How bipartisan has Sen. Kay Hagan been?

From 1999 to 2008, the Greensboro Democrat was the primary sponsor of 143 bills. Of them, 63 had no cosponsors, 36 had only Democratic cosponsors and 44 had Republican cosponsors.

Overall, her 366 cosponsors included 286 Democrats and 80 Republicans, for about a four-to-one ratio. She became more bipartisan during her time in the legislature, however, going from about a nine-to-one ratio of D-to-R cosponsors in the 1999-2000 session to about two-to-one in the current session.

The most frequent GOP cosponsors were Sen. Fletcher Hartsell of Cabarrus County, who signed on to 14 bills; Sen. Stan Bingham of neighboring Davidson County, who signed on to 13; and Sen. Robert Shaw of Greensboro, who signed on to 10.

Sens. Hamilton Horton of Forsyth County and Richard Stevens of Wake County each cosponsored five bills; Sens. Virginia Foxx of Watauga County and John Garwood of Wilkes County, four; and Peter Brunstetter of Forsyth County and Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger of Rockingham County, three.

Sens. James Forrester, Jim Jacumin, Jerry Tillman, Austin Allran and Harry Brown cosponsored two apiece, while Sens. Don East, Andrew Brock, Eddie Goodall, Harris Blake, Kenneth Moore, Fred Smith and Tom Apodaca each cosponsored one.

Previously: Hagan's Republican cosponsors in 1999-2000, 2001-02, 2003-04, 2005-06 and 2007-08 sessions.

With state Sen. Kay Hagan touting her bipartisanship, Dome decided to take a closer look.

One measure is the number of Republicans who signed onto legislation she sponsored.

In the 2007-08 session, the Greensboro Democrat was the primary sponsor of 33 bills. Of them, 15 had no cosponsors, 10 had only Democratic cosponsors and eight had Republicans.

But the Republican-cosponsored measures tended to have a number of supporters. Overall, her 83 cosponsors included 55 Democrats and 28 Republicans, or about a two-to-one ratio.

The most frequent GOP cosponsor was Sen. Stan Bingham of neighboring Davidson County, who signed on to Hagan bills on creating license plates for soccer and juvenile diabetes, funding a Triad crime lab and allowing the student member of the UNC Board of Governors to vote.

The UNC bill was the most bipartisan, with 14 Democratic and 15 Republican cosponsors, including Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger and former gubernatorial candidate Fred Smith.

Hagan also had Republican cosponsors on bills on computer equipment recycling, real estate settlement protection, rental car fee reform, and funds for the Children's Discovery Center.

Immigration, energy efficiency, and soccer.

These are just a few of the topics taken up by state Sen. Kay Hagan in the current legislative short session. The Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate sponsored one and cosponsored 10 non-budget bills so far in 2008.

Two bills seem most likely to come up in her race against U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole. The first, which she cosponsored, would require employers use the federal E-Verify program to check that employees can legally work in the United States.

That program, you may recall, was touted by former Republican gubernatorial candidate Fred Smith, who used it at his road- and home-building businesses.

Another bill she cosponsored would create a state sales tax holiday for a week each April on energy-efficient light bulbs, home appliances, electronics and insulation. It would be similar to the popular back-to-school holiday already in effect.

On a lighter note, the bill she sponsored could also be used to remind political commentators of a popular swing vote constituency: Soccer moms. The bill would create a special "Support Soccer" license plate.

Other bills she cosponsored: Change the local requirements for recall petitions in the city of Greensboro. Increase the monthly pension for retired firefighters and paramedics. Limit or exempt baked goods from the state sales tax. Increase benefits from the State Health Plan. Allow the legislature to meet in Greensboro one day for its centennial. Honor Korean War Veterans. Commemorate Israel's 60th anniversary.

Pat McCrory dropped in on the legislature today.

The Republican gubernatorial nominee made an appearance at a 10:45 a.m. press conference with 30 Republican legislators who were discussing the upcoming short session and the budget process.

Earlier in the morning, he was introduced to the Republican Senate caucus by state Sen. Fred Smith, his erstwhile competitor in the GOP primary.

McCrory told reporters that the party is "a united front" on its goals of boosting the state's education system, creating jobs, lowering crime and reducing the size of government.

He also praised Smith as "one of the class acts of North Carolina," leading a round of applause from the legislators.

"During the past 13 weeks on the campaign trail, I saw an individual who has just incredible professionalism," he said. "He's one of the hardest workers I've ever seen in my life and he also is just a true public servant."

Standing behind McCrory was state Sen. Robert Pittenger, a Charlotte Republican who won the party's nomination for lieutenant governor, but McCrory failed to introduce him.

At the end of the press conference, Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger introduced Pittenger, and McCrory promptly apologized for forgetting him.

Why did Pat McCrory beat Fred Smith?

As with the Democratic gubernatorial race, it's dangerous to draw sweeping conclusions, but here are a few educated guesses about how the Charlotte mayor won the primary.

He had a strong base. As a seven-term mayor of the largest city in North Carolina, McCrory had a larger pool of supporters than Smith. Playing on his childhood in Jamestown, he made a strong play for the Triad, where no candidate had a base.

He raised money. Aided by his ties to the Charlotte business community, he quickly made up for lost time, raising $1.2 million in the first half of the year — more than any of his Republican competitors, all of whom had been running for a year.

His ads were effective. McCrory had four ads in heavy rotation on jobs, immigration, corruption and leadership. Smith had two ads; Bill Graham just one. McCrory's ads were distinctive, with a clean white background that stood out.

He learned quickly. After initial missteps in his "garage-band" phase, Smith shuffled his staff and brought in a star consultant. He picked up on concerns about illegal immigration and corruption in Raleigh, cutting into Smith's core message.

His competitors ran poor campaigns. Smith ran an old-school campaign based on barbecues and spent money on a book and a song. Graham ran his TV ads two years too soon then parted ways with his consultant in the home stretch. Bob Orr was underfunded.

Who won the ad wars?

One measure is which candidate won. But the political ads are an art into themselves — great ads have been made for lousy candidates, and vice versa.

Which is why Under the Dome wants to recognize the work that went into those ubiquitous political commercials on TV.

The first category for a Domey is Best Positive Ad. (We define that as an ad that does not directly attack one's opponent, although it may make negative statements about "lobbyists" or "special interests.")

The nominees are:

Hillary Clinton: "Mike Easley," "Maya Angelou," "David," "Tammie," "Jewel," "N.C. Ask Me"

Barack Obama: "Minute," "Return," "In America," "Billy," "Turn It Off," "Nothing's Changed," "Need," "Join," "Enough"

Pat McCrory: "Change is Coming," "Jobs," "Immigration," "Caravan"

Beverly Perdue: "Andy Griffith," "Safe Schools," "Positive," "Generations," "Love and Faith"

Richard Moore: "Bulldog," "Challenge," "Studies," "Results"

Fred Smith: "Kitchen Table," "Immigration"

Bill Graham: "Together"

Kay Hagan: "Energy," "Roots"

Hampton Dellinger: "Real Change," "Meet Hampton"

Walter Dalton: "Walter Dalton"

Robert Pittenger: "Pork"

Walter Jones: "Pantano," "Border Security," "Military"

Janet Cowell: "Burned"

David Young: "Families," "Experience"

Wayne Goodwin: "Competence"

Post your vote in the comment thread below. 

Pat McCrory seemed like he was campaigning at the 19th hole today.

At his news conference, McCrory and Bob Orr cracked wise about the game and McCrory said he first got to know Fred Smith on the links.

Orr teed off first. He wore a golf shirt and held a ball cap.

"Contrary to what you might believe, I did not bring this hat in order to pass it today," Orr said. "I actually have a tee time at 1:20."

McCrory said he wished he could hit the links like Orr: "I am quite envious at this point in time."

And in explaining his friendship with Smith, McCrory said the two took a trip to the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York. The two went to Bethpage, a public course which hosted the 2002 U.S. Open.

"We played for about four holes before we got rained out in one of the most, the hardest golf course in the United States of America, which was the last thing any of us needed at the time."

The Legionnaires are no longer with us.

Since January, the Legion of Dome has been graced with the presence of five correspondents who helped us cover the 2008 gubernatorial primary and other political news.

They were chosen through a partnership with UNC-Chapel Hill's journalism program.

Karin Dryhurst, a recent graduate, should have earned extra credit towards a degree in constitutional law for covering Bob Orr. She proved her mettle with the governor's press office over an item on Easley not showing his colors.

Sam Wineka, a recent graduate, taught us a lot about how Bill Graham spends his millions: A 12,000-square-foot house, dresses owned by Princess Di and an office building for his consultant. Not to mention how he earned his money.

Cori Sue Morris, a recent graduate, sparred with the governor's press office over a pronoun slip that turned out to be meaningful after all. She also cornered Kenneth Starr over representing Blackwater at Campbell University.

Matt Tomsic, a rising senior, dug into Fred Smith's business ventures, learning about how he built roads, ran a steakhouse and checked his employees' immigration status. He also checked into Smith's somewhat surprising reading list.

Emily Stephenson, a rising junior, researched Beverly Perdue's extensive legislative record, and covered two Barack Obama rallies and Thomas Wright's expulsion. She also caught a candidate essentially admitting to smoking in the boys room.

If the future of journalism depends on the likes of these correspondents, we're in good hands. We wish them the best of luck in their careers. They will be sorely missed.

Fred Smith conceded to Pat McCrory at Hedingham Country Club tonight.

In front of a crowd of more than 75 supporters, the Republican gubernatorial candidate thanked his family and everyone who was involved in his campaign and said he has no regrets.

"We've run a good race," he said. "We're proud of what we've done and we want to congratulate Pat McCrory. We're going to keep a smile on our face, and we're going to move forward.

"We don't regret anything we did in our race," he added. "We'd do it all over again."

Smith said his priority now is to help McCrory any way he can in the general election in November.

"That's the most important thing that we elect a Republican governor," he said. "I think the voters have chosen Pat to run and that's their choice. We've got to let Pat run the race the way he wants to run it."

He also quoted famed sportswriter Grantland Rice.

"As Grantland Rice said, sometimes it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game," he said.

Fred Smith has conceded to Pat McCrory.

The Republican gubernatorial candidate just said that he would not call for a runoff and would support McCrory in the fall campaign.

"We’re going to be good losers," he said. "I learned that on the football field. I learned there’ll be another day."