Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue has stressed she will break from Gov. Mike Easley.

Still, the newly elected Democrat hasn't entirely escaped the shadow of her two-term predecessor. Several of her appointees so far have ties to Easley.

In order of most closely tied to least:

Britt Cobb: Perdue's secretary of Administration held the same job under Easley, who also appointed him commissioner of agriculture. 

Linda Wheeler Hayes: Perdue's secretary of Juvenile Justice chaired the Governor's Crime Commission for Easley and was one of his fundraisers in 2000.

Eddie Speas: Perdue's general counsel worked for Easley during the eight years he was attorney general. Easley later appointed him lottery commissioner.

Reuben Young: Perdue's secretary of Crime Control served as deputy legal counsel and chief legal counsel for Easley's two terms as governor.

Lanier Cansler: Perdue's secretary of Health and Human Services served as deputy secretary under Easley, although he was directly hired by Secretary Carmen Hooker Odom.

Gene Conti: Perdue's secretary of Transportation served as chief deputy secretary under Easley, who asked him to leave because of a conflict of interest.

In addition, Perdue transition team had ties to Easley: Don Hobart worked as legal counsel to Easley when he was attorney general, Norris Tolson was Easley's Revenue secretary, Hilda Pinnix-Ragland was appointed to the state community college board by Easley, and Howard Lee served as Easley's budget and education adviser and was appointed to two boards by Easley.

Still, many of Perdue's key appointees have no ties to Easley, including at least half her Cabinet.

Here at Dome we've been working furiously to get to know Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue's 10 cabinet secretaries. And while we aren't experts yet, we've found a few facts that we find intriguing. Test your knowledge with our quiz.

The secretaries are: Lanier Cansler (HHS), Linda Carlisle (Cultural Resources), Britt Cobb (Administration), Gene Conti (DOT), Keith Crisco (Commerce), Dee Freeman (DENR), Linda Wheeler Hayes (Juvenile Justice) Al Keller (Correction), Kenneth Lay (Revenue) and Reuben Young (Crime Control).

— Which secretary holds a Ph.D. in anthropology?

— The new cabinet job is the first government post (local, state, federal) for this secretary.

— Only one of Perdue's new cabinet secretaries was a Tar Heel of the Week in The News & Observer. Which secretary was featured in the 2002 story?

— This secretary is the only member of the cabinet to have run for statewide office.

— The 4-H honored this secretary in 2000 for outstanding alumni work.

— This secretary was formerly an assistant attorney general for the state of Texas.

— Which secretary, known for fundraising prowess, helped the Girl Scouts' Tarheel Triad Council raise $7 million for a new campus?

— This cabinet secretary was a White House Fellow from 1970 to 1971.

— A manager of four North Carolina cities, this secretary is the Brevard City Manager Emeritus.

— In a former job, this secretary presided over 800 criminal trials.

Answers after the jump.

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Names have risen and fallen like the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

But with no Cabinet-level appointments made yet by Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue, the guessing game on her administration continues.

(Perdue has named a transition team, a chief of staff and the head of a public campaign finance project, however.)

Here's the latest rundown:

Transportation: State Sen. Clark Jenkins chairs the Appropriations committee on transportation. Gene Conti is a former assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Lanny Wilson is vice chairman of the N.C. Turnpike Authority and has Senate leader Marc Basnight's backing. David Joyner is a transportation expert and head of the turnpike authority. Nina Szlosberg, a Board of Transportation member appointed to oversee environmental issues, has the support of transit advocates, women political leaders and environmentalists.

Correction: Crime Control Secretary Bryan Beatty is reportedly under consideration.

Crime Control: Scott Thomas is the district attorney for Carteret, Craven and Pamlico counties and served in the state Senate from 2000 to 2005.

Juvenile Justice: Linda Hayes has chaired the Governor's Crime Commission since 1995 and is a past chair of the national Coalition for Juvenile Justice.

Commerce: Senate Finance Committee chairman David Hoyle is well known as an advocate for business in the legislature. Rep. Jim Harrell helped pass incentives bills. Former deputy Tony Copeland now works in the private sector.

Revenue: Former state Sen. Oscar Harris served as Perdue's campaign treasurer.

Legislative Liaison: Former Senate budget analyst Andy Willis is vice president of government relations for the University of North Carolina system.

Health and Human Services: Perdue may conduct a national search for this post.

Environment and Natural Resources: Current secretary Bill Ross has served since 2001 and is reportedly interested in sticking around.

Administration: State Rep. Alma Adams filmed a TV ad for Perdue in the primary, but later criticized her transition team for its lack of diversity.

Cultural Resources: Adams, an art professor, may also be considered for this department.

Charlotte Office: Crandall Bowles is the former chair of Springs Industries and wife of UNC system president Erskine Bowles.

Who might Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue appoint to her Cabinet?

The New Bern Democrat has already appointed a transition team and chief of staff and said that she will put Tom Lambeth in charge of an endowment for gubernatorial campaigns, but she has not yet named anyone to the 10 positions that run state departments.

Based on conversations with Raleigh insiders, a few names have come up:

Transportation: State Sen. Clark Jenkins chairs the Appropriations committee on transportation. Gene Conti is a former assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Lanny Wilson is vice chairman of the N.C. Turnpike Authority and has Senate leader Marc Basnight's backing. David Joyner is a transportation expert and head of the turnpike authority. Nina Szlosberg, a Board of Transportation member appointed to oversee environmental issues, has the support of transit advocates, women political leaders and environmentalists.

Crime Control: Scott Thomas is the district attorney for Carteret, Craven and Pamlico counties and served in the state Senate from 2000 to 2005. Current Secretary Bryan Beatty has served in that position since 2001 and is reportedly interested in staying.

Juvenile Justice: Linda Hayes has chaired the Governor's Crime Commission since 1995 and is a past chair of the national Coalition for Juvenile Justice.

Commerce: Crandall Bowles is the former chair of Springs Industries and wife of UNC system president Erskine Bowles. Senate Finance Committee chairman David Hoyle is well known as an advocate for business in the legislature. Rep. Jim Harrell helped pass incentives bills.

Revenue: Former state Sen. Oscar Harris served as Perdue's campaign treasurer.

Health and Human Services: Former Raleigh city manager Dempsey Benton was brought in to clean up problems in the mental health system and is reportedly interested in staying.

Environment and Natural Resources: Current secretary Bill Ross has served since 2001 and is reportedly interested in sticking around.

Administration: State Rep. Alma Adams filmed a TV ad for Perdue in the primary, but later criticized her transition team for its lack of diversity.

Cultural Resources: Adams, an art professor, may also be considered for this department.

In addition, National Education Association executive director John Wilson may be under consideration for an advisory role in education, although the state Superintendent of Public Instruction is elected separately from the Cabinet.

Previously: Five Perdue appointments to watch

The search for a transportation secretary continues.

N.C. Board of Transportation member Lanny Wilson, a fundraiser for Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue, has been promoted by Senate leader Marc Basnight and derided by commentators such as Chris Fitzsimon.

David Joyner, head of the N.C. Turnpike Authority, has emerged as an alternative to Wilson in recent days, although he was also a Perdue fundraiser.

Some public transit advocates, environmentalists and female political leaders are promoting another alternative: Nina Szlosberg.

Szlosberg, of Raleigh, is also a member of the transportation board and the Triangle Transit Authority. She's long been a backer of mass transit projects, once distributing copies of "The Little Engine That Could" to cheer up her fellow TTA trustees.

She's a popular choice among environmentalists, having chaired the Conservation Council of North Carolina's political action committee in the past.

She also has a clean reputation — a potentially crucial factor for a troubled agency. According to a Feb. 17 story in the N&O, she has not pushed for local projects in Raleigh in the last four years — a stark contrast to outgoing Secretary Lyndo Tippett.

Former assistant U.S. transportation secretary Gene Conti is also reportedly under consideration.

Environmentalists would have some questions for a potential transportation appointee.

Elizabeth Ouzts, director of Environment North Carolina, said that she would want to hear more from state Sen. Clark Jenkins about his views before he took a job as secretary of the state Department of Transportation.

Jenkins is one of several people whose names have been discussed by Raleigh insiders recently, though Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue has not made any announcements.

Ouzts said that as a member of the state Board of Transportation Jenkins was "very vocal" about his frustration with delays on road projects caused by the need for environmental reviews, but she noted that his record as a state senator has been good.

In 2007, the group gave Jenkins an 85 percent rating on its scorecard of pro-environmental votes.

"We would hope that he would continue on that path and make decisions that were going to be good for the environment and the economy," she said.

Ouzts was not familiar with the environmental records of Gene Conti or Lanny Wilson, whose names have also come up.

Hillary Clinton's campaign opened her North Carolina headquarters this evening.

About 100 people attended the hourlong kickoff, including Wake County commissioners Lindy Brown and Betty Lou Ward, fundraiser Richard Sullivan and former Democratic Party chairman Tom Hendrickson, who owns the building near Raleigh's trendy Glenwood South area.

Hendrickson noted that the Clinton campaign brought in organizer Ace Smith to head up its North Carolina campaign, after similar efforts in California and Texas.

"They have sent us the A-team," he said.

Spokeswoman Cary Lindauer said that the campaign will open about a dozen offices around the state in the next few weeks, beginning with Charlotte. The state headquarters will also double as the Raleigh field office.

The crowd also included Gene Conti, assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation from 1998 to 2000; Mike Schaul, a member of the N.C. Democratic Party's executive committee; and noted open space advocate Sig Hutchinson, who said he came because of his wife.

The guest who attracted the most attention, however, was Hendrickson's long-haired Chihuahua, Izzy. Several people in the campaign took turns holding the puppy during the event.