Bill Graham will speak at a meeting of the Wake County Young Republicans.

The Republican gubernatorial candidate will meet with the group at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 14, at Moonlight Pizza in Raleigh.

Former Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, who has trailed in the polls, finally hit it big. He's tops with Wake County Young Republican's who are also big fans of presidential hopeful Ron Paul.

At the Wake County Young Christmas Party and Straw Poll on Thursday, Orr led the field of GOP gubernatorial candidates. Paul led the Republican presidential race.

Supporters of Paul, a long-shot presidential candidate known for his maverick approach, flooded the party, said Dave Reynolds chairman of the Wake County Young Republicans.

So if the primary had been held at Raleigh's The Big Easy restaurant and bar on Thursday night and the only voters were 100 Wake County Young Republicans, Orr would have won with 48 percent.

State Sen. Fred Smith picked up 23 percent and lawyer Bill Graham got 5 percent of the vote. Of those in attendance, 21 percent were undecided. The straw poll has a margin of error of plus or minus a heck-of-a-lot.

Among presidential candidates, Paul picked up 53 percent. Rudy Guiliani got 21 percent, Mike Huckabee got 13 percent and Mitt Romney received 11 percent. The margin of error was, again, a heck-of-a-lot.

The GOP Tailgate Contest is picking up steam. The contest, which encourages Republicans to throw a political-themed tailgate party at sports events, began in North Carolina in 2006. But it's growing.

Republican tailgaters have sent in photos of a party at an LSU football game for governor-elect Bobby Jindal. The contest has also received submissions from supporters of Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney in battleground primary states.

The idea is simple — set up a tailgate at a sporting event. Take a photo. Send it in.

"A lot of political people are so focused on their candidates that they lose sight of having fun," said Dave Reynolds, chairman of the Wake County Young Republicans.

One of the scores you might have missed in a busy sports weekend was the outcome of the Capital City Cup.

The Wake County Young Republicans defeated the Wake County Young Democrats 13-7 on Friday in their first annual softball game.

At least that's what the press release from the Young Republicans said.

"Some of North Carolina's future leaders were on both sides of the plate," said Dave Reynolds, chairman of the Wake County Young Republicans. "As we learn to work together and build relationships now we hope it will translate to better things for Wake County and North Carolina in the long run."

Who knew that hanging out with your buds and drinking a few Buds before a football game could be a winnning political strategy?

But the Wake County Young Republicans won the National Event of the Year Award at the Young Republicans National Convention in Florida for their GOP Tailgate Contest.

The contest encouraged Republican football fans in North Carolina to host Republican-themed tailgate parties before college and NFL football games in 2006.

"It just goes to show that the political arena is ready for some new, innovative ideas,” said Dave Reynolds, chairman of the Wake County Young Republicans and creator of the GOP Tailgate Contest.