Two surveys bear good news for Republicans looking to make an impression in next year's elections.

The conservative Civitas Institute has found that a majority of voters would go Republican in next year's Congressional races. The survey of 600 registered voters found that 52 percent would vote Republican, 29 percent would pick a Democrat and 9 percent were unsure.

Meanwhile, a poll by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling found that 46 percent of North Carolina voters would pick a Republican in next year's legislative races and 48 percent would go with a Republican in a Congressional race. The poll found that 39 percent of voters would go Democratic in the state legislative race and 38 percent would pick go with the "D" in Congressional races. In both races, 15 percent of voters were undecided. 

The PPP survey of 683 voters from Oct. 2-4 had a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.

The Civitas survey of 600 registered voters was conducted Sep. 29-30 and had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Who will replace Rep. Cary Allred in the House?

So far, "a bunch of folks" have said they're interested in the job, according to Alamance County Republican Party head Robert Simpson.

The most notable are County Commissioner Dan Ingle and former state Sen. Hugh Webster.

Also considering the post are attorney Keith Whited of Burlington, retired banker Steve Carter of Burlington, postal worker Kenneth Kruger of Graham.

Former secretary of state candidate Jack Sawyer was interested, but he does not live in the district, and Alamance GOP vice chairman Dennis Riddell took himself out of the running.

The party's 25-member executive committee will meet June 11 at the Alamance County Courthouse to choose among the candidates.

Gov. Beverly Perdue will then officially appoint their selection.

Embattled state Rep. Cary Allred will resign.

The Alamance County Republican submitted a letter to House clerk Denise Weeks after noon today saying he will leave the legislature effective 2 p.m. on Monday.

It has been my honor and privilege to serve the people of Alamance County and the 64th District in the House of Representatives.

As General Douglas MacArthur said, "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away."

With that, I bid thee farewell.

Calls to Allred's home and cell phone were not answered Friday.

Allred, who faced ethics questions after inappropriately hugging a teen-aged page, said Thursday that he might step down in September, but also hinted he might resign as early as Monday.

He had previously changed his mind about leaving the Republican Party, however, so some observers, such as Greensboro News-Record reporter Mark Binker, were skeptical.

State Republican chairwoman Linda Daves called on Allred to resign earlier this month.

Update: "It's for the good of the House," said Rep. Paul Stam, an Apex Republican and House minority leader. "Everybody needs to remember he had a 30 year career and I hope everybody won’t judge him on one or two events. He did a lot of good."

The resignation would end the ethics inquiries against Allred.

"If he's not a member of the House there's no reason to go forward with it," said Bill Holmes, a spokesman for House Speaker Joe Hackney.

Update: Hackney issued a statement on the resignation.

"I appreciate Rep. Allred's years of service to this state and will remember him as a staunch advocate for the people of Alamance County. I wish him well in his retirement," Hackney said.

The legislature is leaning to the left this session.

North Carolina lawmakers are approvign bills tha push liberal ideals such as more comprehensive sex ed, no plastic bags at grocery stores and more protection for minorities in death penalty cases.

Many of the bills have gone nowhere in recent years.

The cast of characters in the legislature remains the same, but Democratic leaders have gone farther than simply shelving hot-button Republican bills on gay marriage or abortion.

"It's Obama's coattails," said Rep. Ruth Samuelson, a Charlotte Republican. "There's sort of a presumption that certain things are more politically acceptable than they were two years ago."

The bills have moved through the House and the Senate. (N&O) 

Prepare for the madness: this is crossover week at the legislature.

So-called "crossover" is a self-imposed deadline for bills that don't deal with money to clear one chamber or the other. Anything that doesn't make it by Thursday is dead. Which means this week will be one serious cram session for the state House and Senate.

The House will likely debate as many as 30 bills each day this week, more than double a typical workload. The Senate calendars will be full, too.

Among the bills in play: allowing schools to open earlier in August, banning cigarettes and cell phones in prisons, adding pet protection to domestic violence protection orders.

Gov. Beverly Perdue and the legislature are planning to honor the national champion UNC-Chapel Hill men's basketball team today.

The squad is scheduled to appear at the legislature (which goes into session at 12:30 p.m. for the Senate and 1 p.m. for the House) and then head over to the Executive Mansion for a 2:30 p.m. event with the governor.

With all manner of bad budget news swirling around state government, politicians will be pretty happy about the chance to spechify on behalf of the team.

* U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick delivered the opening prayer at a closed-door meeting between President Obama and House Republicans on the stimulus package.

* Conservative commentator John Hood gives suggestions for the legislature to really cut spending and make government more transparent.

* Liberal commentator Adam Linker wonders whatever happened to the second of two promised audits of the State Health Plan from former Auditor Les Merritt.

* Greensboro News-Record reporter Mark Binker rounds up what to expect from the upcoming session, notably the budget, the budget and the budget.

The legislature opens today with a grim outlook.

Lawmakers will be trying to figure out how to trim the state budget by as much as $2 billion, or 10 percent.

"It may be the most serious recession, the most serious problem in state revenues in my time in the General Assembly," said House Speaker Joe Hackney, an Orange County Democrat who has been a House member for 30 years.

Legislators will do without expensive new programs and struggle to fix existing problems with roads, mental health services and the probation system. (N&O)

They are also expected to deal with issues ranging from the death penalty to annexation. (N&O)