President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, has already received at least one "yes" vote from a North Carolina Republican — and that was from none other than former Sen. Jesse Helms.

Helms supported Sotomayor's nomination to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, a step below the highest court, back in 1998, according to Senate roll call records, Barb Barrett reports.

The state's other senator, Republican Lauch Faircloth, voted no.

The full vote was 67-29, with four senators not voting. Sotomayor had been nominated by then-President Bill Clinton.

* Worth noting: Former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms voted to confirm Sonia Sotomayor as U.S. Circuit judge in 1998; former Sen. Lauch Faircloth against.

* Brian Nick, a former aide to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, was named a "rising star" by Politics magazine for consultants and advocates under 35.

* N.C. Republican Party chair candidates Chad Adams and Marcus Kindley answer questionnaires on policy from Carolina Politics Online.

* N.C. Democratic Party chair David Young says on Asheville talk radio that his "gut" tells him U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler is thinking of a Senate run.

Since 1990, the most competitive Senate races in the country have been in North Carolina.

An analysis by the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota found that the last seven races here were decided by an average of six percentage points — the lowest in the nation.

The next closest states were Minnesota (6.4), New Jersey (7.5) and Missouri (8.4). Every other state had more than a 10 percent average margin.

The national average of the 344 Senate races was 22.8 percentage points. Nationally, less than a third were decided by less than 10 points, while all of North Carolina's races were below that cutoff. 

The least competitive state was North Dakota, which had no competitive races during that period of time. 

The closest win in North Carolina was Lauch Faircloth's in 1992, which was decided by four points. The biggest win was Elizabeth Dole's in 2002, when the margin was 8.6 points.

(That was closely followed by Kay Hagan's 8.5 point defeat of her in 2008.)

As a Dome tipster points out, the races prior to 1990 were not much less competitive, either.

MEBANE — Four N.C. governors were among the hundreds of mourners who said farewell today to one of their predecessors, Bob Scott, who died Friday at 79.

Under gray skies and a steady drizzle, Scott was laid to rest next to his father, the late Gov. Kerr Scott, Jim Morrill reports.

The overflow crowd at Hawfields Presbyterian Church included Gov. Beverly Perdue, former Govs. Jim Holshouser, Jim Hunt and Mike Easley, and former U.S. senators Bob Morgan and Lauch Faircloth.

But Scott was remembered not just for his political achievements but for being a man who never forgot where he came from.

In the church where he was baptized, Scott's widow, Jessie Rae, recalled how her husband used to insist on coming back for services every Sunday when they lived in Raleigh.

"Robert said we had to do it for our children so they'll stay connected to the community," she said.

The small country church filled an hour before the 11 a.m. service, which Scott designed himself. The pastor said the former governor wanted an "uplifting and cheerful" service whete people sang "with gusto."

Scott was eulogized by two grandsons. But others brought their own memories.

"He was a down-to-earth fellow," said Hunt. "No pretentions about him."

Gov. Beverly Perdue will lead a delegation to the funeral in Haw River of former Gov. Bob Scott on Tuesday.

Among those expected to attend are former governors Mike Easley, Jim Hunt and Jim Holshouser, Rob Christensen reports. Ex-governor Jim Martin is in Costa Rica and is not expected to attend.

Others scheduled to go to the funeral include former U.S. Senators Robert Morgan and Lauch Faircloth.

The funeral will be held at the Hawfields Presbyterian Church. Scott's body will be pulled by caisson, followed by a riderless horse, to the graveyard.

This is at least the third time the state's political establishment has headed to Haw River for a funeral. The first time was in 1958, when former Gov. Kerr Scott, Bob's father, was buried. The second time was in 1989 when state Sen. Ralph Scott, passed away.

Some of Gov. Beverly Perdue's smaller donations are also interesting.

As previously noted, Perdue raised $17.8 million through the end of 2008 for her successful campaign for governor, including a number of political action committees and big donors.

But some of the smaller donors from her final campaign finance report are also worth noting: 

* Former Supreme Court Justice Burley Mitchell gave $2,000.

* Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner and his wife Jane gave $2,000. 

* Former Sen. Lauch Faircloth gave $2,000.

* Perdue's recently appointed general counsel, Eddie Speas, gave $1,750.

* Administration Secretary Britt Cobb gave $1,000 on Oct. 28. He is the only member of Gov. Mike Easley's Cabinet to remain under Perdue.

* Former Orange County commissioner Moses Carey gave $300. Perdue appointed him chairman of the Employment Security Commission.

* Perdue's deputy campaign manager, David Kochman, and communications staffer Kennetha Smith each gave $250.

* The head of Perdue's gubernatorial endowment effort, Tom Lambeth, gave $200.

* Former U.S. Sen. Robert Morgan gave $200.

* Noted Washington, D.C., political consultant Donna Brazile gave $100.

The Commerce Secretary is one of the most important Cabinet positions.

As the head of the N.C. Department of Commerce, the appointee of the governor works to recruit and retain major employers, negotiate corporate incentives and boost state tourism.

As such, it's been a fairly high profile position. Past secretaries include some heavyweight political figures such as future U.S. Sen. Lauch Faircloth, former U.S. Sen. Jim Broyhill and longtime political insider (and one-time would-be gubernatorial candidate) Norris Tolson.

But it wasn't always this way.

The Commerce department was created in 1971 under the administration of Gov. Bob Scott mostly as an umbrella for pre-existing regulatory agencies on such pedestrian subjects as alcohol, banking, cemeteries and, of all things, milk.

Under Gov. Jim Hunt's administration in 1977, it was reconstituted to focus on expanding and recruiting new business and managing the state's economic development efforts as well as its energy resources.

Between 1989 and 1993, the state agency was even briefly named the Department of Economic and Community Development.

Previously: Five appointments to watch

The Sunlight Foundation is tracking the other kind of political parties.

On its new "Political Party Time" Web site, the open government advocacy group is tracking invitations to fundraisers for members of Congress.

For example, U.S. Sen. Richard Burr held a "Breakfast with Burr" this morning at a Washington, D.C., Krispy Kreme. Snagging a seat at the sugar-coated table cost political action committees $500, or they could pay $1,000 to be a host.

Individual attendees were encouraged to pay "whatever you can afford."

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, meantime, favors Charlie Palmer's steakhouse. Receptions to benefit her have been held there on April 24, July 20, July 30 and Aug. 5 of this year. Hosts have included former Sen. Lauch Faircloth, Sen. Jon Kyl and the International Paper PAC.

For a complete list, click here. 

Negative nicknames aren't new in North Carolina.

During the 1960 Democratic primary for governor, Terry Sanford was tarred with three nicknames by his political opponents: Terrible Tax Terry, High Tax Terry and Tall Talking Terry, according to Rob Christensen's recent book "The Paradox of Tar Heel Politics."

He won the primary and the governorship anyway.

But when he was running for re-election to the U.S. Senate in 1992, Sanford was given yet another nickname for the fact that he voted three different ways on a federal highway bill in 1987: Turnaround Terry.

He lost that election to Republican Lauch Faircloth.