Local and state candidates will gather next Tuesday.

The Triangle Community Coalition, a pro-development business group, will holds its seventh annual pig picking at the always incongruous Brier Creek Country Club in Raleigh.

The event, which usually draws a healthy crowd, will feature stump speeches from more than 20 candidates for Congress, the legislature and local county boards.  

This year, the annual straw poll will be conducted electronically on eight computers around the room.

"No  more mismarked ballots — and yes, no 'hanging chads,'" coalition representative Chris Sinclair writes Dome. 

The pig picking will be held form 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are available here.

The N.C. Libertarian Party will have 38 candidates on the fall ballot.

The newly re-recognized party formally presented its list of candidates for state and federal offices to the State Board of Elections Monday.

As previously announced, Duke University professor Mike Munger will run for governor. Phillip Rhodes of Chapel Hill is running for lieutenant governor and Mark McMains of Fuquay-Varina for commissioner of insurance. Twenty-four candidates are running for legislative seats.

Chris Cole, a contract postal worker who lives in Huntersville, is running for U.S. Senate. Five candidates are running for Congressional seats: Will Adkins of Cary, Maximillian Longley of Durham, Thomas Hill of Concord, Andy Grum of Matthews and Keith Smith of Bostic.

Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr will also be on the ballot. 

Mary Fant Donnan won by a two-to-one margin.

The Winson-Salem Democrat sewed up the nomination for labor commissioner in a runoff primary held today.

With all 100 counties reporting, Donnan has 43,217 votes, or 68 percent. Former labor commissioner John C. Brooks has 20,445, or 32 percent. She now faces incumbent Republican Cherie Berry in November.

Turnout was a paltry 1.9 percent.

In a runoff for the Democratic nomination in state Senate District 5, Don Davis beat Kathy Taft, 63 percent to 37 percent. The seat is currently held by retiring Democratic Sen. John Kerr III.

Davis, the mayor of Snow Hill, had slightly edged Taft, a member of the State Board of Education, in a six-way race in the May primary, but failed to garner a majority. He now faces four-term Rep. Louis Pate, a Wayne County Republican.

And in a runoff for the Republican nomination in state House District 67, Justin Burr defeated Rep. Ken Furr, 58 to 42 percent. Burr had slightly edged Furr in a three-way race on May 6.

Furr was appointed to the seat in August of 2007 after former Rep. David Almond resigned. Burr faces no opposition in November.

State Sen. Julia Boseman stuck to business Tuesday.

The New Hanover Democrat declined to talk about disclosures that she defaulted on a $1.3 million loan on her former home and smoked marijuana the year before she was elected to the legislature.

Duringa child custody hearing in December, Boseman testified that she had problems with drugs at the tail end of her relationship with her then-domestic partner in 2003. Details of her financial troubles surfaced at a different court hearing last week. (AP)

Boseman, the first openly gay legislator in North Carolina, said that she willingly testified in order to keep access to her adopted son.

"Some time ago, I was faced with a choice of losing my son or having the most intimate details of my private life exposed to the public," she said. "Like any good parent, I put my son before everything else in my life and will continue to fight for him and my family."

Her Republican opponent, attorney Michael Lee, said he would focus on political differences in his campaign. (WS-N)

State Sen. Robert Rucho returned to office Monday night after a 3 1/2 year absence.

"I felt I had some unfinished business to attend to," Rucho said. "I felt a person with my experience could help from day one."

The Charlotte Republican greeted colleagues he remembered from his last stint in office, which ended in December 2004, Lynn Bonner reports.

After serving eight years, Rucho decided not to seek re-election in 2004 when new Senate district maps put him in the same district with fellow Republican Sen. Robert Pittenger.

Pittenger, who is running for lieutenant governor, resigned the seat last month. Rucho won the primary to replace him and has no Democratic competition.

R.C. Soles Jr. is the longest-serving member of the legislature.

In his 40th year in office, the state senator is seeking another term representing Columbus County. A Democrat, he has been re-elected every two years despite the influx of Republicans into his area.

Soles, 73, started as a familiar type: A local lawyer with growing influence in the county party who learned how powerful lawmakers cut deals. First elected to the state House in 1968, he moved to the Senate in 1976.

He is considered one of the more influential members, though he is easy to overlook. He ran for the top job of president pro tem 15 years ago, losing to Senate leader Marc Basnight, who still has the job.

Soles has also worked on bills that would seem to help allies and friends. (N&O)

Republicans are expected to name former Sen. Bob Rucho to replace Sen. Robert Pittenger.

The Charlotte Republican, who announced he was resigning today to focus on his run for lieutenant governor, said the availability of a respected, veteran legislator to take his place made it possible for him to step down, Mark Johnson reports.

"Senator Rucho could be here and give full attention to my constituents and do a great job," Pittenger said just hours after sending his resignation letter to Gov. Mike Easley. "Campaigning is a statewide challenge. It
requires a certain amount of attention and effort."

Rucho, who previously served eight years in the Senate, said he was not expecting Pittenger to resign but was excited by the opportunity to tackle a couple top priorities, anti-gang legislation and the completion of Charlotte-area highway projects.

"The good news is I can start earlier," Rucho said.

Easley's office will inform the state Republican Party, since the Senate seat is held by a Republican. State party officials will ask the Mecklenburg County party to name a successor, which typically is handled by the county executive committee.

Pittenger and Rucho both said they didn't want to speak for county GOP leaders, but expected the party would name Rucho, who won the Republican primary for Pittenger's seat on May 6.

"It's pretty logical," Pittenger said.

The Libertarian Party will be on the November ballot.

State Board of Elections director Gary Bartlett said he will sign a letter this afternoon recognizing the group as a political party, making the fall elections the eighth time the party has been on the North Carolina ballot.

The Libertarians turned in 72,935 verified signatures to the board on May 15, slightly more than the 70,000 required by state law. Along with the Green Party, it is also suing the state in Wake County Superior Court over ballot access laws that require third parties file a petition with 2 percent of the votes cast in the last governor's race.

The party said it spent four years and nearly $130,000 collecting the signatures.

At a convention in mid-April, it named Duke University professor Mike Munger as its gubernatorial candidate, Mark McMains of Fuquay-Varina for insurance commissioner, Thomas Hill of Concord for the Congressional seat held by U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes.

It also named a number of candidates in legislative races.

Communications Director Brian Irving said there may be more to come.

"Now that we're back on the ballot, we're going to have to go through the process of finding people to run for office," he said.

After trying his best to lose, Stan Morse now says he's in it to win.

Morse is the candidate who endorsed his opponent, campaigned against himself and issued a concession speech the day before the election — but ended up winning the primary.

He faces one-term Republican uncumbent Rep. Marilyn Avila in November.

"Let's face it, I'm an amateur," Morse said Wednesday. "But I think the voters of the 40th district should have a true representative, not one who is bought and paid for by one giant special interest group. My campaign will show that big money will not keep informed voters from seeing the truth."

Morse's primary opponent, Stan Hart Brewer, called him Wednesday and offered to transfer the remaining balance of his campaign account, more than $3,000, to his campaign.

"I was surprised," Brewer said. "Having had my opponent's endorsement, I didn't really feel I had to spend any money on a primary campaign. But apparently that was not a correct assumption." (N&O)