Wake County likely will gain two seats in the N.C. House of Representatives and a Senate seat after the next census in 2010, according to an analysis by UNC's Program on Public Life, with some help by bill drafting director Gerry Cohen.

Mecklenburg County is the other big winner, adding at least one and, possibly, two new House seats, according to the data. The counties surrounding the two largest urban centers also are poised to pick up at least a portion of a seat and wield more influence in the legislature.

After the census, the legislature redraws its districts. Those districts all must have roughly the same number of residents, so growing urban centers, with their dense population, require more legislative seats to keep the districts equally sized.

Its the metropolitanization of North Carolina.

North Carolina's population is expected to hit 9.6 million in the 2010 census, a 19 percent increase from a decade ago. Wake County, however, is on track to show 50 percent growth. Mecklenburg is expected to show 31 percent.

* Former top lobbyist Don Beason has been spotted at Senate Finance Committee hearings, though he does not sign in to the guest sheet.

* U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, a Cherryville Republican, is playing a key role on GOP efforts to shape the 2010 Census policies.

* Spurred by N.C. Democratic Party, some 300 people call Sen. Richard Burr's office to complain about Rep. Virginia Foxx's remarks.

* Phones at Foxx's offices not being answered, calls "diverted to a general voice mail box, which was full and unable to record messages."

As the state approaches the 2010 Census, the General Assembly will begin the process of drawing up legislative and Congressional districts for the following decade.

Two Republican legislators have suggested alternative methods.

Sen. Pete Brunstetter of Forysth County has proposed putting that power in the hands of an independent commission, while Rep. Nelson Dollar of Cary has again suggested allowing any citizen to submit their own plan.

Brunstetter's plan would create an 11-member commission with four Democrats, four Republicans and three others not affliated with either party. Leaders of each party would submit a list of names and strike others, as in a jury pool, with the final picks made by a lottery.

It would also restrict commission members and their relatives from running for office or working as a lobbyist for three years.

"We want to go out of our way to make sure the commission is independent," he said.

Dollar, meantime, has again filed a bill that would allow private citizens to turn in their redistricting plans and have an existing state commission designated by the governor score them based on an objective point system.

"Let's put this more in the hands of the people and not have it be driven so much by the politics of whichever party is in charge," he said.

North Carolina could gain a Congressional seat in 2010.

Two different forecasters predict that Congress will give the state a 14th U.S. representative after the next Census, based on current population growth, the Myrtle Beach Sun News reports.

Clark Benson of Polidata Political Data Analysis said the state could get a new seat, although it could be bumped off the the list by Pennsylvania, Washington or California.

And Kimball W. Brace of Election Data Services said two of his three models showed a new seat for North Carolina.

If a new district were drawn, it could be around either Wake or Mecklenburg counties, both of which have seen rapid growth in recent years.

The U.S. Census Bureau will present the data to Congress around the start of 2011.

Hat Tip: Carolina Politics Online