Garrett Perdue interned for Zeb Alley.

The son of Gov. Beverly Perdue had a summer internship with one of the state's top lobbyists in 1998, when he was a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Alley said he met the younger Perdue through his mother, then a state senator and a friend of his. Garrett then approached him about an internship.

He recalled him as one of the better interns he's had.

"He worked on whatever I told him to work on — mostly grunt work. You know how that goes," he said. "I might have paid him, but I didn't pay him much."

He said Perdue "did very well" and seemed to be interested in politics.

"I haven't heard much from him since," he said.

Garrett Perdue has never registered as a lobbyist.

A search of state lobbying databases back to 1993 found no record of the son of Gov. Beverly Perdue having registered.

Two online biographies note that Perdue worked as an "associate" and a "government relations liaison" in 1998 for Zeb Alley, a Raleigh lobbyist who is regularly ranked among the five most effective in the state.

He was a senior in college at the time.

Liz Proctor, a spokeswoman for the N.C. Secretary of State's office, said that a person has to register as a lobbyist if they have a client and are paid for their work. She said she could not comment on any specific cases without knowing the details.

"It would be hard to say just based on a title whether or not they should be registered," she said.

State law allows some economic development lobbyists to register without their records being made public until the project is announced, but Proctor said no one is currently registered under that provision.

A new ranking says Raleigh has a new top lobbyist. It also says that some lobbyists' influence has been shaped by ethics investigations and a fight over a real estate transfer tax.

The N.C. Center for Public Policy Research released its biannual ranking Thursday of the most influential lobbyists in the state capital. The ranking is based on a survey of legislators, lobbyists and capital journalists following the 2007 long session of the General Assembly.

Roger Bone ranked No. 1, after seven previous surveys had ranked him No. 2 or 3. His wide variety of clients includes Lorillard Tobacco Co., the N.C. Association of Long Term Care Facilities and the Save our Summers group.

Rounding out the top five: John McMillan, John Bode, Franklin Freeman and Zeb Alley.

Previous No. 1 Don Beason fell to No. 35, following revelations about a series of $500,000 transactions between him and former House Speaker Jim Black. Beason later resigned his clients. Black, a Democrat, is in prison on unrelated corruption convictions.

Bob Hall, who filed the original complaint against Black with the State Board of Elections, saw his ranking jump from 49th to 19th for his work with Democracy North Carolina.

Also seeing their rankings rise: Tim Kent (11th), Rick Zechini (12th), Paul Meyer (25th) and Jim Blackburn (31st). All were involved in the fight over a tax on real estate transfers.

What happened to Don Beason's clients?

When the once-top lobbyist resigned his practice last year over a shady loan to House Speaker Jim Black, his lucrative list of clients was up for grabs.

By Dome's count, seven of the 16 clients did nothing. BB&T, Cingular Wireless, Albemarle Mental Health Center, Dale Earnhardt Inc., Sigma Corp., the Association of Settlement Companies, and the Carolina Ballet have no registered lobbyists during the current session.

That may be because they don't face any pending bills in a short session devoted to the budget. 

Three clients still employ Beason's son, Mark, along with other lobbyists: The Association of Health Information Outsourcing Services, AT&T North Carolina and S&M Brands.

Two clients, the city of Hickory and Catawba County, went with a new team of Jack Cozort, Kevin Leonard and noted lobbyist Alexander "Sandy" Sands.

Among the other top clients, Progress Energy went with noted lobbyist Zeb Alley, John Bode and Kathy Hawkins; while IBM went with former lieutenant governor Dennis Wicker and a team of eight lobbyists. Colonial Life Insurance hired Glenn Jernigan and the N.C. Railroad Co. hired Michelle Frazier and John McMillan.