Sens. Julia Boseman and R.C. Soles Jr. spent the most of any competitive legislative candidate to win their seats.

Boseman, a Wilmington Democrat, spent $871,500 in her race and Soles, a Columbus County Democrat, spent $839,500, according to an analysis of campaign spending by the Program on Public Life at UNC-Chapel Hill.

The list of top spenders did not include candidates who ran unopposed and therefore excludes spending by Senate Leader Marc Basnight, $1.3 million, or House Speaker Joe Hackney, $744,000.

The top spenders in the House were Randy Stewart, a Nash County Democrat ($382,000) and House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman, a Lexington Democrat ($354,000).

Democrats control the House and Senate and have powerful fundraising machines in place. On the Republican side in the House, top spenders were Rep. David Lewis, a Dunn Republican ($232,000) and House Republican Leader Paul Stam, an Apex Republican ($196,000).

Among Senate Republicans, top campaign spenders were Sen. Neal Hunt, a Wake County Republican ($813,000) and Richard Gunn, an Alamance County Republican, who spent $386,000, but lost the race to Sen. Tony Foriest, a Democrat.

GOP leaders went to Rocky Mount on Monday to whip up support for a challenge to Democratic Rep. Randy Stewart.

Party chairman Tom Fetzer and House Republican leader Paul Stam asked Republicans to put up money, give time or even run against Stewart, the Rocky Mount Telegram reports.

Fetzer told the small crowd at Gardner’s Barbecue Restaurant he believes the Democratic Party is on its heels after passing an unpopular tax package in the General Assembly and said the timing of the national health care debate could lead to an influx of conservative voters for the congressional mid-term election.

"This health care bill is very, very bad for senior citizens," Fetzer said. "If this bill passes, it will end health care as we know it, and it will be the end of the Democratic Party."

Republicans are targeting seats they believe will be vulnerable in 2010 as part of an effort to try to win a majority in the legislature, which has been dominated by Democrats for all but a few of the last 100 years.

Tonight will see the N.C. General Assembly — the NCGA? — play its own version of the March Madness sweeping college basketball.

The game will be in Columbia, S.C.

Rep. Phil Haire, a Sylva Democrat, organized this year's lineup, a bipartisan squad known more for passing bills than basketballs.

House Chaplain Jim Harry accurately summarized the pre-game mood when he called upon a higher power to be with the North Carolina squad.

"Please remind them they're not 20-year-olds running up and down the court," Harry intoned.

More after the jump.

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Both chambers of the legislature are considering resolutions honor the late lobbyist and former House member Roger Bone.

Bone was considered one of the most influential lobbyists in the legislature.

— "Roger made it to the top...by being a very personal, common man," said Sen. Martin Nesbitt, an Asheville Democrat.

— "Roger was never more than the boy from Sandy Cross," said Sen. A.B. Swindell, a Nashville Democrat.

— "We're grateful to him for just making this a place where we can enjoy each other's company ... as we talk about the ways to make North Carolina better," said Sen. Tony Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat and senate majority leader. 

Bone served in the 1979 session of the House, later worked as a legislative liaison to Speaker Liston Ramsey, and founded his own lobbying firm in 1987.

The House will consider its resolution when it goes into session at 1 p.m.

Update: The House took up the Senate version of the resolution.

— "He is what some would call a permanent fixture of the legislative building as he has been around as long as anyone can remember," said Rep. William Wainwright, a Havelock Democrat. "North Carolina is a better place because Roger Bone passed our way."

— "He possessed a unique passion for sound public policy," said Rep. Randy Stewart, a Rocky Mount Democrat.

"I can recally many conversations with Roger down in the snackbar of this buildign as he explaiend to me ...the dynamics that really move this assembly," said Rep. David Lewis, a Dunn Republican.

Who's in the Tobacco Growers' Caucus?

After Dome noted which legislators represented major cigarette manufacturing employers in North Carolina, a reader noted that others represent tobacco growers.

According to records at the N.C. Department of Agriculture, 11 counties each produced more than $20 million worth of tobacco in 2007: Sampson, Johnston, Wilson, Wayne, Nash, Pitt, Lenoir, Harnett, Greene, Edgecombe and Duplin.

That means the following members represent growers:

In the House: Reps. Larry Bell, James Langdon, Leo Daughtry, Jean Farmer-Butterfield, Joe Tolson, Van Braxton, Efton Sager, Lucy Allen, Angela Bryant, Randy Stewart, Marian McLawhorn, Edith Warren, Arthur Williams, William Wainwright, David Lewis, Jimmy Love, and Russell Tucker.

In the Senate: Sens. Charlie Albertson, David Rouzer, A.B. Swindell, Don Davis, Clark Jenkins, and Harris Blake.

During a 2007 House vote, Reps. Bell, Farmer-Butterfield, Allen, Bryant, Wainwright, Love, and Tucker voted for a smoking ban, while Langdon, Daughtry, Tolson, Braxton, McLawhorn, Warren, Williams, and Lewis voted against it.

Sager and Stewart were not in the House at the time.

The watchword for the House class of 2008 is scandal.

At least four representatives-elect won seats formerly held by legislators who were either retired or defeated because of scandals involving speeding tickets, drunk driving, sexual harassment or campaign donations.

Depending on your definition, the House has 15 or 20 new members. Some of the five who were appointed prior to the election also took the seats of troubled legislators, including disgraced former Speaker Jim Black and Rep. Thomas Wright, the first member expelled since 1880.

Here's a quick look at the representatives-elect:

Hugh Blackwell (R): The Valdese lawyer defeated longtime Rep. Walt Church Sr. after the legislator got a speeding ticket dismissed by the district attorney.

Elmer Floyd (D): The longtime city of Fayetteville human relations director won the former seat of Rep. Mary McAllister, who got in trouble over campaign finance reports.

Nick Mackey (D): A controversial figure in Charlotte, Mackey resigned from the police department while under investigation, then ran for sheriff, but had his election thrown out.

Shirley Randleman (R): The retired longtime Wilkes County clerk of court won the seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Tracy Walker.

Sarah Stevens (R): The Mount Airy lawyer defeated three-term Democrat Rep. Jim Harrell III after a campaign that ridiculed his support of a teapot museum.

James Boles (R): The Southern Pines resident won the seat of retiring Republican Rep. Joe Boylan, who admitted to an alcohol problem after a drunk driving arrest.

Pearl Burris Floyd (R): The Gaston County commissioner will be the first elected black Republican woman in the legislature.

Darrell McCormick (R): The Yadkinville owner of a real estate company fended off a Democratic challenger for the seat of Rep. George Holmes.

Johnathan Rhyne (R): The Lincolnton lawyer had no Democratic opposition in his race for the seat of retiring Republican Rep. Joe Kiser.

Randy Stewart (D): The Rocky Mount resident won a much-contested race for the seat of Republican Rep. Bill Daughtridge, who ran unsuccessfully for state treasurer.

Justin Burr (R): Albemarle defeated Rep. Ken Furr in the primary, who had been appointed to the seat after Rep. David Almond resigned over a personnel complaint.

W. David Guice (R): The Transylvania County commissioner was outspent by a Democratic opponent in the race for the seat of retiring Rep. Trudi Walend.

Grey Mills (R): The Iredell County business owner handily beat a Libertarian opponent for the seat after narrowly edging Republican Rep. Karen Ray in the primary.

Efton Sager (R): The Wayne County commissioner and retired Air Force member won the seat of retiring Republican Rep. Louis Pate.

Jane Whilden (D): The former director of Gov. Mike Easley's Western office, an Asheville resident, won with the help of the state Democratic Party.

In addition, previously appointed Reps. Kelly Alexander Jr. of Charlotte, Angela Bryant of Rocky Mount, Annie Mobley of Ahoskie, Tricia Cotham of Charlotte and Sandra Spaulding Hughes of Wilmington were also elected for the first time in November.

Related: The Senate Class of 2008

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated details of Mills' win. 

House Democrats have five seats in their sights.

House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman told Dome that he hopes to expand the 68-seat majority to as many as 75 seats in the fall elections. Here are his top five districts:

25th: In a double primary, Democrats Randy Stewart and Carnell Taylor face off against either Republican W.B. Bullock or Robert A. Coats for the seat of Republican Rep. Bill Daughtridge.

36th: Recently retired IBM executive Al Swanstrom of Cary, a Democrat, will challenge second-term Republican Rep. Nelson Dollar.

53rd: Dunn attorney and political newcomer Joseph Lindsey (Joe) Tart, a Democrat, faces off against Rep. David Lewis.

87th: Banker and former State Board of Community Colleges chairman John Forlines, a Democrat, will challenge incumbent Republican Rep. Edgar Starnes.

116th: Jane Whilden, an Asheville Democrat who ran Gov. Mike Easley's western office, squares off against Asheville Republican Tim Moffitt for the seat of Rep. Charles Thomas.

The session isn't over yet, but candidates are already gearing up.

Former Nash County commissioner Randy Stewart sent Dome a press release this weekend announcing that he will run for the House in District 25.

That seat is currently held by Rep. Bill Daughtridge, a Rocky Mount Republican who is running for state treasurer.

Stewart, a Democrat, was a three-term county commissioner and works as a physical therapist.

His father, C.P., served in the state House in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Stewart considered running for the seat in 2002, when Daughtridge was first elected.