Illegal immigrants arrested in North Carolina are being deported like never before, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole said at a press conference today.

"If they're thinking of coming to North Carolina to commit crimes, they darn well better not do it," Dole said. "Because we're going to catch them."

Dole held the press conference along with four county sheriffs just days after her Democratic opponent Kay Hagan held a meeting with sheriffs to discuss immigration, Kristin Collins reports. Dole says she has been the leader in calling for a crackdown on criminal illegal immigrants.

With Dole's support, sheriff's departments in North Carolina have teamed up with federal immigration officials to help deport illegal immigrants who come through county jails through a program called 287(g). Dole said about 500 people a month are now being deported with the help of North Carolina's local law enforcement.

Three sheriff's departments — in Wake, Henderson and Cumberland counties — are now training for a federal immigration program that will allow them to check the immigration status of their jail inmates and begin deportation proceedings.

Four sheriff's departments and the Durham Police Department already have the program. North Carolina is among the leading states in the nation for participation in the program.

Fred Smith won a straw poll in Henderson County.

At the Henderson County Republican Party's annual Lincoln Lunch Saturday, the Republican gubernatorial candidate received 81 votes, the Burlington Times-News reports.

Former Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, who is from Hendersonville, received 36. Salisbury attorney Bill Graham came in third with 14 votes and Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory picked up 10 votes.

A spokesman for Smith said that he also won recent straw polls in Rutherford and Catawba counties.

Voters in the straw poll also picked U.S. Sen. Richard Burr to be John McCain's running mate.

He got 43 votes, followed by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee with 22, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with 12, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford with 11 and former Massachusetts Gov Mitt Romney with 10.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated Graham's support. 

The Henderson County GOP is looking for a good Webmaster.

The party's previous online guru, Dennis Justice, apparently has a few issues with its leadership and recent political decisions.

Dome learned all of this from the party's Web site, which Justice personally defaced shortly before resigning.

In a long rant, Justice argues that the party should have rebuked former U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor for not making a decision on whether to run again in 2008, and well, lots of other things.

I have run this website for seven years, even when I ran for public office in the past nobody could say I ran it unfairly. I'm not going to advertise a candidate that I myself have no intentions to vote for. I have way too many other things in my life more important than codifying Mr. Taylor's ego.

In an all-capital letters update at the bottom, Justice notes that Campbell is now running with some more choice words for his chairmanship.