Former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot and his wife Judy have pledged $1 million to honor of his friend and former law partner, Bob Bradshaw Jr., to UNC Chapel Hill's School of Government, the largest individual donation ever made to that arm of the university.

"Judy and Richard Vinroot have shown extraordinary generosity and thoughtfulness in creating this new professorship and fellowship," Mike Smith, the school's dean said in a statement, the Charlotte Observer's Jim Morrill reports.

Bradshaw, now retired, was a GOP leader in Mecklenburg County who went on to become chairman of the state party. Vinroot, one of his proteges, served two terms as mayor and ran for governor. Of the money, $666,000 will be matched by a state fund to create the $1 million Robert W. Bradshaw Jr. Distinguished Professorship. Another $334,000 will establish the Robert W. Bradshaw Jr. Public Administration Fellowship.

"Bob Bradshaw spent many years encouraging good people to enter public service, and then mentoring them once they did so," Vinroot said in a statement. "Wonderful examples of this are former Gov. Jim Martin and (former) 9th District Congressman Alex McMillan, both of whom are among Bob's protégés.

Time heals some wounds, apparently.

In 2000, Democrat Mike Easley beat Republican Richard Vinroot in a rough and tumble gubernatorial campaign. They've rarely spoken or even seen each other in the years since, Jim Morrill reports.

But now Easley's son, Michael Jr., is working with his father's erstwhile rival at Vinroot's Charlotte law firm. The younger Easley, a law student at the University of North Carolina, is one of a handful of summer clerks at Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson.

He and Vinroot have hit it off, going to lunch at places such as the Diamond. Vinroot and his wife Judy have even talked about inviting Easley and other clerks to their home for dinner.

"He's a nice young man and his parents are nice people," Vinroot says. "I just happen to have a different political philosophy and we happened to bump into each other running for governor. He won and I lost."

Vinroot didn't want to comment on the Easleys' legal troubles. A federal grand jury in Raleigh is looking into free air trips the former governor took. Prosecutors have also interviewed the Fayetteville car dealer who loaned a 2000 GMC Yukon that was driven by Michael Jr.

Tom Fetzer has racked up the endorsements.

The former Raleigh mayor has steadily unrolled a series of endorsements from conservative politicians and groups in his campaign for chairman of the N.C. Republican Party.

Always known as a solid campaigner, he's also dribbled them out in e-mails to supporters and on his Web site, a strategy to boost their visibility.

Here's a running list of his endorsements:

* Fred Smith, 2008 gubernatorial candidate and former state senator.

* Patrick Ballantine, 2004 gubernatorial nominee and former Republican Senate leader.

* Richard Vinroot, 2000 gubernatorial nominee and former Charlotte mayor.

* The state chapter of the Eagle Forum, a conservative activist group founded by Phyllis Schlafly.

Former Lee County Commissioner Chad Adams, Guilford County business owner Marcus Kindley and retired Navy veteran Bill Randle are also running.

At 5-foot-2, Gov. Beverly Perdue is, as she puts it, “vertically challenged.”

Because public opinion polls suggest that taller people are viewed as more authoritative, Perdue often used risers behind podiums during her campaign last year, reports Rob Christensen.

“It was the best kept secret of the campaign,” Perdue told a meeting of the Farm to Fork Summit this morning in Raleigh as she stepped on a riser. “No one realized how short I was.”

This was not the first time that gubernatorial stature has come into play. During the 2000 governor’s race, Republican candidate Richard Vinroot referred to Democrat Mike Easley as the “little fellow.” Vinroot is 6 feet 7 inches tall while Easley is 5 feet 10 inches tall.

“At least I act grown up,” Easley shot back at a forum.

The movement to overhaul North Carolina's 1930's era tax structure gained critical support Tuesday, when a committee of business leaders said it bakced lowering income taxes, but requiring that personal services be taxed.

The bipartisan committee called for lowering the highest marginal rates on corporate and personal income taxes, saying it would make the Tar Heel state more competitive in recruiting new businesses, Rob Christensen reports.

But it also proposed broadening the sales tax to include services that are now exempt — from lawn services to lawyers.

"We want it to be pro business," said John McNairy, president of Tidewater Transit Co. Inc. and co-chairman of the committee said a news conference at a downtown hotel.

The recommendations of the 20-member committee comes at a time when the state legislature is giving a serious look at changing the tax system and facing a $2 biillion plus shortfall this year and a $3 billion shortfall next year.

More after the jump.

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The Institute for Emerging Issues says its time to revamp state taxes.

A committee created by the Raleigh-based think tank said Tuesday that the General Assembly should pass tax reform this year to help keep North Carolina business-friendly.

The committee said sales taxes and corporate and personal income taxes should be reduced, while exemptions and loopholes are eliminated.

Former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot, who ran for governor as a Republican, co-chaired the committee. He said local governments should have more options to raise their own funds.

Senate Democrats are considering whether to lower tax rates while taxing some services. (AP)

Two top Democratic candidates have moved closer to Barack Obama.

Gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue and Senate candidate Kay Hagan both attended an Obama rally in Charlotte Sunday, getting a brief shoutout before he spoke.

Hagan also recently introduced Michelle Obama at an event in Greensboro last week. 

Traditionally, North Carolina Democrats have gone out of their way to avoid their party's presidential nominee, with Republican candidate Richard Vinroot famously offering $500 for a snapshot of Mike Easley with Al Gore in 2000. 

Perdue got her own picture taken with Obama during the primary and included it on a mailer sent to black voters, while Hagan has echoed many themes of Obama in her Senate run.

Still, the two did not join Obama on the stage at Sunday's event.

Previously: North Carolina is one of only 11 states that hold gubernatorial and presidential elections in the same year. 

Charlotteans are giving a lot to Pat McCrory.

The Republican gubernatorial nominee has raised more than $1.2 million from Charlotte donors, or 55 percent of the money he's received so far.

Democratic rival Beverly Perdue has raised twice as much this year from a wider base, but her $200,00 take of Charlotte money is a fraction of McCrory's. Perdue outraised McCrory in every other county.

"It tells me there is a lot of money in Charlotte," said Carmine Scavo, a political scientist at East Carolina University. "You've got to go where the deep pockets are."

Former Wachovia CEO Ken Thompson, former Charlotte Chamber Chairman Tom Nelson and developer Johnny Harris are among his donors.

Charlotte was an important financial base for Republican Richard Vinroot in 2000, but over the same period he raised just 38 percent of his money from there. (Char-O)

Pat McCrory says he raised more than $1 million in the second quarter.

In a press release, the Republican gubernatorial nominee reported having over $700,000 in cash on hand after the fundraising. 

"When you consider the amount of money Pat has been able to raise in such a short time, it is easy to understand that he has momentum on his side," said campaign manager Richard Hudson in a statement.

The campaign also noted that the second quarter total was $600,000 more than Republican nominee Patrick Ballantine raised in his 2004 bid and nearly $190,000 more than Republican Richard Vinroot raised in his 2000 campaign.

Still, McCrory lags behind Democratic rival Beverly Perdue.

She said yesterday that she raised $2.3 million in the second quarter, leaving her with $1.4 million in cash on hand or twice McCrory's cash. 

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue has picked up a big endorsement in the race for governor: Sheriff Taylor.

Andy Griffith appears in a new ad for Perdue in which he touts her vision, strength and honesty. He mentions her endorsements from groups that include, "of course, sheriffs."

"Oh, you're going to be a goooood governor," Griffith tells Perdue.

Griffith agreed to the ad after talking with Senate leader Marc Basnight and Basnight's nephew, fundraiser R.V. Owens, about it.

"Sen. Basnight spoke to Andy Griffith and told him why he thought Bev Perdue was the best choice for governor and Andy Griffith agreed," said Schorr Johnson, a spokesman for Basnight.

Griffith's support is serious business. In 2000, the actor helped Gov. Mike Easley get elected. Easley, then attorney general was the front runner early on, but saw his lead evaporating in the final weeks. Again, with Basnight's help, Grifffith agreed to cut a spot for Easley, which Democrats called "The Mayberry Miracle." Easley ran another Griffith ad in 2004.

Easley's opponent in the 2000 race, former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot doubted the ad changed the outcome of the election.