By Ryan Teague Beckwith, Dan Kane, Lynn Bonner and Rob Christensen
With U.S. Rep. Brad Miller weighing a run for the Senate, talk moved to his potential replacement this week.
The
buzz centered on three potential candidates on the Democratic side:
state Sens. Janet Cowell of Raleigh and Kay Hagan of Greensboro and
state Rep. Grier Martin of Raleigh.
Cowell and Hagan wouldn't rule it out, while Martin said he was actively considering it.
An
Army reservist who spent six-and-a-half months in Afghanistan, Martin
said his background would serve him well on the issue of Iraq, an area
he doesn't get too much time with in the legislature.
"I want to be involved in that debate, and I do believe that the president has taken us in the wrong direction," Martin said.
Gun permit questions
Legislation
that would allow North Carolina sheriffs to keep track of handgun
permit denials across the state was pulled from the House floor
Thursday after one of the sponsors said he wanted to answer freshman
lawmakers' questions.
Rep.
Ronnie Sutton, a Pembroke Democrat, said some freshmen are feeling heat
from gun rights advocates who oppose the bill, and so they want to hear
more about the legislation.
A
suicide in Guilford County prompted the bill. The sheriff there had
denied a man a pistol permit because of mental health concerns raised
by his family. But the man then went to Lenoir County, falsely claimed
residency there and received a permit.
He used it to buy a handgun and then killed himself.
Sutton's
bill would create a state database that sheriffs could use to keep
track of pistol permit denials. The reason for the denial would not be
recorded, though sheriffs could call that county and find out why. They
would not necessarily be prevented from issuing a permit despite a
denial in another county, Sutton said.
The House passed similar legislation by an overwhelming vote last year, but it stalled in the Senate.
Dole falls ill
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole took ill last weekend, forcing her to cut short an appearance at a Guilford County GOP dinner.
Dole,
70, had finished a speech Friday night at a Lincoln Day Dinner, doing
one of her patented "Dole strolls" with a microphone around the room,
when she told the crowd she had to sit down and have a drink of water.
When she tried to continue minutes later, she stopped, saying she felt ill.
"She
had the flu," said Mark Stephens, a Dole strategist. "She got the flu
about Thursday. She kept a full schedule Thursday and Friday."
Dole
skipped one event Saturday morning but felt well enough to speak
Saturday night at a GOP dinner in Morganton and to resume her Senate
duties this week, Stephens said.
Fundraising survey
A new survey has found that 10 top legislators raised a quarter of a million dollars out of state.
The
research, released Thursday by the N.C. Public Interest Research Group,
focused on fundraising from within a legislator's district compared
with elsewhere.
It found that an average of 73 percent of the $1.9 million in campaign donations came from outside their district.
That includes 14 percent that came from outside North Carolina.
Sen. Walter Dalton, a Rutherfordton Democrat, did the best elsewhere, raising $59,144 of his $422,460 from other states.
On
a percentage basis, Rep. Beverly Earle, a Charlotte Democrat, came in
highest, with 27 percent of her $62,305 from out of state.
Immigration poll
Negative feelings about illegal immigration continue to run high in North Carolina.
According
to a recent Elon University poll, nearly two-thirds of residents said
that the number of undocumented Hispanics moving to the state was a
"very important" issue.
Half said immigrants are a "burden on the state" because they take jobs, housing and health care.
Less
than a quarter said immigration has been good, with 28 percent saying
immigrants "strengthen the state" because of their hard work and
talents.
The poll of 476 households had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.6 percentage points.
