Tag search result

Gov. Bev Perdue picked a Jacksonville auto dealer to replace Board of Transportation member Louis Sewell Jr.

Michael K. Alford is Perdue’s 11th pick for a vacant seat on the state board, which oversees policy for the N.C. Department of Transportation, Bruce Siceloff reports on his Crosstown Traffic blog.

After Alford's name is reviewed by members of a legislative oversight committee, he is expected to take an at-large seat dedicated to rural transportation needs.

He will succeed Sewell, a developer and part-owner of the Golden Corral restaurants, who resigned in 2008 after The News & Observer reported that he had steered DOT money to road projects near commercial property he or his son owned.

Sewell, a registered Republican, was a major fundraiser for Perdue, a Democrat, as well as former Democratic Gov. Mike Easley. 

State election records show that Alford, a registered Democrat and president of Marine Chevrolet, has contributed to a number of Democratic and Republican political campaigns. He gave $4,000 to the campaign of Perdue in 2008, and $2,000 to Easley in 2000.

Karl Rove, the chief strategist for President George W. Bush, will be coming to Raleigh next month to help raise money for the re-election campaign of Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr.

Although details have not yet been announced, Rove agreed to be the headliner at a fundraiser on Jan. 28 in Raleigh, Rob Christensen reports. The event is being put together by Louis DeJoy, a Greensboro businessman who was state finance chairman for the McCain-Palin ticket in 2008. Also helping out is Jim Cain, a Raleigh lawyer and former U.S. ambassador to Denmark who was also a Bush fundraiser.

Rove was not only closely associated with Bush, but he also helped recruit both Burr and former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole to run for the chamber.

Rove appeared at a Winston-Salem fundraiser for Burr when he ran in 2004 against Democrat Erskine Bowles. Since leaving the White House, Rove has worked as a political analyst for Fox News, Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal.

While Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan says she is unsure whether she'll hold up the confirmation of a new U.S. attorney for North Carolina's eastern district, Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr has no plans to hold up the process.

President Barack Obama on Monday nominated Charlotte lawyer Thomas Walker to replace U.S. Attorney George Holding.

Burr plans to sign the "blue slip" form on Walker for the Senate Judiciary Committee in order to move ahead with the process, said his spokesman, David Ward.

Walker is a lawyer for the Charlotte office of Alston & Bird, the same firm that in Washington employs former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, the husband of former Republican U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina.

Holding is in the midst of investigations into two prominent North Carolina Democrats, former Gov. Mike Easley and two-time presidential hopeful John Edwards.

Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat, recommended Walker to the White House, but she also wants Holding to be able to finish his investigations.

She said this week she had not considered whether to delay returning her blue slip, which would have the effect of holding up Walker's confirmation.

TO RUN OR NOT TO RUN: For much of the fall, U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge has played the role of a political Hamlet as he decides whether to seek the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr next year.

Etheridge had initially indicated he would not run for the Senate this time, but key Senate leaders prevailed on him to reconsider underscoring the importance of the national parties in Senate races. The Democrat's Senate organization was a crucial player in Kay Hagan's victory over incumbent Elizabeth Dole. (N&O)

GRADES OFF THE MARKET: The Wayne County school system has ordered an end to a fundraiser that allowed parents to buy extra credit for their children. The system says it may take further action. (N&O)

OBAMA MART: The store in Kabul is a taxpayers nightmare. Named after the U.S. president (it was Bush Mart, but Obama Mart is gaining acceptance), the store is chocked full of items that were clearly meant for U.S. soldiers or Marines but are now being sold to Afghans. Military officials say they monitor the stores for sensitive items. (N&O)

CHARGE ON: U.S. Attorney George Holding, saying he believes it is "outrageous" that the state overlooked laws requiring it to release 20 violent offenders with life sentences, said he will look for federal charges that could keep the inmates behind bars. (N&O)

NOT BORED: A year after losing re-election, former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole spends her days working through her foundation and caring for her ailing husband, former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole. (N&O)

AFFAIR TO REMEMBER? The head of the highway patrol, who is charged with ending a string of sexual misconduct cases involving troopers, had an extra-marital affair in 1987. Commander Randy Glover says he has paid his dues and corrected his 20-year-old mistakes. (N&O)

Former Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has asked supporters to help former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole retire more than $350,000 in campaign debt.

Dole, a Republican, ran up the debt in her unsuccessful attempt to fend off a challenge from Kay Hagan, a Democrat, in a bitterly fought campaign, reports the Atlantic's Politics blog. 

Huckabee's message may be a move to win support of Bob and Elizabeth Dole for a future presidential run. In his plea for help, Huckabee describes the Democratic effort within North Carolina during last year's election.

The Democratic Party spent $12 million to defeat her in North Carolina and special interest groups spent millions more.

The Obama campaign opened 50 field offices with 400 paid staff and 21,000 volunteers, all geared to three weeks of early voting. North Carolina had the biggest increase in voter turnout of any state in the nation, a reflection of the huge amounts of money poured into the state.

I hope you will join me in assisting her with a generous contribution today to retire her debt of $356,043. I believe it would be a travesty if she were left with a debt after all her hard work as a public servant.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge said today that he is giving some thought to running against Republican Sen. Richard Burr next year.

Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat, said he has been courted by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee as a potential candidate, reports Rob Christensen.

“I’m evaluating it,” Etheridge said during a meeting Wednesday with reporters and editors at The News & Observer.

Etheridge said he met recently with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and had discussions with family members and a few key supporters. Etheridge said he hoped to make a decision by September.

The backing of the DSCC is important because Senate races have become nationalized. The DSCC spent at least $10 million on behalf of Democrat Kay Hagan last year, playing a pivotal role in her defeat of Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

Etheridge said it was a particularly difficult decision because he is the first Tar Heel in 56 years to serve as a member of the influential House Ways and Means Committee.

Read more after the jump.

Two things are certain about the Senate race next year.

Democrats think they can beat Sen. Richard Burr. And party faithful seem worried about the candidate roster. Over the weekend, articles in The American Spectator and The Hill ruminated on the would-be or wouldn't-be candidates.

The Spectator article dismissed Cal Cunningham and Kenneth Lewis as "no-name lawyers." The piece focused on why top-tier candidates, including Attorney General Roy Cooper, decided not to run.

So why did Cooper brush aside a Senate bid? We'll never know for sure, but two possibilities come to mind. One is the heat Cooper has taken from Republicans, which has trickled into the wider electorate, for going soft on former Democratic Gov. Mike Easley. Easley is under state and federal investigation for alleged ethics violations and campaign finance malfeasance.

A second reason is a defamation lawsuit filed against Cooper nine years ago. The suit alleges that Cooper defamed his Republican challenger during a race for attorney general by airing a misleading television ad. A superior court judge recently denied Cooper's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, allowing the case to go to trial.

The Hill piece wonders whether Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, who is clearly trying to generate buzz for a run, could follow in the steps of Kay Hagan, who was seen as a long-shot candidate who went on to defeat Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

Still, thanks to the decisions of state Attorney General Roy Cooper and a few members of the state’s congressional delegation to pass on the race, Marshall appears next in line.

Nobody is getting terribly excited about her candidacy, but nobody was terribly excited two years ago either, after a similar cast of characters passed on a challenge to Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

Democratic commentator Barlow Herget raises the question whether Sen. Kay Hagan has shown the proper amount of loyalty to the Democratic agenda in Washington.

Herget, a former Raleigh City Councilman who has his own Internet radio program, notes that Hagan expressed reservations about President Barack Obama’s stimulus package, has shown "tepid support" for Obama’ health care plan, and has not replaced U.S. Attorney George Holding, who has been investigating former Gov. Mike Easley and former Sen. John Edwards, both Democrat, Rob Christensen reports.

Herget quotes an unnamed "seasoned Democratic consultant" as saying "If I had wanted another Republican in Washington, I would have voted for one."

He notes that Hagan was helped in her victory last November over Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole by a strong turnout by Obama supporters and received millions of dollars in campaign help from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Things are looking a little less bleak for Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr in North Carolina.

But the numbers still don't look good.

Burr's approval rating among North Carolina voters has risen from a dismal 34 percent to 36 percent, according to the latest poll by Public Policy Polling. His disapproval rating is 29 percent, an improvement from 35 percent in PPP's previous poll.

But PPP notes that Burr's numbers are still worse than Elizabeth Dole's were at a comparable point two years ago. Dole had a 46 percent approval rating, but was later defeated by Democrat Kay Hagan.

The latest survey was of 767 North Carolina voters from July 10-12. The survey's margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.