition, Dalton received a total of $95,000 from the N.C. Democratic Party. 

What happened to Don Beason's clients?

When the once-top lobbyist resigned his practice last year over a shady loan to House Speaker Jim Black, his lucrative list of clients was up for grabs.

By Dome's count, seven of the 16 clients did nothing. BB&T, Cingular Wireless, Albemarle Mental Health Center, Dale Earnhardt Inc., Sigma Corp., the Association of Settlement Companies, and the Carolina Ballet have no registered lobbyists during the current session.

That may be because they don't face any pending bills in a short session devoted to the budget. 

Three clients still employ Beason's son, Mark, along with other lobbyists: The Association of Health Information Outsourcing Services, AT&T North Carolina and S&M Brands.

Two clients, the city of Hickory and Catawba County, went with a new team of Jack Cozort, Kevin Leonard and noted lobbyist Alexander "Sandy" Sands.

Among the other top clients, Progress Energy went with noted lobbyist Zeb Alley, John Bode and Kathy Hawkins; while IBM went with former lieutenant governor Dennis Wicker and a team of eight lobbyists. Colonial Life Insurance hired Glenn Jernigan and the N.C. Railroad Co. hired Michelle Frazier and John McMillan.

North Carolina and Indiana's primaries are today. How do they compare? 

North Carolina has 8.9 million residents; Indiana, 6.3 million.

North Carolina is 21.7 percent black; Indiana, 8.9 percent.

North Carolina is 48,711 square miles; Indiana, 35,867.

Bush won both states in the 2004 election.

The last time Democratic presidential candidate to win Indiana was Lyndon Johnson in 1964. The last Democrat to win North Carolina was Jimmy Carter in 1976.

North Carolina has 115 delegates up for grabs and Indiana has 72.

North Carolina race fans go to Lowe's Motor Speedway. Indiana's fans go to Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

North Carolina's biggest industry is banking, with the headquarters of Bank of America, Wachovia and BB&T headquartered there. Indiana's industry is health care products and drugs, with the headquarters of Eli Lilly and Co., Anthem and Guidant.

Both states have a rich basketball tradition. Indiana has Larry Bird, Notre Dame, Butler and Purdue. North Carolina has Michael Jordan, UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke University and N.C. State.

Famous Hoosiers include David Letterman, John Mellencamp and Steve McQueen. Famous Tar Heels include Billy Graham, Andy Griffith and Thomas Wolfe.

Richard Moore raised $5.7 million by the end of 2007.

The Democratic gubernatorial candidate raised $5.4 million from individual donors, including Raleigh developer Craig Davis, banker Frank Holding Sr. and Waste Industries executive Scott Poole.

He raised $22,016 from donors who gave $50 or less.

He received $105,965 from political action committees, including Bank of America, BB&T, Wachovia and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. He also received $18,400 from other campaigns, including state Rep. Pryor Gibson and former Rep. Gordon Allen and former Gov. Jim Hunt.

In addition, he loaned his campaign $350,000.

At the same time, he spent $1.7 million on travel, office supplies, research, and campaign events. He also gave $10,810 to other campaigns.

That left him with cash on hand of $4.6 million.

Beverly Perdue raised $6.1 million by the end of 2007.

The Democratic gubernatorial candidate raised $5.6 million from major donors, including Sanjay Mundra of the Soleil Group development company, MBM CEO Jerry Wordsworth, Grady-White Boats CEO Eddie Smith and Greenville Daily Reflector publisher Jordan Whichard.

She raised $32,762 from donors who gave less than $50.

She received $171,737 from political action committees, including BB&T, the Women's Campaign Forum and the N.C. Hospital Association, and $60,300 from other politicians' campaigns, including state Rep. Bill Owens, Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand and Sen. Dan Clodfelter.

She gave her campaign $3,340 in in-kind contributions, and her husband Robert Eaves Jr. gave $10,495 in in-kind contributions.

In addition, the campaign owes Eaves $275,000 for loans made during her 2000 campaign for lieutenant governor.

She also received a $5,993 in-kind contribution from the N.C. Democratic Party.

At the same time, Perdue spent $1.5 million on travel, office expenses, mailers, consulting and campaign events.

That left her with $4.5 million in cash on hand.

Beverly Perdue has received $171,737 from political action committees since 2005.

According to campaign finance reports filed since her 2004 re-election as lieutenant governor, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate has received money from 75 PACs. 

She received $4,000 each from Anesthesiologists of the Triad, Bank of America, BB&T, the CCHC medical PAC, Coca-Cola, Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, General Electric, GlaxoSmithKline, HNTB, McGuire Woods, the Nationwide Carolina Political Participation Fund, the N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers, the N.C. Association of Nurse Anesthetists, the N.C. Automobile Dealers, the N.C. Hospital Association, the N.C. Realtors PAC, the NP health PAC, Piedmont Natural Gas, Progress Energy, the Singh real estate PAC, Wachovia, Western Radiologists and Surgeons, and the Women's Campaign Forum.

She also received money from Time Warner Cable, Eli Lilly, PSNC energy, Pepsi, the N.C. Trucking Association, Embarq, the N.C. Association of Convenience Stores, the N.C. Association of Pharmacists, Caremark drug management and the N.C. Farm Bureau.

David Young raised $449,038 by the end of 2007.

The Democratic candidate for state treasurer raised $435,246 from large donors, including developer William Allen, Home Trust Bank CEO Edward Broadwell and retired oilman Walter Davis, according to a campaign finance report filed with the State Board of Elections today.

He also raised $384 from donors who gave less than $50, and $13,408 from political action committees, including the BB&T PAC, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the Asheville Anesthesia Associates PAC.

At the same time, Young spent $20,483 on office expenses and consulting.

That left him with $420,058 in cash on hand.

Update: The contributions include $110,000 Young gave his campaign as a donation—not a loan—and $3,158 transferred from his county commissioner campaign.

Did Don Beason report all of his pay from the Albemarle Mental Health Center?

At N.C. Policy Watch, Chris Fitzsimon noticed a discrepancy between the payments for lobbying services reported to the Secretary of State and those in a state audit.

The audit (Table 5, page 35) shows a total of $76,082 for "lobbyist services" in fiscal year 2006.

During that time, Beason and his son, Mark, represented Albemarle. But state lobbying forms only list payments of $5,224 from January to September of 2005, $3,201 from September to December, and $4,000 from January to July of 2006.

That's only $12,425 — just a sixth of what was paid per the audit — and it's still high since the fiscal year likely runs from July to June.

As we've noted before, Beason also underreported payments from BB&T, IBM and Progress Energy.