RAND OUT: State Sen. Tony Rand is quitting the Senate. The news that the chamber's chief Democratic enforcer and most formidable political gamesmen is leaving likely thrilled liberal Democrats and conservatives alike. Rand is one of the great characters in state politics and the legislature just got a little more boring.

HOW MANY IS THAT: Gov. Bev Perdue's communications director David Kochman has resigned as her approval numbers remain in the sub-basment. From her days as lieutenant governor, Perdue has had four communications directors in six years, making the job a little bit like being the drummer for Spinal Tap. With luck, Perdue's approval rating will go above 11.

REP. HYPERBOLE: U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx said the Democrats' health reform proposals are more dangerous than terrorists. Republicans may have more to fear from Foxx's own mouth than anything Democrats have to say.

IN OTHER NEWS: President Barack Obama has nominated two North Carolina judges to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has had only six Tar Heels since 1801. With the election of a new mayor in Charlotte, Pat McCrory will be out of elected office, but his loss to Perdue is apparently still gnawing at him, so don't expect McCrory to be out of politics. N&O political cartoonist Dwane Powell has retired after 35 years of skewering politicians.

David Kochman is resigning his post as communications director for Gov. Bev Perdue.

Kochman has not set a departure date but said he's working with the communications team to ensure a smooth transition. He said he is exploring a couple opportunities outside the governor's office.

"It's been an honor to help elect and work with Governor Perdue," Kochman said Monday. "I know she'll continue doing great things for the state."

Kochman's departure comes as Perdue's approval ratings were 37 percent in the most recent Elon University Poll and after other surveys put that figure in the 20's.

Perdue recently hired Pearse Edwards, a N.C. native who worked for Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire, as senior advisor for communications and policy. While Perdue was lieutenant governor, the job of her communications director had a high rate of turnover -- four people held the job in the first six years. 

UPDATE: Correcting the number of communications directors to four in six years. A fifth communications director served only during Perdue's 2000 campaign and did not join the lieutenant governor's office.

A commission appointed to reform the state budget will hold its first meeting next week.

Gov. Beverly Perdue plans to address the Budget Reform and Accountability Commission and charge it with finding ways to save the state money.

"She will be charging them with the task of really looking deep, of not being afraid to make tough decisions and tough recommendations," said David Kochman, a spokesman for Perdue.

Perdue promised throughout her campaign to appoint a commission to eliminate waste and duplication in state government. She appointed members in March. Commission leaders have met to set up a framework for how to proceed but did not intend to get working in time for the recently adopted state budget, Kochman said.

"There wouldn't have been time for them to dig deep on things," Kochman said.

The goal of the meetings would be to have recommendations before next year's short legislative session. 

The first meeting, which is open to the public, is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Administration Building, 116 W. Jones St., in Raleigh.  

Gov. Beverly Perdue's new communications and policy adviser says he wanted to come home.

Greensboro native and Appalachian State grad Pearse Edwards said he has enjoyed working for Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire -- both governors are Democrats -- but he wanted to move back to North Carolina.

“I'm not a big fan of winters in the northwest,” Edwards said Thursday.

He expects to play a role similar to what he has done for Gregoire, helping integrate the communications, policy and government relations functions of the governor's office.

“Policy is complex,” he said. “There’s a real need for the people to get a better understanding of what government is doing.”

Perdue already has a communications director, David Kochman; a senior adviser for government relations, Andy Willis, and a policy director, Al Delia. Their salaries are $115,200, $153,000 and $160,000 respectively.

Edwards, who will be paid $136,000, will not supervise those staffers. They will still report to Chief of Staff Zach Ambrose.

More after the jump.

   Comments (2)

Gov. Beverly Perdue has hired a new adviser on communications.

Pearse Edwards, currently chief spokesman for Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire, is slated to join Perdue's staff in September as senior communications and policy adviser.

No one is leaving the staff, according to Perdue's Deputy Communications Director, Tim Crowley. He said there is money in Perdue's office budget to cover Edwards' salary, but the exact salary figure will not be available until tomorrow. Edwards makes $125,000 working for Gregoire, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer web site. Perdue's office budget was cut this year along with other agencies.

Perdue's current communications lineup includes, in addition to Crowley, Communications Director David Kochman and Press Secretary Chrissy Pearson.

Edwards is a North Carolina native and has served as Gregoire's communications and external relations director since January 2008, according to the P-I. He previously worked for Microsoft and former Washington Gov. Gary Locke, who is now U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

Gov. Beverly Perdue asked for — and received — the resignation of N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Commission Chairman Doug Fox today, just hours after newspapers provided Perdue's office with a copy of a racist photo illustration sent from Fox's e-mail address following last November's election.

The e-mail included an altered photo of the White House that turned the South Lawn into an enormous watermelon patch. The phrase, "There goes the neighborhood..." was printed above the photo, Mark Johnson reports.

The e-mail was sent from Fox's law firm address on Nov. 14, ten days after Barack Obama was elected president. The message, which had been forwarded multiple times by others before reaching Fox, contained no text other than a subject line: "how true."

Fox made no mention of the e-mail in his resignation letter, instead suggesting that he was leaving voluntarily.

"I believe it is time to surrender the helm to someone new," Fox wrote.

But Perdue indicated in a statement today that the resignation was linked to the e-mail.

More after the jump.

   Comments (7)

Some of Gov. Beverly Perdue's smaller donations are also interesting.

As previously noted, Perdue raised $17.8 million through the end of 2008 for her successful campaign for governor, including a number of political action committees and big donors.

But some of the smaller donors from her final campaign finance report are also worth noting: 

* Former Supreme Court Justice Burley Mitchell gave $2,000.

* Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner and his wife Jane gave $2,000. 

* Former Sen. Lauch Faircloth gave $2,000.

* Perdue's recently appointed general counsel, Eddie Speas, gave $1,750.

* Administration Secretary Britt Cobb gave $1,000 on Oct. 28. He is the only member of Gov. Mike Easley's Cabinet to remain under Perdue.

* Former Orange County commissioner Moses Carey gave $300. Perdue appointed him chairman of the Employment Security Commission.

* Perdue's deputy campaign manager, David Kochman, and communications staffer Kennetha Smith each gave $250.

* The head of Perdue's gubernatorial endowment effort, Tom Lambeth, gave $200.

* Former U.S. Sen. Robert Morgan gave $200.

* Noted Washington, D.C., political consultant Donna Brazile gave $100.

Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue plans to have three offices.

Spokesman David Kochman said that Perdue will keep the two offices in New Bern and Asheville and add a third in Charlotte, in addition to the governor's main office in Raleigh.

Each of the offices will be staffed by a representative whose job it will be to serve as a link between the governor's office and the local government.

"The things they might do would be representing the governor at local events and regional meetings, so they can report back about the matters being discussed," he said.

They will also help with local constituent service and help Perdue prepare for a local visit.

Kochman said that Perdue's pledge to open a Charlotte office came long before she faced Republican Pat McCrory in the November campaign. 

Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue will not introduce her Cabinet today.

Spokesman David Kochman said that despite the latest round of rumors that she would unveil her 10 major appointments soon, it would not be today.

"I don't think we'll have anything newsworthy today or tomorrow," he said. 

The authors of the state constitution didn't anticipate Beverly Perdue.

In laying out the role of the governor in North Carolina, Article III of the constitution describes the job soon to be assumed by the state's first female governor using the male pronoun "he" or "his" 25 different times.

Nowhere does the constitution explicitly limit the state's chief executive to men, but language used throughout seems to assume it.

"No person shall be eligible for election to the office of Governor or Lieutenant Governor unless, at the time of his election, he shall have attained the age of 30 years," it says, in a typical passage.

It also makes mention of "his office," "his election" and "his successor."

History offers little excuse. Although the state's prior constitutions date back to 1776 and 1868, the current one was ratified in 1971 — at the height of the second-wave feminist movement.

Perdue has faced this dilemma before as the state's first female lieutenant governor, a position also described with the male pronoun in the constitution.

Update: "Governor-elect Perdue has overcome many barriers in her career — an inaccurate pronoun is just one more to add to the list," said Perdue spokesman David Kochman.

The constitution also describes the duties and qualifications of Supreme Court justices using the male pronoun, but other statewide elected offices are only described using plural pronouns, so they do not have the same problem.