State Sen. Walter Dalton raised more than $100,000 in Raleigh Wednesday night in his race for lieutenant governor.

The event, held at the home of Wallace and Jeanette Hyde, a former U.S. ambassador, showed Dalton's support among the Democratic establishment, Rob Christensen reports.

The event included glowing comment from Senate boss Marc Basnight, who called Dalton "a forward thinking leader."

Among the sponsors were Sen. Vernon Malone, Progress Energy CEO Bill Johnson, Red Hat CEO Matthew Szulik, BlueCross/BlueShield CEO Bob Greczyn, former Lt. Gov. Bob Jordan, UNC benefactor Walter Davis, former N&O publisher Frank Daniels Jr., former Glaxo CEOs Bob Ingram and Charlie Sanders, and former state Democratic chairs Tom Hendrickson and Betty McCain and Barbara Allen.

The other Democrats running for lieutenant governor are Durham lawyer Hampton Dellinger, Winston-Salem Councilman Dan Besse, and Canton Mayor Pat Smathers.

Gov. Mike Easley had some notable lunch dates in 2004.

According to the governor's daily schedules from that year, Easley dined with such notables as then Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake, Red Hat CEO Matthew Szulik and former Sen. Lauch Faircloth.

With one exception, the lunches were held on Wednesdays at the Governor's Mansion. (Easley held a lunch with his top staffers on a Tuesday before the holidays.)

The schedules are for planning purposes only, so some of the lunches may have been canceled. They were obtained by Dome after a public records request.

Still, they show an interesting cross-section of North Carolina's power players in business, government and political advocacy.

After the jump, a complete list of the 2004 lunches.

Hat Tip: Andy Curliss

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