Two rising political stars are speaking in the Triangle tonight.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal will be the featured speaker at the John Locke Foundation's annual dinner in Raleigh tonight.

And Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker will speak at Duke University this evening.

Jindal, 37, became the youngest governor in the nation when he was sworn in last January. He made ethics reform and reducing business taxes his top priorities. He'll speak after a 6:30 p.m. dinner at the Marriott Crabtree Valley hotel. Tickets are $60.

A Rhodes Scholar who studied at Stanford and Yale, Booker moved to Newark's most notorious housing project to work as a community organizer before being elected mayor. He'll speak at 5:30 p.m. in Fleishman Commons at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy. The talk is free.

More information on the speeches is available here. 

Bobby Jindal will speak in Raleigh on Feb. 4.

The Louisiana governor, a rising star in Republican circles, will be the keynote speaker at the John Locke Foundation's 19th anniversary celebration.

Jindal was touted as a possible vice presidential candidate during the recent election and is considered to be a potential presidential candidate in 2012.

"In his first year in office, he already has helped Louisiana state government recover from the bureaucratic mess associated with its poor response to Hurricane Katrina," said President John Hood. "He also has called special legislative sessions focusing on ethics reform and on eliminating burdensome taxes that deter investment and limit growth."

He will speak during an evening reception and dinner at the Marriott Crabtree Valley.

Past speakers include conservative columnists George Will and Peggy Noonan, former independent counsel Ken Starr, and former Weekly standard editor Bill Kristol.

Tickets are available online or by calling 919-828-3876. Individual tickets cost $60.

The GOP Tailgate Contest is picking up steam. The contest, which encourages Republicans to throw a political-themed tailgate party at sports events, began in North Carolina in 2006. But it's growing.

Republican tailgaters have sent in photos of a party at an LSU football game for governor-elect Bobby Jindal. The contest has also received submissions from supporters of Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney in battleground primary states.

The idea is simple — set up a tailgate at a sporting event. Take a photo. Send it in.

"A lot of political people are so focused on their candidates that they lose sight of having fun," said Dave Reynolds, chairman of the Wake County Young Republicans.