Sen. Richard Burr has at least a 10-point lead over his challengers, according to a new Rasmussen poll.

The Rasmussen Reports poll found of 500 likely voters found Burr ahead of longtime Secretary of State Elaine Marshall 48 percent to 38 percent.

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, who has been courted for the race, trails by 48 to 34 percent.

Burr leads Durham lawyer Kenneth Lewis, who like Marshall has officially declared for the race, by even more — 48 percent to 32 percent.

The news isn't all great for Burr.

"Despite Burr’s early lead, however, incumbents who poll under 50% are generally considered vulnerable," the pollster said.

The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percent. 

Other Democrats looking at the race include former state Sen. Cal Cunningham of Lexington, former Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker of Sanford, and Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy.

Former N.C. Chief Justice Henry Frye has agreed to be honorary co-chairman of Kenneth Lewis' U.S. Senate campaign.

Lewis, a Durham attorney, was a law clerk for Frye, who was the first African-American to head North Carolina's judicial system, Rob Christensen reports.

"When I first met Kenneth over 20 years ago," Frye said, "he was a smart, idealistic young lawyer determined to use his legal training to break down the barriers to educational and economic opportunity facing communities across North Carolina."

'"Kenneth's legal career, as a business and community development lawyer, is a long record of using the law to find common ground between the private sector and the non-profit community," Frye said. "His experience in community development, coupled with his expertise in business law, makes Kenneth uniquely qualified to represent North Carolina in the U.S Senate."

Lewis is the first Democrat to enter the 2010 race for the seat held by Republican Sen. Richard Burr. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall has formed an exploratory committee. Other Democrats looking at the race include former state Sen. Cal Cunningham of Lexington, Congressman Bob Etheridge of Lillington, former Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker of Sanford, and Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy.

The N.C. Democratic Party is adding former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Henry Frye to its pantheon of political heroes.

The party is renaming its newest fundraising dinner, the Sanford-Hunt Dinner, the Sanford-Hunt-Frye Dinner, reports Rob Christensen.

The dinner, named after former govenrors Terry Sanford (1961-65) and Jim Hunt (1977-85, 1993-2001), was started several years ago and is held in conjunction with party meetings.

Frye, of Greensboro, was the first African-American state legislator elected in North Carolina in the 20th century and the state's first black chief justice.

The Democrats will hold its first Sanford-Hunt-Frye Dinner on Aug. 29 in at the Hilton Charlotte University Place in connection with a meeting of the state Democratic Executive Committee meeting.

The decision to add Frye’s name comes a year after there was some controversy concerning the party’s traditional Vance-Aycock fundraising dinner in Asheville.

Some Democrats thought it was inappropriate to continue to honor former Gov. Charles Brantley Aycock (1901-1905) because of his role in the white supremacist campaigns at the turn of the last century.

Kenneth Lewis, a Harvard-educated lawyer in Durham and fundraiser for then-candidate Barack Obama last year, is running for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate next year.

Lewis, 47, told party leaders and regulars at the annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner over the weekend that he was making a run at the seat held by Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr. Lewis is jumping in early, but he could face hefty competition if Attorney General Roy Cooper opts in.

Lewis said his business experience and years of work with nonprofit groups, such as Action for Children, will help guide his work for ordinary citizens.

"We need to invest in a new prosperity that is broad-based and sustainable," Lewis said.

A Winston-Salem native, Lewis clerked for then-N.C. Supreme Court Justice Henry Frye after graduating from law school in 1986 and has worked at firms in Charlotte, Raleigh and Durham.

He raised money for Obama's U.S. Senate race in Illinois in 2004 and helped lead finance operations for Obama's presidential campaign in North Carolina last year. He lives in Chapel Hill with his wife, Holly Ewell-Lewis, and three school-age children.

Previously: Lewis invites Stephon Marbury to Obama fundraiser. 

Law students participating in a moot court competition at N.C. Central University this month may be more nervous than usual.

Presiding over the panel will be Chief Justice John G. Roberts.

Roberts' two-day visit on Monday and Tuesday, April 13 and 14, will be the first time a U.S. chief justice has come to the school in its 70-year history.

On April 13, Roberts will conduct a swearing-in ceremony to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar for graduates of the NCCU law school.

The moot court event, to take place April 14, will not be open to the public or the media, NCCU officials said. Roberts will serve on the moot court panel with Judge Allyson Duncan, a judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and retired state Chief Justice Henry Frye.

Roberts also will attend a lunch with students.

The Barack Obama campaign Wednesday released a list of 50 former North Carolina supporters of John Edwards who are backing the Illinois senator in the May 6th primary.

Rob Christensen reports that the list included Congressmen David Price, and G.K Butterfield, former state House Majoirty leader Phil Baddour of Goldsboro, attorney Wade Byrd of Fayetteville, former state Democratic party chairs Libba Evans and Wade Smith, former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt, former N.C. Supreme Court Justice Henry Frye, and Jim Phillips, the chairman of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors.

"We are going to be in the trenches helping him to do well," said Ed Turlington, a Raleigh attorney who was general chairman of Edwards’ 2004 presidential campaign.

Turlington and state Rep. Pricey Harrison said that Obama shared many of the ideas of Edwards on such issues as fighting poverty, and changing the culture of Washington.

Edwards, a former North Carolina senator who dropped out of the presidential race in January, has suggested that he and his wife Elizabeth were unlikely to endorse.

Two former Supreme Court justices were recognized. 

Burley Mitchell and Henry Frye received the state's highest honor: the North Carolina Award Tuesday night. They are the first two recipients who have been justices, Titan Barksdale reports.

Mitchell and Frye, who are now both in private practice, received the awards in the field of public service.

Mitchell joined the N.C. Supreme court in 1982 and served as Chief Justice from 1995 to 1999. Frye joined the North Carolina Supreme Court in 1983 and served as chief justice from 1999 to 2001. 

The North Carolina Awards have been given annually since 1964, and a committee selects the recipients. 

Also recognized: Rosemary Harris Ehle, the actress who plays Aunt May in the Spider-man movies. 

Bob Edmunds is running for re-election.

The state Supreme Court Justice said today that he will seek a second eight-year term to the state's highest court in 2008, Dan Kane reports.

Edmunds, a Greensboro lawyer and a former U.S. attorney, served two years on the N.C. Court of Appeals before being elected to the Supreme Court in 2000.

In a news release, Edmunds said he has the endorsement of all five living former chief justices: Rhoda Billings, Jim Exum, Burley Mitchell, Henry Frye and Beverly Lake. His campaign Web site is here.