House Speaker Thom Tillis is thankful for his traveling companions, the State Capitol Police, who keep him company as he goes from town hall to town hall.
Rep. Joe Hackney, Orange County Democrat and House minority leader, is thankful for good acoustics in the House chamber, allowing him to be heard from the back of the room.
State historians are thankful for Sen. Neal Hunt, who spearheaded a pardon for the impeached former Gov. William Holden. How many other governors dead for more than a century were at the center of public debate and intrigue this year?
Legislators are thankful for campaign donors, who provide money not only for campaign ads and staff, but new suits, apartment rent and home appliances.
June Atkinson, state Superintendent of Public Instruction, is thankful for the new math wherein 3 - 1 = 3. Legislators told Atkinson's department, the state Department of Public Instruction, to close one of three residential schools for blind and deaf students. Her plan to "close" the Governor Morehead School in Raleigh would let it keep its students and its name.
Gov. Bev Perdue is thankful for the state troopers who pushed her stuck SUV out of a ditch during her tour of Hurricane Irene damage.
Perdue is thankful also for video cameras and audio recorders so she can remember all the great ideas she suggests when talking in public, such as suspending congressional elections.
Perdue is thankful for former U.S. Sen. John Edwards because he hogs most of the limelight surrounding questionable campaign finances.
Likely GOP gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory is thankful for his dog, whatever its name is.
The capital press corps is thankful for live mics in legislative committee rooms, especially when Republicans are talking strategy.
Bunk bed makers might be thankful for Republican lawmakers who have promoted their product by double-bunking Democratic lawmakers in the redistricting process.
Republican lawmakers are thankful for high-powered computer software that can slice and dice voters and precincts, except when the computer-drawn maps leave out some voters.
Rep. Bill Faison is thankful for every microphone he finds as he travels the state and talks about a plan to raise taxes that is destined to fail in the legislature.
GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is thankful for rival Rick Perry's dislike of North Carolina barbecue because it's surely worth a 10-point advantage in this state.
Sen. Don East is thankful for the good-humored state Highway Patrol, which didn't blink at Sen. Stan Bingham's jolly account of a 145 mph joy ride with East at the wheel.
Democratic lawmakers are thankful to have a break from their new role as powerless underdogs for the first time in 140 years - at least until it starts again next week.
The American Legislative Exchange Council - criticized as a secretive incubator for laws promoting corporate interests - is thankful for North Carolina's Republican state lawmakers. Nearly three dozen of them attended the group's conference in New Orleans this past summer.
Attorneys specializing in medical malpractice, redistricting, abortion rights, environmental regulations, same-sex marriage and voting rights give thanks for the Omnibus Full Employment for Lawyers Act - the name we just made up for the lawsuit-inducing agenda that legislators passed this year.
Staff writers Lynn Bonner, John Frank and Craig Jarvis
