Mary Fant Donnan has picked up another endorsement from a former opponent in the Democratic primary for state labor commissioner.

Ty Richardson announced Thursday he supports Donnan over former labor commissioner John Brooks in the June 24 runoff, Michael Biesecker reports.

Richardson joined fellow former candidate Robin Anderson, who endorsed Donnan earlier in the week.

Mary Fant Donnan has picked up the endorsement of one of her former opponents in the Democratic primary for state labor commissioner.

Robin Anderson is urging other Democrats to support Donnan in her primary runoff with John Brooks, a former labor commissioner.

The runoff is June 24.

There will not be a recount in the labor race.

The State Board of Elections has refused to grant a ballot recount to the third- and fourth-place finishers in this month's Democratic primary for labor commissioner.

The board was split 2-2 Thursday on the requests brought by Ty Richardson and Robin Anderson. A tie means the request failed. A fifth board member couldn't participate, the Associated Press reports.

The board’s decision means a runoff between leading vote-getter Mary Fant Donnan and second-place finisher John Brooks will go as scheduled June 24.

State law allows the board to order a mandatory recount or a discretionary recount. State elections director Gary Bartlett said the board determined that neither one applied in this case.

Richardson was less than 2,000 votes behind Brooks. Anderson was about 5,000 votes behind.

Brooks said he had been expecting the board to approve a recount.

"I guess I'm surprised that there's not going to be one," he said. 

The third and fourth place finishers in the Democratic primary for state Labor Commissioner want a recount.

Mary Fant Donnan of Winston Salem finished first, but failed to get the 40 percent of the vote that would have allowed her to avoid a runoff with former labor commissioner John Brooks of Raleigh, Michael Biesecker reports.

However, state law allows candidates in a statewide race who finish either .5 percent or less 10,000 votes behind a prevailing candidate to request a recount.

Though the primary won't be certified by the state Board of Elections until next week, complete but unofficial results show Brooks at 24.36 percent, candidate Ty Richardson at 24.18 percent and Raleigh lawyer Robin Anderson at 23.92 percent.

Both Richardson and Anderson filed for a recount by the deadline Thursday.

Robin Anderson filled out a questionnaire on the labor commissioner race.

The candidate for the Democratic nomination recently answered questions posed by the Progressive Democrats of North Carolina. 

In her response, she said she supports collective bargaining rights for state workers as outlined in a House bill, an increase in the minimum wage, tying the minimum wage to inflation, improve standards for seasonal agricultural workers, 

She also thinks the labor commissioner should help mediate a dispute at Smithfield Foods and condemned incumbent Cherie Berry's handling of the House of Raeford Farms poultry plants.

"This incumbent has failed by any measure. She has put appeasing the business community ahead of doing her duty to protect workers," she wrote. "She has refused to enforce the laws that are in place, and as a member of the Council of State she has voted against our future."

The Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association announced two more endorsements today.

The black voters group in Raleigh endorsed Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue for governor and state Sen. Kay Hagan for U.S. Senate.

The group added today's endorsements to a list of Democrats, including Hampton Dellinger for lieutenant governor and Robin Anderson for labor commissioner, that the group supports in North Carolina's May 6 primary.

Perdue and Hagan both said they were honored to be recognized by the RWCA, which has advocated for Wake County minorities since 1932. 

Is there a BlueNC primary?

The progressive group blog has become a major stopping point for Democratic candidates in North Carolina's primary this year.

So far, Senate candidate Jim Neal; lieutenant governor candidates Pat Smathers and Dan Besse; Congressional candidates Larry Kissell, Marshall Adame, Jay Ovittore, Roy Carter, John Autry; and state House candidate Ed Ridpath, along with Elizabeth Edwards have live-blogged on the site.

State auditor candidate Beth Wood, labor commissioner Robin Anderson and Congressional candidate Ross Overby are also slated, while gubernatorial candidates Richard Moore and Beverly Perdue have scheduled an online debate on the site.

Even Senate candidate Kay Hagan, who has taken some abuse on the site, has said she will live-blog.

"I think it's absolutely as important to engage as many voters as you can," said Hagan spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan. "Certainly there's a lot of voters who read that blog."

The live-blogs are a new, and much looser format for candidates. Anonymous users can post questions, but the candidates are also free to ignore them. They can answer as much or as little as they want, ask staff or Google for help and link to outside sources.

Robin Anderson will run for Labor Commissioner.

The Raleigh attorney, who is currently chairwoman of the State Personnel Commission, announced that she would seek the Democratic nomination to face incumbent Cherie Berry.

"If elected, I pledge to work every day to help businesses and employees thrive in a safe, healthy and productive work environment," she said in a statement.

Anderson was appointed to the commission in 1999 and became chair last year. She has previously taught business law at Meredith College's MBA program and served in leadership positions at the N.C. Bar Association.

A graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill's law school, she served as a clerk for state Supreme Court Justice Louis B. Meyer.