Labor unions last week gave $730,000 to the N.C. Democratic Party, which in turn gave large contributions to the party's nominee for governor.

Campaign finance reports show that the state Democratic Party received $730,000 from three union political action committees. The party then turned around and gave Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue's campaign an $875,000 contribution and spent $245,000 to send mailers on her behalf. That infusion of cash represents a quarter of the $4.6 million Perdue raised in the last three months.

Detailed campaign finance reports for the last three months are not yet publicly available. The donations were included in required 48-hour reports over the last week.

More after the jump.

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Bob Dole took refuge in a senator's office.

The former U.S. Senate majority leader was waiting his turn to speak at a rally in front of the legislature inside, but too many bystanders were walking up.

So he went inside the office of Sen. Tom Apodaca, a Hendersonville Republican.

Dole was accompanied by staffers for his wife, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

Update: A reliable informant tells us that Dole was actually outside Apodaca's office.

State Sen. Kay Hagan was even less bipartisan in the session before last.

With the Democratic Senate nominee touting her bipartisanship in the legislature, Dome has been taking a closer look at the number of Republicans who signed on to her bills.

In the 2003-04 session, the Greensboro Democrat was the primary sponsor of 31 bills. Of them, 22 had no cosponsors, six had only Democratic cosponsors and three had Republican cosponsors.

Again, the bills with Republican cosponsors tended to have more than one. Overall, her 43 cosponsors included 35 Democrats and eight Republicans, or about a four-to-one ratio.

The three bills were for funding for DNA analysis in rape kits, funding for a Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro and providing school information on meningitis and the flu. The meningitis bill was the most bipartisan, with 11 Democratic cosponsors and five Republicans.

None of the Republicans sponsored more than one bill. They were: Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger, one-time gubernatorial candidate Fern Shubert, Tony P. Moore, Stan Bingham, Tom Apodaca, Robert C. Carpenter, R.B. Sloan Jr. and Richard Stevens.

Previously: Hagan's GOP cosponsors in 2005-06; in 2007-08.

A pro-business group has made its first round of Senate endorsements.

The political action committee of the N.C. Forum for Research and Education endorsed all but one Republican and 13 Democrats in the state Senate for re-election.

The endorsements were based on the senators' voting records on business issues, how business-friendly they are compared to their district and their effectiveness in office.

The Democrats include President pro tem Marc Basnight and Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand and Sen. Kay Hagan, a rumored candidate for U.S. Senate.

The Republicans included Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger, Sen. Tom Apodaca and Sen. Harry Brown.

The one Republican not endorsed was Sen. Fred Smith, presumably because he is running for governor and not for re-election.

A full list after the jump.

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Carl Mumpower is running for Congress.

The Asheville City Council member announced today that he will run for the Republican nomination to run against U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, a freshman Democrat from Waynesville.

In his announcement, Mumpower called himself an"independent conservative voice on the Asheville's liberal City Council."

He said some of the issues for his campaign would be security the borders, reducing the national debt, and cutting "bureaucratic strangulation" of business, education and health care.

He also said he would redirect the War on Drugs away from creating new laws and towards enforcing existing laws, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times.

In recent weeks, Western Carolina Republicans had been searching for a challenger to Shuler. State Sen. Tom Apodaca and Brevard District Attorney Jeff Hunt have ruled out runs, but former Rep. Charles Taylor, who lost to Shuler in 2006, has not yet announced his plans.

A dozen legislators were absent from yesterday's special session.

On the House side, nine representatives had excused absences, according to a roll call of the vote on the session's rules. They include House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman, who is recuperating from surgery, and Rep. Thomas Wright, who is recuperating from self-inflicted political damage.

Others are Reps. Jeff Barnhart, Becky Carney, Jerry Dockham, Phil Haire, Ric Killian, Edgar Starnes and Russell Tucker. All had voted for the second reading and conference report on the original bill, except Tucker, who had an excused absence on the latter.

On the Senate side, three members had excused absences, according to a roll call of a vote on a measure commemorating Appalachian State's win over Michigan.

They are Sens. Malcolm Graham, Clark Jenkins and Don East. Graham and Jenkins voted for the second reading; East against.

Correction: An earlier version of this post named the wrong senators.

Under the Dome is feeling verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves.

I'll give you a topic: U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler is to the Republican Party what U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole is to the Democrats.

Both are first-term incumbents who opponents say are easy targets. Shuler, a Waynesville Democrat, is in a Republican-leaning district. Dole, a Salisbury Republican, has close ties to President Bush in a year that could be rough for the GOP.

And yet no one has stepped forward to challenge either.

In recent weeks, state sen. Tom Apodaca and Brevard District Attorney Jeff Hunt have bailed on challenging Shuler, leaving an Asheville columnist to jokingly throw his own hat in the ring.

At the same time, state Democrats like Gov. Mike Easley, U.S. Rep. Brad Miller and Attorney General Roy Cooper have also passed on challenging Dole.

Both candidates may be beatable, but their would-be opponents sure don't seem to think so.

Hat Tip: Raleigh Soup 

State Sen. Tom Apodaca will not run for Congress.

The Hendersonville Republican said that he will not run against U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, a freshman Democrat considered vulnerable by some in the GOP, The Charlotte Observer reports.

"My family, friends and supporters have been wonderful in pressing me to run," Apodaca said in a prepared statement. "As of now, I'm in a position to do more for western North Carolina in Raleigh than I would be as part of Congress."

Apodaca also ruled out running for lieutenant governor, saying he would rather stay in the Senate.

Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower is also a possible candidate, as is former Rep. Charles Taylor, whom Shuler defeated in 2006.

Taylor has not announced whether he will run again, to the dismay of some Republican groups.

Update: Brevard District Attorney Jeff Hunt has also ruled out a run.

Some Republicans want former Rep. Charles Taylor to decide.

The Henderson County Republican Men's Club recently passed a resolution calling on Taylor to make a decision by Aug. 22 whether he will challenge Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler to a rematch, The Asheville-Citizen Times reports.

"Given the importance of this particular race, a lot of people in the party think that whoever wants to run has to organize now," the group's president told the paper.

After serving seven terms, Taylor lost to Shuler in 2006.

Two Republicans are waiting on the sidelines: state Sen. Tom Apodaca and Henderson County District Attorney Jeff Hunt. Both said they will wait for Taylor's decision.

Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower has not ruled out a run either.