Rep. Joe Boylan has been charged with driving while intoxicated.

Highway Patrol troopers charged the Pinehurst Republican after he swerved off the side of the road, hitting a tree, in Cameron on Thursday, the Southern Pines Pilot reports.

He was treated for minor injuries at a nearby hospital.

In an e-mail, Boylan said the accident was "a wake-up call."

"This is the first time I have ever been charged with an alcohol-related offense and I promise that it will be the last," he wrote. "I accept full responsibility and am very ashamed of my behavior."

He said he will begin seeking regular counseling to stop drinking and asked for the "forgiveness and prayers" of Moore County citizens. 

State Rep. Phillip Frye was charged with drunk driving in December.

The final details have been set for the N.C. Spin gubernatorial debates.

The Democratic debate will be held at WRAL's studio in Raleigh on April 8 and will be aired on Sunday, April 13.

The Republican debate will be held at the Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst on April 10 and will be aired on Sunday, April 20, and Sunday, April 27.

Jim Hunt was not at a Bill Clinton fundraiser Monday night.

In an article today, Dome noted that a Raleigh woman said she met Hunt while inside a fundraiser for U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign at the Brier Creek Country Club.

The press was not allowed inside, and the woman was mistaken, our colleague Michael Biesecker writes.

Howie Devane, an assistant to the former governor, says Hunt was actually on his way to an engagement in Pinehurst when he was reported to have been in Raleigh.

But, he added, it would be useful if Hunt had the ability to be in two places at once.

"He was nowhere near the Clinton event," Devane said. "But if y'all find out who it was, please let me know. We could use a good impersonator, with all the competing requests we get for speaking engagements."