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During the first Senate debate, the Republican spin machine was working overtime, declaring that Republican Sen. Richard Burr had trounced Democrat Elaine Marshall.

But the Democrats were silent.

But after the second debate Wednesday night, it was the Democratic spin machine that kicked in.

“This evening's debate gave North Carolina voters a clear choice between a candidate who would move the state forward, and an entrenched incumbent who offers only more of the same failed policies of the past,” said the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Andrew Whalen, the executive director of the state Democratic Party, said Marshall showed why “we need her strong voice in the U.S. Senate fighting for fair trade policies that protect American jobs and to hold Wall Street bankers accountable.”

The Democrats are accusing Republican Sen. Richard Burr of hypocrisy in showing up at the ceremony announcing the expansion at Cree Inc. in Durham on Monday.

Cree, which manufactures LED lighting, received nearly $40 million in federal stimulus money that Burr voted against in Congress, reports Rob Christensen.

“Hypocritical Senator Richard Burr voted against the stimulus package and called it 'wasteful' and said it would provide 'little to no stimulus' but that hasn't stopped him from showing up at stimulus funded events in North Carolina,” said Deirdre Murphy, spokeswoman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

“If Senator Burr had had his way, this company would never have received funding to expand and add jobs,” Murphy said.

Burr was part of a gaggle of political leaders to show at the Cree announcement for a $135 million expansion that included 600 more jobs. Also present were Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue, Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan and Democratic Congressmen David Price and Brad Miller.

The Burr campaign did not respond.

Democratic Senate candidate Elaine Marshall is beginning to get some help from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

That was clear last week, when Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow appeared at a fundraiser in Charlotte with Marshall, reports Rob Christensen.

“I want to convey very, very strong unified support for Elaine,” Stabenow said Friday at a luncheon at the Duke Mansion.

The DSCC backed Cal Cunningham in the Democratic primary, deciding that Marshall was not the strongest candidate.

“We didn't get it right in the primary,” Stabenow said. “We made a mistake. ...The people of North Carolina know the right person."

But Stabenow promised things would be different this fall, saying “we are all in.”

But the level of support is still not clear.

Stabenow said Republican Sen Richard Burr was part of the Republican effort to try block every initiative put forward by President Barack Obama, from providing equal pay for equal work for women, to expanding health insurance to children, to making more loans available to small busiensses.

“She is running against someone who is part of the just say no caucus,” Stabenow said.

What she did have was a strong grass-roots network of support, particularly among older women who have followed her career since she first beat NASCAR legend Richard Petty in 1996.

Cal Cunningham's disappointing showing was a setback for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which had recruited him into the Senate race. The committee viewed the square-jawed Iraq war veteran with the degree from the London School of Economics as the strongest possible opponent for Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr. Cunningham is planning to call for a runoff. (N&O)

CARTER'S PLEA: A major Democratic fundraiser illegally funneled about $150,000 into the campaigns of Gov. Bev Perdue and Senate leader Marc Basnight, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Rusty Carter, who owns the Atlantic Packaging Corp. of Wilmington and who was on the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees, struck a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of giving illegal donations. The scheme extended to other candidates not covered in the plea, records show. (N&O)

PRIMARY IMAGES: View a gallery of primary day and night photos featuring work by photojournalists from The N&O and The Charlotte Observer.

Republican Sen. Richard Burr filed for re-election Monday, saying he thought his record of supporting small government and low taxes was in tune with Tar Heel voters.

Burr said Congress has been at odds with public opinion on such issues as health care, tax policy, spending and debt, Rob Christensen reports. 

"I continue to be disgusted with the amount of spending that Congress continues to undertake, the size of the debt," Burr said at a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Winston-Salem. "As the father of a 24 and 25-year old, the most important thing that I can do is to positively impact the future of my children and eventually my grandchildren."

He said his special focus will be in trying to restart the economy. He said he was also "passionate" about finding a market-based solution to the health care problem, noting that he has been a vocal critic of Democratic plans now being considered by Congress.

Although this year looks like an anti-incumbent year, Burr said he believes he has a record he can take to the voters. Burr starts the race with relatively low favorability ratings. Burr said that is a reflection of North Carolina being a high growth state, where many voters did not live in the state when he first won in 2004, defeating Democrat Erskine Bowles.

Burr said he expected to raise at least $15 million for his campaign. But he also said was also wary of the 2008 campaign in which the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spent $11 million on behalf of Democrat Kay Hagan to help defeat Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole. Burr said the key was to make sure the North Carolina Senate race was not close this fall, and therefore not a target of national Democrats .

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Elaine Marshall has brought in a campaign operative with experience in going up against establishment-backed candidates.

Marshall, the secretary of state, has hired A.J. Carrillo to oversee day-to-day activities and coordinate strategy for her campaign, Rob Christensen reports. Marshall is in a Democratic primary race which includes former state Sen. Cal Cunningham of Lexington, who has the backing of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Chapel Hill lawyer Kenneth Lewis is also running for the Democratic nomination. U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, a Republican, is running for re-election.

Carrillo knows what's ahead for Marshall. In 2008, he worked for Kentucky Senate candidate Greg Fisher, who finished second in a seven-member Democratic primary field to Bruce Lundsford, who was backed by the DSCC.

Two years earlier, Carrillo worked for Jerry McNerney who upset Steve Filson, the candidate backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in California's 11th district. McNerney won, in part, by running an extensive "netroots" campaign that tapped into the support of liberal Internet contributors around the country. McNerney defeated Republican Rep. Richard Pombo in the fall.

The rest of the Marshall team that had been previously announced includes strategist Thomas Mills, pollster Celinda Lake, and media consultant Doc Sweitzer.

Former state Sen. Cal Cunningham figures he needs $8.5 million to win the U.S. Senate race.

Cunningham, a Lexington Democrat, lawyer and Iraq war veteran, described his fundraising needs and chances in the election in a prospectus. His budget is based on Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan's victory over Republican Elizabeth Dole last year.

In that cycle, Hagan raised and spent $8.5 million—$1.4 million in primary spending and $7.1 million in general election campaign spending. Cunningham anticipates spending $1.5 million to communicate in the primary campaign and another $7 million for the general election.

The document is written as a question-and-answer pitch about Cunningham's chances and assets. Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr is vulnerable, according to the prospectus, because his polling numbers are down and his votes in the Senate can be used against him. The document says nothing about Cunningham's Democratic primary opponents, Elaine Marshall and Kenneth Lewis.

The prospectus notes that Cunningham has the full confidence and backing of the national Democratic Party.

Cunningham entered the race with the full support of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the encouragement of the White House and numerous current and former Democratic elected officials in North Carolina. The DSCC and the White House have expressed commitment to dedicate resources to this campaign.

N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall said Wednesday she is committed to next year's U.S. Senate race despite the death of her husband and a key national group's backing of another candidate.

"I'm in this race to stay," Marshall, a Democrat, said in interview Wednesday with Rob Christensen. "I do not foresee any circumstances where I would not be a candidate."

Marshall lost her husband, William Holdford, on Nov. 28 to cancer. Marshall said he was a strong supporter of her Senate campaign throughout his illness. Marshall said she would deal with her sorrow by throwing herself into the Democratic primary campaign.

"It makes me more resolved," she said.

Marshall said she was not put off by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's recruitment of former state Sen. Cal Cunningham of Lexington into the race. Chapel Hill lawyer Kenneth Lewis is also seeking the Democratic nomination.

The DSCC has become a major banker and recruiter for Democratic Senate campaigns and played a major role in the election last year of Sen. Kay Hagan.

"I guess they were for looking for a profile that Cal filled," Marshall said. "But they are not going to spend money in a primary, and they are going support whoever wins the primary. I look forward to working with them."

Former state Sen. Cal Cunningham of Lexington has apparently changed his mind, and is moving toward entering the U.S. Senate race next year.

Cunningham, an Iraq war veteran, last month announced he was ending an exploratory effort and would not challenge Republican Sen. Richard Burr in 2010, Rob Christensen reports.

Since then, Cunningham has been heavily courted by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which has has been urging him to reconsider his decision.

Cunningham was not returning calls Tuesday. But the word on the street is that he has signaled to Democrats in Washington that he is prepared to enter the race.

He is apparently holding off making any statement for a few days out of respect for Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, who lost her husband, William Holdford, to cancer over the weekend. He is being buried today.

Marshall and Kenneth Lewis, a Chapel Hill lawyer, are the two Democrats who have announced candidacies.

The senatorial committee has evolved into the major banker of Senate campaigns and therefore plays a major role in recruiting candidates. The senatorial committee first tried to recruit Attorney General Roy Cooper and U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge before turning to Cunningham.

The Democrats are hoping for a repeat of the Kay Hagan experience. During the 2008 election cycle, Hagan, a Democratic state senator first explored a Senate bid, then announced she would not be a candidate, only to to be recruited back into the race by the senatorial committee. She eventually defeated Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

Update: Marshall consultant Thomas Mills told Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper that voters should take note of the fact that Cunningham seems very concerned about approval from Washington.

"It’s pretty tasteless to leak or announce you’re running on the day that Secretary Marshall’s dealing with her husband’s funeral," Marshall consultant Thomas Mills said. "But if he is running, this is all about D.C. money. He’s waited until he got the approval of D.C. power brokers — that’s not a very good indication of the type of Senator he would make."

Update: Cunningham issued a statement Tuesday saying, "This week our thoughts and prayers are with Secretary Marshall and we are not making any announcements of any kind." 

Secretary of State Elaine Marshall is leading other candidates in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate by a wide margin.

Marshall is the choice of 42 percent of voters in a poll conducted by Public Policy Polling. Chapel Hill lawyer Kenneth Lewis has 7 percent and unofficial candidate and Lexington lawyer Cal Cunningham has 5 percent. There's plenty of room to grow: 45 percent of poll respondents were undecided, according to the survey of 667 likely Democratic primary voters that was conducted Nov. 23-24.

The poll may prove helpful to Marshall, who is still trying to convince the national Democratic establishment that she is worth the investment of the millions of dollars it would take to defeat Republican Sen. Richard Burr. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee unsuccessfully lobbied U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge of Lillington to run for the seat.

The committee is now lobbying Cunningham, who previously announced he would not run, to reconsider.