An internal investigation revealed Eddie Carroll Thomas had undue influence over one of the largest sections of the Division of Motor Vehicles.

The Greene County patronage boss could get people jobs, transfer troublesome colleagues and reassign workers and held considerable influence.

Carroll abruptly retired five years ago after state records showed dozens of calls from his work hpone made to top officials in state government. State and federal investigations looked into two state contracts connected to his business partners.

"I personally was shocked and offended by what was contained in the investigative report," DMV Commissioner Bill Gore said. "And I was offended not only as an administrator but as a citizen."

Thomas' influence comes from his role as a fundraiser for Govs. Jim Hunt and Mike Easley. (N&O)

Democrat Kay Hagan raised $2.6 million in her Senate campaign since the beginning of summer, her campaign said.

The $2.6 million she has raised since July 1 is in addition to the $3 million she had raised previously.

No word yet on how much Republican Elizabeth Dole has raised this summer. She had raised $11.2 million prior to July.

But Dole's big edge in fund raising has been countered by a multi-million TV advertising campaign by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee which has been airing commercials attacking Dole.

Colleen Flanagan, Hagan’s campaign spokeswoman, said that 85 percent of Hagan’s contributions during the past three months has come from individuals. She has also received 10,000 contributions online.

"It's an incredibly strong fundraising haul and indicative of the confidence folks across the state have in Kay and her ability to fix what’s broken in Washington," Flanangan said.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole is reaching into her own pocket.

The Salisbury Republican says she is spending some of her own money on her re-election bid, trying to offset millions of dollars in negative spending that have made the Senate race one of the closest in the country.

Dole declined to say how much she's pledged and the commitment came recently enough that it won't show up in this week's campaign finance reports.

"You get such a lot coming at you and spending a great deal of time raising money -- there just comes a point when you feel like you need to put some skin in the game," Dole said.

A spokesman said that Dole had raised more than $3 million in the quarter ending Sept. 30. He declined to provide a number for cash-on-hand. Democrat Kay Hagan also declined to reveal numbers. (AP)

Republican Vice President candidate Sarah Palin will make her first appearance in North Carolina, with a stop at a fundraiser in Greensboro later this month.

Palin will be the attraction at a fundraiser at the home of Greensboro business man Louis DeJoy and former Ambassador Aldona Wos on October 16th to benefit the national ticket, according to DeJoy, who is state McCain/Palin chair, Rob Christensen reports.

Palin is substituting for President Bush who cancelled his scheduled event Tuesday at the DeJoy home because of the financial crisis in Washington.

It is not clear whether Palin will make any public appearances while in North Carolina.

This would be the first campaign appearance by either McCain or Palin in North Carolina since the primaries.

The Pitt County Republican Party and a voter are suing over Democratic fundraising methods.

In a lawsuit filed this week, the plaintiffs allege that the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is circumventing a law barring corporate money from being used in state campaigns, the Associated Press reports.

"The injunction sought in this lawsuit is essential to the voters in North Carolina if we are to have a fair and honest election conducted on a level playing field," said Kieran Shanahan, the plaintiffs' lawyer said in a news release.

Matt Compton, a spokesman for the DLCC in Washington, said the lawsuit would be dismissed.

"We feel that this is a classic publicity stunt lawsuit," he said. "There's nothing to it."

The GOP and voter Kimberley Hendrix allege that the DLCC accepts corporate contributions and transfers it to the DLCC North Carolina Political Action Committee.

The State Board of Elections is also investigating the PAC.

Michelle Obama will visit Charlotte and Greensboro Thursday.

The wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will hold an "Economic Roundtable with Working Women" at McGlohon Theater in Charlotte at 10:15 a.m.

She'll then hold a "Women For Obama" rally at the Carolina Theatre in Greensboro at 2:30 p.m.

She is also scheduled to hold a private fundraiser in Durham that evening.

This is her first visit back to North Carolina since the day before the May 6 primary when she hosted a roundtable on issues facing military spouses.

Pat McCrory highlighted his proposals for government reform at the Tuesday session on ethics by the N.C. Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform in Raleigh.

McCrory called for:

* Weekly Internet reports from campaigns showing who gave them money.

* A ban on cash contributions (now limited to $50). 

* A prohibition on legislators raising money for nonprofits. Relatives of several legislators received scholarships in recent years from a nonprofit for which the lawmakers raised money.

* A requirement that legislators publicly stand up and declare their conflict of interest on a piece of legislation.

* A veto of any budget with items added in private sessions and not by the House or Senate during the regular budget process.

* No campaign fundraising by transportation, university or ABC boards. 

* Public listing of all state contracts and bids. 

* Public access to copies of the governor's e-mail. 

How much have U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole and John McCain gotten from oil companies?

A new TV ad attacks the Republican Senate and presidential candidates for receiving contributions from oil and gas companies. 

The numbers in the ad are accurate, though it understates Dole's support by about $11,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

McCain's presidential campaign has received $1,332,033 from people who work in the oil and gas industry.

The ad understates Dole's figures, though. 

Dole's Senate campaign has received $277,756 since 2002, of which $110,527 came in during the current two-year election cycle.

That's a little more than the $266,000 figure cited in the ad.

Beverly Perdue should instruct the N.C. Democratic Party to return contributions from two groups that are paying for a negative ad about her Republican opponent in the governor's race, the Republican Governors Association said today.

The two groups, the Democratic Governors Association and the National Education Association's political arm, gave a combined $750,000 last month toward television ads critical of Pat McCrory, the GOP nominee for governor, David Ingram reports.

McCrory and other Republicans have criticized the groups' use of unregulated, out-of-state money, though many of those same criticisms have been leveled at the RGA.

Perdue has said she is not involved with the ad campaign. Her campaign called the infusion of outside money "unfortunate."

In May, a state teachers' group gave the Democratic Party $4,750. In June, the DGA gave the party $50,000.

RGA Executive Director Nick Ayers said in a news release that Perdue should instruct the party to return the money.

"On one hand, she denounces the presence of outside groups and denies having any involvement with them," Ayers said. "At the same time, the Party she controls is taking huge contributions from the donors running the ads."

Perdue's campaign said it would not ask the Democratic Party to return the money. It criticized an RGA political action committee that it says won't have to disclose more of its donors until October.

"Taking campaign finance advice from Pat McCrory and his allies is like taking economic policy advice from George Bush," Perdue spokesman David Kochman said in a news release.

Pat McCrory is hitting back on political action committee contributions.

After the Republican gubernatorial nominee was criticized by Democratic rival Beverly Perdue for sending a fundraising letter to PACs, he said today that she is a hypocrite.

"My request stated it would help me make constructive change to state government," McCrory said in a statement. " There was no promise of any political favors in return. Perdue, on the other hand, has a record of slipping special provisions in the budget to help special interests who give her large contributions."

He called Perdue "part of the culture of arrogance and corruption" in Raleigh.

McCrory's campaign noted that Perdue received $376,293 in contributions from PACs in 2008, while McCrory received $62,257 — about one-sixth that amount.

The press release was unusual, in that direct attacks on the opponent are typically attributed to campaign staffers and not the candidate.

Update: Perdue spokesman Tim Crowley says McCrory's complaint is a "desperate attempt" to distract voters from a complaint about fundraising by the Republican Governors Association. 

"North Carolina voters won't be distracted, they know that it's Bev Perdue who will fight for our public schools, not blow a $1.2 billion hole in the education budget with private school vouchers and elimination of the lottery," he said in an e-mail to Dome.