State Rep. Dan Blue also has the official endorsement.

After winning a straw poll by members of the Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association Saturday, the former House speaker was endorsed Monday night to fill the empty seat of former Sen. Vernon Malone by the group's official political action committee.

"There were some strong candidates in the field, but we feel very confident in Mr. Blue, and feel he'll do a great job as a North Carolina senator," said Anthony L. Blalock, chairman of the M-PAC.

The association's political arm was looking for someone who would immediately do a good job representing the district and would also stand a strong chance of holding on to the seat in future elections, he said.

The Wake County Democratic Party will decide Wednesday on his replacement.

Meantime, rival candidate Marlowe Foster announced that if he is chosen he will donate his salary to Malone's scholarship fund at Shaw University.

"For me, this nomination is not about title or monetary gain," he said. "It is about offering me to the people of the 14th District so they have representation that can be effective from day one and who can run and win in 2010."

Candidates for Sen. Vern Malone's seat will speak at a forum May 2.

The Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association, a local civil rights organization, is sponsoring the forum with the Wake County Democratic Caucus.

Among the people who have been mentioned as replacements: State Rep. Dan Blue, a former House speaker; Bernard Allen Jr., the son of a former representative; and former DMV commissioner Alexander Killens, according to local activist Bruce Lightner.

The forum will be held at 10 a.m. at the Seby Jones Fine Arts Building at St. Augustine's College in Raleigh.

The Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association will make a recommendation to the Wake County Democratic Party after the meeting.

"In the past such recommendations have been given great weight as to the will of the people," Lightner wrote in an e-mail to Dome.

A former Wake County commissioner candidate may be appointed to the state House.

The Independent Weekly reports on its Triangulator blog that Don Mial, who ran unsuccessfully for the county board in 2006 and currently serves as vice chair of the Wake County Democratic Party, may be appointed to replace Rep. Linda Coleman.

Gov. Beverly Perdue recently appointed Coleman head of the Office of State Personnel.

Party officials in Coleman's district will nominate Coleman's successor.

The alternative weekly also named former Knightdale Mayor Jeanne Bonds, mental health activist Ann Akland and advocate Bridgette Burge as possible nominees, although Akland and Burge said they're not candidates.

Public Policy Polling also works for candidates.

The Democratic polling firm has become well known for its tracking polls on the presidential and gubernatorial races in North Carolina.

But it's also done surveys for more than a dozen state candidates, according to campaign finance reports on the State Board of Elections.

The firm has done work for state Reps. Bernard Allen and Grier Martin; state House candidate Ed Ridpath; state Sens. Clark Jenkins and Dan Clodfelter; and judicial candidates Wanda Bryant, Debra Sasser and Elizabeth McCrodden. In Raleigh, it's polled for Mayor Charles Meeker and City Councilman Thomas Crowder.

It's also polled for the Wake County Democratic Party, the N.C. Association of Educators PAC and the Conservation Council of North Carolina.