Who else might run for U.S. Senate?

With Attorney General Roy Cooper dropping out of a long-expected run against Republican Sen. Richard Burr, only Durham lawyer Kenneth Lewis is left on the Democratic sid, and even he hasn't committed.

Here's a running list of other contenders:

* Richard Moore: Former state treasurer, failed Democratic gubernatorial candidate. Why he might run: Ambitious, rich pol who won statewide office twice. Why not: May have damaged brand with 2008 campaign.

* Brad Miller: Congressman, former state legislator. Why he might run: He was very publicly courted to run in 2008. Why not: He's just hitting his stride in the House; he may have personal issues.

* Cal Cunningham: Former state senator, U.S. Army reservist. Why he might run: He's reportedly interested in the race. Why not: He has low statewide name recognition and no current post to run from.

* Heath Shuler: Congressman, former NFL player. Why he might run: He spent 118 days publicly thinking it over earlier this year. Why not: He may be too conservative for a Democratic primary.

* Charles Meeker: Raleigh mayor who has been mentioned before. Why he might run: Served four terms as popular mayor of one of state's largest cities. Why not: That didn't help Pat McCrory win the governor's mansion.

* Grier Martin: Young turk in state legislature who turned down 2008 recruiting effort. Why he might run: Probably still kicking himself. Why not: Will need tons and tons of money for a guy with no statewide name recognition.

* Bob Etheridge: Congressman, former state schools superintendent. Why he might run: He's won statewide before and is known as an affable campaigner. Why not: He's just landed a spot on the powerful Ways and Means committee.

* Mel Watt: Congressman, former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Why he might run: He managed Harvey Gantt's first campaign for Senate. Why not: He's got a can't-lose position in the House.

* Mike McIntyre: Congressman, member of the Blue Dog Coalition. Why he might run: He could match Burr on conservative issues in the general election. Why not: Those same stances would hurt him in a primary.

* Dan Blue: Former House speaker who recently moved over to the state Senate. Why he might run: He ran for Senate nomination in 2002. Why not: His politics may be too liberal for a statewide race; he'd have to give up his seat again.

* Elaine Marshall: Secretary of state now in her fifth term. Why she might run: She ran for the Democratic nomination in 2002. Why not: The longest-serving current member of the Council of State is in a comfortable job now.

* Janet Cowell: State treasurer, former state senator, former Raleigh councilwoman. Why she might run: She's a savvy pol who's climbed the ladder quickly already. Why not: After only a few months in statewide office, it might be too soon.

* Erskine Bowles: University of North Carolina system president, former Clinton chief of staff. Why he might run: He ran in 2002 and 2004. Why not: He lost both times; he's praised Burr; he's already thinking of retiring.

* Elizabeth Edwards: Health care advocate, wife of former U.S. Sen. John Edwards. Why she might run: She's vastly more popular among voters than her husband. Why not: That's not saying much.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the anti-predatory lending bill by U.S. Reps. Mel Watt of Charlotte and Brad Miller of Raleigh.

The bill, HR 1728 would tighten regulations and require lenders to have proof that borrowers could actually repay their mortgages, Barb Barrett reports. The bill would also require that refinanced mortgages show an actual financial benefit to borrowers.

The legislation is aimed to prevent the surge of shady lending that took place in the runup to the current housing crisis.

The vote in the House on Thursday was 300-114.

In North Carolina, the state’s Democrats were joined in “yes” votes by Republican Rep. Walter Jones.

Republicans Howard Coble, Virginia Foxx, Patrick McHenry and Sue Myrick voted no.

The bill passed the House last Congress as well, but never got anywhere in the Senate. This year, it again goes to the Senate with an uncertain future, as there is no companion legislation.

But U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House financial services committee, told reporters he believes Democrats’ stronger majority in the Senate this year will give them the thrust to push the bill through.

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper told two of the state's congressional delegation this week that he wants them to remove language in their predatory lending bill that would preempt state law.

"The proposed new law (in Congress) has significant problems in the area of remedies and enforcement," Cooper wrote Miller and Watt on Thursday, Barb Barrett reports.

The bill, H.R. 1728, the "Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act," has the goal of ensuring that borrowers can afford to pay back their loans they take out.

It was introduced by U.S. Reps. Brad Miller of Raleigh and Mel Watt of Charlotte, both Democrats.

Cooper wrote that the bill would pre-empt protections in North Carolina, which is considered one of the strongest state laws in the country. Consumer advocacy groups also question the preemption clause in the bill.

More after the jump.

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* U.S. Sen. Richard Burr praises Sen. Ted Kennedy's bipartisanship, saying he wishes every bill was co-sponsored by him.

* Gov. Beverly Perdue will speak at funeral services for state Sen. Vern Malone at Martin Street Baptist Church in Raleigh tomorrow.

* If Congress moves to impeach federal Judge Jay Bybee over the torture memos, Reps. Howard Coble and Mel Watt will be on the committee.

* U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan takes umbrage at the U.S. trade representative saying there's no need to reconsider the NAFTA trade agreement. 

How much did North Carolina's delegation get in earmarks last year?

Here is a breakdown of the approved earmarks in last year's spending bills, as compiled by Citizens Against Government Waste:

Sen. Elizabeth Dole: 110, $133.6 million

Sen. Richard Burr: 89, $117.1 million

Rep. David Price: 51, $56.8 million

Rep. Robin Hayes: 44, $48.6 million

Rep. Bob Etheridge: 29, $38.3 million

Rep. Mike McIntyre: 31, $37.9 million

Rep. Heath Shuler: 30, $28.8 million

Rep. Mel Watt: 28, $28.5 million

Rep. Sue Myrick: 13, $20.9 million

Rep. Walter Jones: 12, $20.3 million

Rep. Howard Coble: 15, $17.2 million 

Rep. Patrick McHenry: 10, $16.8 million

Rep. G.K. Butterfield: 17, $14.4 million

Rep. Brad Miller: 14, $12.7 million

Rep. Virginia Foxx: 10, $12.4 million

In all, the delegation received 219 earmarks worth a total of $216.4 million.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated Jones' earmark total.

North Carolina's U.S. representatives have $4.3 million in cash on hand.

Campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission show most of the dozen House members with decent war chests at the end of the first quarter of 2009.

Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler of Waynesville was doing the best, with $1.1 million leftover after his recent election to a second term in Congress. Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx of Banner Elk was a close second, with around $942,000.

In general, the state's Democrats were doing better than the Republicans. Democratic Reps. Bob Etheridge of Lillington and Mike McIntyre of Lumberton had more than a half-million dollars, and Rep. David Price of Chapel Hill more than a quarter-million.

Meantime, Republican Reps. Sue Myrick of Charlotte and Patrick McHenry of Cherryville had less than $100,000, and Rep. Walter Jones had just $9,170.

Democratic Rep. Brad Miller of Raleigh had only $37,310.  

The list after the jump.

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* Services for state Sen. Vern Malone, who died this weekend, will be held at noon Thursday at Martin Street Baptist in Raleigh. 

* After a trip to Cuba, U.S. Rep. Mel Watt says he was surprised to find that Raul Castro was "just as outgoing and loquacious" as his brother, Fidel.

* More than any other state, North Carolina is seeing a spike in the number of people without health insurance, up to 25 percent.

* Former state treasurer Richard Moore closed out his gubernatorial campaign account, forgiving himself $1 million in loans. 

Done wrong, an earmark can actually hurt North Carolina's roads.

Since 1989, a state law has required that road money be spent around the state according to a strict formula based in part on population.

That means that if an earmark comes through for a specific road, it will just end up displacing money for another road in the same area, said Gene Conti, state secretary of transportation.

"In some cases, it could displace something that is either more important in that area or a piece of a larger project that's needed," he said.

To prevent that, the state Department of Transportation prepares a list of projects that could be earmarked without problem in each Congressional district, he said.

Conti is not a big fan of earmarks, since they tie the state's hands on spending without increasing the overall pot of money. But there are a few he will seek.

More after the jump.

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Here are all the earmark requests.

We've compiled all of the individual requests for special appropriations in the federal budget from Democratic Reps. David Price, Brad Miller, Bob Etheridge, Larry Kissell, G.K. Butterfield, Mike McIntyre, Heath Shuler and Mel Watt, and Republican Reps. Walter Jones and Howard Coble.

(As noted previously, Republican Reps. Sue Myrick, Virginia Foxx and Patrick McHenry did not request any earmarks.)

Some of the spending is for national programs, such as Teach for America or new Virginia-class submarines. Watchdog groups do not consider such requests to be earmarks. We have labeled them "National" under the Scope column.

Where an earmark was requested by more than one member of Congress, we have added them in the Member2, Member3 etc. columns. When they asked for different amounts, we gave each request its own row, but subtracted the smaller request in Column P.

Minus national requests and duplicates, the North Carolina delegation's 545 earmark requests total $1.5 billion in proposed spending.

Here's the latest version of our big earmarks spreadsheet.

It includes requests from Reps. Walter Jones, Heath Shuler, Howard Coble, Mel Watt, Brad Miller and Bob Etheridge.