It's not only possible to become a state legislator without getting elected, but 31 of the 170 members of the legislature have done it.

Those lawmakers first took office after being selected by a small group of their party's leaders and then being appointed by the governor.

Since the current legislative term began in January, six lawmakers have taken office after their predecessor resigned or, in one case, died. A seventh new legislator will be selected soon to replace Sen. David Weinstein, D-Lumberton, who resigned in September. When a lawmaker leaves office early, his or her party leaders select a replacement who is appointed by the governor.

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When Dan Ingle was selected to fill the vacancy created by Cary Allred's resignation from the state House in May, one of his first acts was to vote on the state budget.

Ingle, a Burlington Republican, voted against it. He said it was a bad time to increase taxes, according to an account in The Times News of Burlington.

"When I walk down the street in Alamance County, 12 out of every 100 people, they're not working right now," he said.

Democratic lawmakers from the area told the paper they had done the best the could in a difficult year.

"We had to step up and made some hard choices," said Sen. Tony Foriest. a Graham Democrat. "I think we did that."

N.C.'S STATE: Something was rotten at N.C. State. After a series of articles in the N&O revealed the involvement of former Gov. Mike Easley in the hiring of his wife, the provost and the chancellor resigned and Mary Easley was fired. (The chairman of the board of trustees had already left.) Though an interim chancellor has already been named, the university is not out of the woods yet. Expect further turmoil.

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM: The N.C. Republican Party met in Raleigh to plan a comeback. Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory was scheduled to outline his path to victory this morning, while delegates debated whether candidates should pledge loyalty to the state platform, whether primaries should be closed and — in what's turned out to be the nastiest race in years — who should be the party's new chairman.

SENATE BUZZ: U.S. Sen. Richard Burr says he's not thinking about which Democrat might run against him next year. He's the only one, apparently. The chattering classes spent more time this week wondering whether Secretary of State Elaine Marshall or U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre might make another run for it, while Iraq veteran Cal Cunningham and Obama fundraiser Kenneth Lewis kept trying to build buzz.

IN OTHER NEWS: The fight over the state budget continued, with House Democratic budget writers calling for $784 million in new taxes. ... A House committee passed a bill to allow billboard companies to cut down more trees. ... Elon University police detective Dan Ingle was chosen by Alamance County Republicans to replace former Rep. Cary Allred.

A county commissioner will replace former state Rep. Cary Allred in the North Carolina House.

Alamance County Republican leaders chose Dan Ingle as Allred's successor over two other candidates, the Associated Press reports.

Ingle is an Elon University police detective who received 17 of the 24 votes cast by the Alamance County's GOP executive committee. Ingle was ultimately approved by acclamation.

His nomination will be formally approved by Gov. Beverly Perdue.