WASHINGTON  – Southern Democrats who watched the trouncing of their party’s gubernatorial nominee in Virginia this week are starting to worry that a rising anti-Democratic tide in the South may reverse their hard-fought gains from the last two national elections.
“They say people won’t walk a mile to vote for you but they’ll walk 100 miles [...]

RALEIGH, N.C.  – People are already lining up to replace Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand one day after he announced he was leaving the Legislature for North Carolina’s parole commission.
Several Senate Democrats said Thursday that Sen. Martin Nesbitt of Buncombe County and allies have called asking for support to elect Nesbitt the next majority leader.
Sen. [...]

RALEIGH, N.C. – Congressional ethics investigators say North Carolina Rep. Heath Shuler did not act inappropriately when a residential development that he was involved in sought lake-access rights from the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Top lawmakers on the House Ethics Committee said in a letter to Shuler that it was closing the matter after reviewing a TVA [...]

They came with strollers and strong opinions…moms converged on Capitol Hill demanding universal coverage for kids.
Pamela Shaw, Senior Policy Consultant of the Children’s Defense Fund said, “Without significant changes children will be worse off rather than better off. We say that children must be better off after health reform.”
Today opponents of health care reform stage [...]

DURHAM, N.C. – On Nov. 12, State Representatives Paul Luebke and Mickey Michaux and State Senator Robert Atwater will visit Durham Technical Community College for a panel discussion about how the state budget is developed and the challenges faced in the 2009 legislative session.
The legislators will discuss the difficulties of plunging revenues during the recession [...]

Gov. Bev Perdue says the time and energy she placed into a trade mission to Asia will be well worth it.
The governor and commerce secretary spent two weeks in Japan and China to drum up new business for the state.
According to the North Carolina Commerce Department, China is the state’s second largest trading partner importing [...]

RALEIGH, N.C. – Gov. Bev Perdue today launched racetothetop.nc.gov and called upon North Carolinians to participate in the federal “Race to the Top” initiative.
As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Race to the Top is a federal $4.5 billion competitive grant fund that rewards states for educational innovation and achieving significant improvements in [...]

GREENSBORO, N.C. – North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan has withdrawn her support for a possible lifetime federal appointment for a state judge who ruled in favor of a company that includes Hagan’s husband.
The News & Record of Greensboro reported Thursday that Hagan three weeks ago recommended Superior Court Judge Calvin Murphy to fill a vacant [...]

Incumbent Jennifer Robinson came just a few votes shy of retaining her seat back in October’s municipal election.
She won Tuesday’s runoff with more than 53 percent of the vote, holding off challenger Lori Bush.
Wednesday, though, a political action committee supporting Bush filed a complaint with the North Carolina Board of Elections.
Steering committee members for the [...]