NC Marathon clicks with High Point

David Duggan of High Point won the North Carolina Marathon in High Point today with a time of 2:35:28.



Melissa T. Fourrier, executive director of the race, said about 1,900 people had registered to run as of 2 a.m. this morning, far exceeding the 1,170 people who ran in Greensboro last year.



Beth Deloria of the Southside Running Club displays a sign thanking the High Point Police Department for providing security for the event free of charge. The North Carolina Marathon pulled out Greensboro when city staff requested $87,000 for police services, Fourrier said.

The race director told me and a High Point Enterprise reporter: "I can't imagine ever leaving High Point. They literally rolled out the red carpet for us. The key to having a successful marathon is having the support of city government."

Later, I asked Fourrier if there was anything the city of Greensboro could do to earn a second chance.

"I don't think they want us," she replied. "There were some city council members that were extremely negative."

A handful of half-marathon runners with whom I spoke gave the event and the city of High Point high marks.

Labor and business battle for Southern Dems' souls

There's significant money and vocal expectations on both sides of the Employee Free Choice Act, for which North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan could be a critical vote.

Labor unions contributed heavily to Hagan's successful bid last year to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

Mark Binker has reported in the News & Record that labor unions gave Hagan more than $250,000 in the 2008 campaign. The Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics breaks down contributions to the Hagan campaign from labor unions, totaling $132,550:

1. National Education Association -- $12,300
2. Teamsters Union -- $10,250
3. AFL-CIO PAC -- $10,000
4. Air Line Pilots Association -- $10,000
5. American Federation of Teachers -- $10,000
6. Communication Workers of America -- $10,000
7. International Association of Fire Fighters -- $10,000
8. Machinists/Aerospace Workers Union -- $10,000
9. Office & Professional Employees Union -- $10,000
10. Plumbers/Pipefitters Union -- $10,000
11. Service Employees International Union -- $10,000
12. Sheet Metal Workers Union -- $10,000
13. United Food & Commercial Workers Union -- $10,000

Despite the fact that Hagan did not sign on as a cosponsor to the Employee Free Choice Act, her continued support for the legislation has been received with appreciation from the NC AFL-CIO.

Anti-union forces have been no less vocal, beginning with Americans For Prosperity, whose North Carolina chapter specifically targeted Hagan in a "Save My Ballot" rally in Greensboro in February.

Americans For Prosperity's funding can be traced back to Kansas-based Koch Industries, whose political action committee, members, employees and their immediate family members strongly backed Hagan's opponent to the tune of $23,600 in last year's election.

Other companies linked to efforts to derail the Employee Free Choice Act include Charlotte-based Bank of America and Atlanta-based Home Depot, whose political action committee slightly favored Republicans over Democrats last year.

The Huffington Post has somewhat famously reported that Bank of America hosted a conference call with business leaders and conservative activists last October to organize opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act. Other participants reportedly included AIG, Home Depot cofounder Bernie Marcus, Rick Berman of the Center for Union Facts.

Bank of America is Hagan's fifth-ranked contributor, with a total $19,050, but the company's political action commmittee, members, employees and their immediate family members have given more to the Dole campaign.

New York-based Citigroup has also reportedly hosted a conference call to build opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act.

The political math behind the fate of the Employee Free Choice Act remains uncertain. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania's announcement on Tuesday that he will switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party and the likelihood that Al Franken will be seated to represent Minnesota presents the realization of the Democrats' goal to achieve a filibuster-proof majority. However, as President Obama acknowledged during his press conference on Wednesday, Specter holds a reputation for voting independently of any party.

Opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act have hinted that they may apply pressure on conservative, business-friendly Democrats from the South to prevent the bill's passage.

“I agree with Bernie that if there are not enough Republicans operating as a firewall after this election it is going to be very hard to hold the line," Rick Berman can be heard saying in a recording of the conference call last October. "The only way after the election if we don’t have a filibuster-proof Senate is to make this so hot for some Democrats –- Mary Landrieu from Louisiana would be one –- there is a possibility, I would say there is a remote possibility, in some states that even a Democrat who is up for reelection in 2010 has to think twice about whether they’re going to let this thing go by, but I’m not certain that it’s doable.”

Actually, Landrieu was up for reelection last year. Maybe Berman was thinking of Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, who faces reelection in 2010. Like Hagan, Lincoln has not signed on as a cosponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act. The senator from Arkansas cast one of the 51 votes for cloture on the Employee Free Choice Act in 2007 (60 are needed to bring the bill to the floor for consideration), but likely has mixed feelings. Lincoln received $25,800 from Wal-Mart Stores, a staunchly anti-union corporation from the senator’s home state, in the 2008 election cycle. The big-box retailer was Lincoln’s third largest contributor.

The only Senate Democrats from the South, not counting the two members of the Maryland delegation, who are cosponsors of the Employee Free Choice Act are Bill Nelson of Florida and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia.

Meanwhile, both labor and anti-union forces have staked significant resources on Senate Democrats from the South.

Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia has received $30,250 from labor unions since he was first elected in 2006. And Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia received $12,000 from the Communication Workers of America in the 2008 election cycle.

On the other side, Home Depot's political action committee made significant outlays to Southern Democrats in the 2008 election cycle: $10,000 to Mark Warner of Virginia, $5,000 to Landrieu, $4,500 to Mark Pryor of Arkansas and $2,000 to Lincoln. Bank of America's political action committee gave $10,000 to Warner, $10,000 to Landrieu and $6,000 to Pryor. And Citigroup's political action committee gave $6,000 to Pryor, $4,000 to Warner and $1,000 to Lincoln.

UPDATE, April 30, 12:25 a.m.: Wal-Mart workers will be on Capitol Hill today lobbying for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.

Shell joins the race

Ryan Shell announces he's running for Greensboro City Council.

UPDATE, 9:53 a.m.: Shell, who is registered in District 2 (currently represented by Goldie Wells), tells me he hasn't decided whether to run for a district seat or at large.

Suspected swine flu cases in North Carolina

This information is unconfirmed, so treat it with appropriate skepticism. I haven't had time to check other media reports to see if this is corroborated, or has already been reported elsewhere.

From the Rev. Mark Sills, executive director of FaithAction International in Greensboro, e-mail time-stamped 3:59 p.m. today:

As of this afternoon there are four or five suspected cases of swine flu being reported in North Carolina. I have no details on any of these except that there is one suspected case in Davidson County, so it is very nearby.

UPDATE, 10:55 p.m.:

From the Raleigh News & Observer: People in North Carolina suspected of having the virus are under orders from the state public health department to stay home until they no longer have symptoms, and one man who was aboard a plane from Mexico that landed in Charlotte was hospitalized. The Associated Press quotes Engel as saying, "We're behaving as if the disease is here."

The News & Record reports that NC Health Director Dr. Jeffrey Engel said this afternoon that lab tests showed that the first 15 cases were not swine flu. The report by Jennifer Fernandez also says that no cases have been reported in Guilford County. Likewise, the Winston-Salem Journal quotes county health director Dr. Tim Monroe as saying there are no suspected cases in Forsyth County. Monroe tell the Journal: "There are 12 suspected cases around the state but that is a real fluid number. A lot of people will be called suspected and later ruled out. There is a good possibility that we will have suspected cases in Forsyth County."

Hagan's awkward position on card check

Kay Hagan went on record in support of so-called card check legislation, which would allow employees to unionize by checking their preference on a card in majority numbers rather than go through a lengthy and costly secret ballot election, during her run for Senate against Republican Liddy Dole last year.

Campaign spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan said in an e-mail to me a month before the election: “Kay supports it as a way to level the playing field for working families. Right now, employees can unionize by either a secret ballot or a card check, but the employer is essentially allowed to decide which method will be officially recognized. This bill simply allows the workers, not the employers, to decide which method to use, and stiffens penalties for intimidation.”

For some voters looking for daylight between the positions of the business Democrat Hagan and Republican incumbent Elizabeth Dole, the card check issue was one reason to support Hagan. YES! Weekly, in fact, based its endorsement of Hagan on the premise that she would help the Democrats achieve a 60-percent supermajority and her support for card check. (The Rhinoceros Times, on the other hand, endorsed Dole for exactly the same reasons.)

Since being sworn in to the US Senate, Hagan has repeated her support for card check, but I haven’t heard back from the senator’s new statewide office in Greensboro, making me wonder whether Hagan is getting cold feet.

The Employee Free Choice Act remains stalled in committee with 39 cosponsors, none of which is Kay Hagan. So what’s happened? I left a phone message for one of the Hagan’s aides at the senator’s new state headquarters office in Greensboro, but I have yet to hear back. Let’s hope that changes.

Hagan has a bit of a tight-rope walk, suggested John Quinterno, a research associate with whom I spoke at the left-leaning NC Budget & Tax Center.

“Many Southern senators face cross pressures from labor interests and business groups in their respective states," he said, "and until there’s a concrete bill in front of them they will be reserved in their judgment.”