The National Republican Senatorial Committee is doing a little victory dance over former state Sen. Cal Cunningham's decision not to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr next year.

By the GOP's count (which looks an awful lot like a list compiled by Dome), Cunningham is the 10th Democrat who has looked at the Senate race and decided to take a pass, Rob Christensen reports. Here is the Republican's list: Attorney General Roy Cooper, Rep. Heath Shuler, Rep. Mike McIntyre, Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker, state Rep. Grier Martin, state Rep. Tricia Cotham, former state Treasurer Richard Moore, and state Sen. Malcolm Graham.

"Once again," said Republican spokesman Colin Reed, "the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and national Democrats have suffered a serious setback in their efforts to land a top-tier candidate in North Carolina."

Likely disagreeing with that sentiment are the two announced Democrats, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and Durham lawyer Kenneth Lewis. U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge and Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy are looking at the race.

Update: Also disagreeing with Reed was DSCC communications director Eric Schultz.

"Aside from Senator John Ensign, Senator Burr has the lowest approval rating of any Republican in the United States Senate. That’s because he’s beholden to the special interests in Washington. He will face a formidable opponent next November."

When the Partnership for Prescription Assistance "Help is Here" Express pulls into Eastland Mall next week, it will have a special guest — Jerry Mathers, aka The Beaver.

The Partnership is an outreach effort of an industry trade group known as PhRMA. The program is designed to raise awareness of programs that help patients with prescription needs, Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer reports.

State Rep. Tricia Cotham, a Charlotte Democrat, helped organize the visit. She says people can bring their current prescriptions for free advice or to see if they qualify for assistance. The tour is visiting areas hard hit by unemployment and the the recession.

The bus will be at the mall from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Mathers, who starred in the sitcom "Leave it to Beaver" from 1957 to 1963, will appear at 2.

PhRMA and its CEO, former Republican U.S. Rep. Billy Tauzin of Louisiana, have come under fire from Republicans for supporting President Obama's health care reform efforts. The group has said it's willing to $150 million on a pro-health care-reform advertising campaign.

House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio accused Tauzin and his group of "appeasement" and bowing to Democrats.

After 50 years working in state government, Rosa Kelley knows how to get things done.

In fact, Kelley's friends and co-workers say it's hard to find something that Kelley doesn't know, Kevin Kiley reports.

"She knows everything about everything about everybody," said state Rep. Tricia Cotham, a Charlotte Democrat.

Kelley, 82, is a legislative assistant to Cotham but has worked in all three branches of state government during the past five decades.

Family and friends, including several lawmakers, gathered in the Legislative Office Building on Wednesday to recognize Kelley for her years working for the state Supreme Court, the State Board of Education and several members of the state House.

Kelley has worked at the legislature, a place where party labels matter, for 20 years. But even though Kelley is a Democrat, Cotham is the first Democrat she has worked for in the legislature.

It's time to refresh the old cup of Senate tea leaves.

The Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in 2010 continues to be completely wide open, though it's increasingly clear that most of the major state officials will pass on it.

Here's the latest conventional wisdom:

THE LAST BIG HOPE: Washington Democrats and national political pundits continue to search for a brand name. U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre is still toying with a run, and Secretary of State Elaine Marshall has lately dipped her toe in the water. A definitive "no" has not come from state Sen. Dan Blue yet.

DARK HORSES: Former state Sen. Cal Cunningham leads the pack of dark horses, though former Obama fundraiser Kenneth Lewis can't be counted out. Marshall's legislative liaison, Robert Wilson, told the Insider he was flirting with the idea, but he never returned Dome's calls and he would not likely run against his boss.

WHO'S NOT RUNNING: U.S. Reps. Heath Shuler, Bob Etheridge and Brad Miller, Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, Attorney General Roy Cooper, state Sen. Malcolm Graham, state Reps. Grier Martin and Tricia Cotham, Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker, and Elizabeth Edwards have all said no. Of course, so did Kay Hagan in 2008.

In Dome's view, Marshall may actually make a run for it: 1) She's interested, since she ran for Senate in 2002; 2) she wouldn't lose her day job (unlike McIntyre or Blue); and 3) at 63, this is probably her last chance to do it. 

That said, Cunningham has a good biography and seems to be exciting the netroots. 

Debate on the House tax package has become an exercise in alliterative hypothetical situations.

Rep. Thom Tillis, a Charlotte Republican, started it all by posing a scenario in which "Larry the Landlord," the owner of a 20-unit affordable housing complex would have to raise rent because of the new taxes upon him.

Rep. Deborah Ross, a Raleigh Democrat, escalated when she suggested that Larry would benefit greatly from the additional services the tax package would fund.

Rep. Tricia Cotham, a Charlotte Democrat, took the exercise even further when she said she was concerned about "Danny the Disabled Child" who apparently lives in "Larry the Landlord's" building and has disabilities and decaying teeth.

"I'm voting for Danny," Cotham said. 

Dome is sure that Larry and Danny appreciate the legislative concern. 

U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler has shot down a Senate bid again.

Speaking at a groundbreaking in Asheville, the Waynesville Democrat said he would not run against U.S. Sen. Richard Burr in 2010, according to the Hendersonville Times-News:

"I am not running for Senate," the second-term Democrat said after a ground-breaking ceremony for a new building at the Bent Creek Experimental Forest Station in Asheville. "I am not running for Senate. I am not running for Senate. I have said that a thousand times, and I don't know why they keep coming up (with the idea). Of course they keep coming up and running polls."

Shuler previously pondered — then rejected — a run for Senate, but some Democrats had floated his name again after Attorney General Roy Cooper declined to run. 

Others who have said no to a run on the Democratic side: U.S. Reps. Bob Etheridge and Brad Miller, Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, state Sen. Malcolm Graham, state Reps. Tricia Cotham and Grier Martin and Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker.

State House Democrats could consider raising taxes on North Carolina’s wealthiest taxpayers as they struggle with a record budget shortfall, a Charlotte lawmaker said Friday morning.

Democratic Rep. Tricia Cotham made the statement in a conference call on the budget with more than 50 constituents, elected officials and others, Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer reports.

Cotham said Democrats, who control the House, are considering a package of income and excise tax hikes to offset a shortfall that now stands at $4.6 billion.

"We are not talking about taxing the working class," she said. "We’re looking at 3 to 5 percent of North Carolina’s richest income earners."

To those making more than $250,000 a year, she said, "You’re going to have to pay more – and I think you should."

Cotham offered a bleak assessment of proposed cuts. For example, she described what she called "absolutely devastating" cuts in education spending that could amount to $1.8 billion and "set back education at least a decade."

More after the jump.

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Scratch another name off the Democratic list.

State Sen. Malcolm Graham of Charlotte shot down rumors this morning that he was considering a run for U.S. Senate in 2010.

"No way," he said.

He had previously told the Fayetteville Observer he was taking "a casual look" at running against U.S. Sen. Richard Burr.

Others who have said no to a run on the Democratic side: U.S. Reps. Bob Etheridge and Brad Miller, Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, Attorney General Roy Cooper, state Reps. Tricia Cotham and Grier Martin and Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker.

Rep. Tricia Cotham shot down a rumor that she's considering a Senate run.

The Charlotte Democrat, the second-youngest state legislator, was rumored to be considering a campaign for the nomination in 2010.

She said she's been asked, but she's not interested.

"I've had quite a few people ask me over the past couple of weeks to consider it," she told Dome. "I just kept saying I'm very flattered but right now my only priority is the legislature."

Cotham said she may consider higher office in the future but she's happy serving in the state House for now.

"I enjoy what I'm doing," she said.