A federal judge has reduced former state representative Michael Decker's prison sentence from 48 to 36 months, which could result in him being sent to a halfway house.

In an order signed Friday, U.S. District Court Judge James C. Dever III cited Decker's help in the federal prosecution and conviction of Jim Black, the former speaker of the N.C. House of Representatives, the Winston-Salem Journal reports.

"Indeed, but for Decker's cooperation, Black might still be in office," Dever, wrote in the order.

Decker, of Walkertown, is now being held at a low-security prison near the South Carolina-Georgia border.

The reduced sentence means that he may be eligible to leave prison within the next month, said his attorney, David Freedman.

In Friday's order, Dever acknowledged Decker's cooperation but could not "ignore the serious nature of Decker's crime."

"I'm assuming the judge said, ‘Black's case is finally finished. Decker doesn't need to provide any more information,'" he said.

Decker admitted that in late 2002 and early 2003, he asked Black for $50,000 to support Black's bid to remain co-speaker of the house.

National Democratic Chairman Howard Dean took a swing through North Carolina Tuesday, holding fundraisers and meeting with his old presidential rival, John Edwards.

Dean held a luncheon in Charlotte and then attended a reception at the home of David Kirby, a Raleigh trial attorney and former Edwards law partner, reports Rob Christensen.

“He was just an incredibly nice, kind-spirited person,” Kirby said. “Howard Dean up-close-and personal is a gentler, kinder Howard Dean than what some of us have seen on television.”

Among the 30 people attending the Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Raleigh were Attorney General Roy Cooper and state Senate candidate Josh Stein. The cost of the event ranged from $500 to $5,000 per person.

Later, Dean had dinner with Edwards at Crook’s Corner Restaurant in Chapel Hill. Edwards and Dean were rival for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination.

Daniel Johnson will hold a fundraiser in Raleigh Thursday.

The former Wake County assistant district attorney, who is running for the Democratic nomination to face U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, will be at the Player's Retreat form 6 to 8 p.m.

Hosts include state Rep. Grier Martin, music attorney Gus Gusler, Wake County Clerk of Court Lorrin Freeman, Raleigh attorney David Kirby, state Senate candidate Josh Stein and Wake County prosecutor Colon Willoughby.

The Player's Retreat is a longtime Democratic hangout in Raleigh.

About two dozen Democrats gathered in the law offices of Kirby & Holt at noon today to listen to a one-hour talk by David Plouffe, the campaign manager for Barack Obama.

Several participants said there was no explicit pitch for the backers of former Sen. John Edwards. In fact, Plouffe went out of his way to say he understood that some Edwards backers may not be ready to make another choice yet, Rob Christensen reports.

But there were a number of major Edwards backers attending including Chapel Hill businessman Michael Cucchiara, who gave $2 million for the poverty center that Edwards started at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Asked if he was ready to back Obama, Cucchiara said: "No comment."

But Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy, another Edwards supporter, said he was enthusiastically backing Obama.

Foy said the mesage from the meeting was that Obama would be a strong candidate in the May 6 Democratic primary, and would also compete here in November if he was the nominee. Plouffe said Obama could attract enough independents and young voters that he would help all the North Carolina Democrats on the ticket, Foy said.

Others attending the meeting included former House Democratic leader Phil Baddour of Goldsboro, state Rep. Bill Faison of Orange County, Raleigh businessman John Crumpler, former Chapel Hill Mayor Rosemary Waldorf, former state Democratic executive director Scott Falmlen, Democratic consultant Morgan Jackson, and state Senate candidate Josh Stein, who managed Edwards' 1998 Senate campaign.

The event was held in Edwards' former law offices. But Kirby, Edwards' former law partner and longtime friend, was not present. His office said he was trying a case in court.

A member of Barack Obama's campaign is in Raleigh.

Charlotte Observer reporter Jim Morrill writes on his Campaign Tracker blog that Obama's campaign will hold a fundraiser at noon in the offices of John Edwards' former legal partner, David Kirby. An aide tells Morrill that Kirby is in trial, however.

Morrill notes that Edwards is still holding off on endorsing either Obama or Hillary Clinton: 

But no one has been closer to Edwards than Kirby. The two opened their law firm in 1993 and practiced until Edwards went to the U.S. Senate six years later. They're good friends and sit together at Carolina basbetball games.

Edwards may be holding out, but some of his colleagues have made a decision, Morrill argues.

John Edwards' former law partner says he could have been a kingmaker.

Raleigh attorney David Kirby, who worked on Edwards' fundraising committee, said that he had enough money to campaign in rural areas on Super Tuesday—and keep earning delegates—potentially all the way to the Democratic National Convention.

"Could he have stayed in through Super Tuesday? Yes. Could he have run some radio and cable television ads? Yes. Could he have waged a national media campaign on major networks? No," he said.

He said that smaller online donations had picked up since a debate on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Kirby didn't speak to Edwards about the decision to drop out, but he said it would have been based on what he felt was the best way to keep his crusade against poverty and for universal health care.

Rather than accumulate delegates to play kingmaker at the convention, he dropped out and secured pledges from the two campaigns to keep poverty central, he said.

"I was a little surprised that he concluded his campaign today," Kirby said. "But he did it for the right reasons." 

John Ross Hendrix, a graphic artist from Cary and a Democrat, said he plans to run against Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole next year.

Hendrix, 58, was a Republican when he sought the nomination for the 13th Congressional district last year. He lost the GOP nomination, finishing third with 12 percent. Vernon Robinson won the nomination and then was defeated by Democrat Brad Miller, Rob Christensen reports.

After the primary, he left the Republican Party and became a Democrat.

Hendrix said he would run on such issues as protecting the Bill of Rights, private property rights, passing a so-called FairTax, and securing America's borders.

The FairTax proposal would replace all federal income and payroll based taxes with a national retail sales tax.

A veteran of the 82nd Airborne whose son has had two tours of duty in Iraq, Hendrix said he didn’t oppose the war in Iraq but thinks it has "been done stupidly and needs a lot of changes."

Jim Neal, a Chapel Hill investment banker, is the only announced Democrat for the seat. But Democrats are courting state Sen. Kay Hagan of Greensboro and Raleigh attorney David Kirby.

Correction: An earlier version of the post misstated the district. 

John Edwards' former law partner is the latest Democrat to take a pass on challenging U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole in 2008.

The Charlotte Observer reported today that Raleigh lawyer David Kirby says three prominent Democrats have approached him about running against Dole, a Salisbury Republican. But Kirby said he was spending his time helping Edwards win the Democratic nomination for president.

"I haven't slammed the door shut and locked it on any future public office," Kirby told the paper. "But the door is certainly closed at this time."

Elizabeth Edwards seems to be getting as much - or more ink - than her husband these days.

John Weaver, a former top advisor to GOP Sen. John McCain of Arizona, told Politico.com that Elizabeth Edwards' recent high profile on the campaign trail is a reflection of her interests.

"She's liberated," he said.

Jonathan Prince, an Edwards' aide, dismissed suggestions that Elizabeth Edwards was overshadowing her husband, John Edwards.

"That's silly," he said. "Clearly, John Edwards is clearly the most dominant voice of this campaign."

The N&O's Rob Christensen reports that Elizabeth Edwards has always been an intellectual equal with her husband.

"She has always been someone who has freely spoken her mind," said David Kirby, a longtime Edwards family friend and John Edwards' former law partner.

John Edwards is bringing in the big guns for one last push before the second quarter ends.

The former North Carolina senator is calling together some of his biggest supporters, including former Gov. Jim Hunt, Raleigh attorney David Kirby and former UNC-Chapel Hill basketball coach Dean Smith, for one final push to raise money, Rob Christensen reports.

Edwards has scheduled a high dollar fund raiser for Saturday, June 30, at the home of Steve and Louise Coggins, neighbors of his summer homat on Figure 8 Island. The event will cost $2,300 for hosts, $1,000 for sponsors and $500 for patrons.

His campaign raised $14 million in the first quarter, but reportedly may have trouble matching that figure for the second quarter as it seeks to stay competitive with New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

A list of the major attendees after the jump.

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