Speaker Joe Hackney has released a statement on the conviction of former Rep. Thomas Wright:

"For many years, Thomas Wright was a champion for people who often couldn't help themselves, but that doesn't excuse him from having to follow the law. The House of Representatives appropriately expelled him for his unethical behavior. Now, separately, a jury has determined he behaved illegally. I regret that his legislative career ended this way, but I look forward to moving ahead in our chamber and making sure the people of District 18 get the representation they deserve." 

Sandra Spaulding Hughes will replace Thomas Wright in the state House.

The former Wilmington city councilwoman was named Thurday as the new representative in District 18, taking the place of Wright, who was expelled last month, reports the Wilmington Star-News.

The decision was made by a group of Democratic Party members from the district.

"I am elated," Hughes told the paper. "The community is now going to say we have someone in the position."

She was one of five candidates for the position, including former Wilmington Mayor Harper Peterson and chef and community activist Hollis Briggs.

Hughes and Briggs will face off again in the May primary. 

A former state health official and a bank loan officer testified at Thomas Wright's trial Tuesday.

Torlen Wade, a former state health official, testified that he wrote a bogus letter on Wright's behalf that prosecutors say was used to secure a loan.

Wade said he only wrote the letter because Wright was a legislator.

"It was a very important project to Representative Wright," Wade told Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby. "He was very, very insistent about it."

Ronnie Burbank, who worked at the Wilmington bank that approved the loan, said he would not have made the loan if he knew the letter was false.

Wright's defense attorneys noted that Wright did not receive anything personally from the loan. (AP)

Wade also testified that it was not the first time he's been asked for a letter for a nonexistent grant. (Hunter's Tavern) 

Thomas Wright's lawyers have filed papers in Wake County Superior Court to get his seat back.

Irving Joyner argued that the state House of Representatives' vote to expel Wright was punishment without a trial.

He also argued that current House members didn't have standing to expel Wright because the allegations, if true, occurred in a previous legislative session.

Joyner asked Judge Paul Ridgeway to schedule a hearing immediately.

Three weeks ago, Ridgeway declined to block the House ethics committee from hearing the Wright case, saying it was not his job to interfere with the legislature. (AP) 

The four House Democrats who voted against expelling Thomas Wright have also faced accusations.

Reps. Larry Womble and Earline Parmon, both Winston-Salem Democrats; Earl Jones, a Greensboro Democrat; and Mary McAllister, a Fayetteville Democrat; have all been accused of poor financial handling.

"Wright has been charged but he’s not been convicted of anything in court,” Womble said. "I'm not one to pre-judge. I’ve always been taught to wait and see and let due process work itself out."

Womble was indicted in 1991 on four counts of extortion after a corruption investigation that started when he was on the Winston-Salem Board of Aldermen. He was found not guilty in 1992.

Parmon was under suspicion when a charter school she founded, LIFT, had its license revoked. The state Department of Public Instruction said the school routinely mismanaged money.

Jones ran a nonprofit, the Guilford County Community Action Program, that was dinged by state auditors when it couldn't account for more than $700,000 in taxpayer money. 

And McAllister was forced to pay a $16,294 fine last year after the State Board of Elections said she received a repayment for campaign loans she never made. (W-SJ) 

Click below to hear Thomas Wright's words in his defense.

A transcript is also available here.

Reps. Larry Womble and Maggie Jeffus explained their votes.

Womble, a Winston-Salem Democrat, voted for censure, and when that failed, against expulsion. He told the Associated Press he agreed with Thomas Wright's arguments.

"Not only has he not been convicted, but he has not had his day in court," Womble said.

Jeffus, a Greensboro Democrat, voted against censure, and when that failed, for expulsion.

She told Mark Binker of the Greensboro News & Record that she has sat next to Wright for at least two sessions.

"I felt like we might give that a chance and see. In my own mind I think censure and expulsion are both very serious and in the end would have the same kind of result," she said.

Tim Boyum says a few senators joined the House today.

On his Political Connections blog, the News 14 Carolina reporter says that it wasn't just House members in the chamber today for Thomas Wright's expulsion:

Curiosity apparently got the best of the Senate as well. At least 10 Senators sat in the back of the House Chamber at one time or another. That included Majority Leader Tony Rand, Sen. Brock, and Sen. Jenkins among others.

That would be Sen. Andrew Brock, a Mocksville Republican, and Sen. Clark Jenkins, a Tarboro Democrat.

Rep. Paul Luebke says he would have voted to expel Thomas Wright.

The Durham Democrat was one of five state representatives who had an excused absence from today's special session on Wright.

A professor at UNC-Greensboro, Luebke had an Introduction to Sociology course today. Under a signed agreement with the UNC Board of Governors, he cannot miss class to attend a special session or study commission meeting.

(During the regular session, Luebke takes an unpaid leave of absence.)

He said he would have voted to expel Wright based on what he's read in the Select Committee etc. etc. report on Wright. He would not have voted for censure.

"Of course, I don't know how the debate went, but I have the book," he told Dome. "The report makes a compelling case of flagrant violations of campaign finance law."