Secretary of State Elaine Marshall showed up at the Occupy Raleigh rally Saturday to lend her support to the protesters. She also spoke briefly.
"I just wanted to show these people some support," said Marshall, who was the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate last year, in a statement. "They are frustrated and many of them are hurting. Some have lost their jobs and houses while others have seen their incomes stagnate. They need to know their elected officials are listening."
During the Senate campaign last year, Marshall called for banking regulations and financial reform. Marshall attended the rally at the Capitol grounds but was not there later when a group of protesters refused to leave, leading to 20 arrests.
She is the second major Democratic figure to show up at an anti-Wall Street rally. The previous weekend, Rep. Brad Miller, a Democrat from Raleigh, attended an Occupy rally at Moore Square, but did not speak.
Romney takes a jab at Obama's bus tour
With Democratic President Barack Obama in the state Monday as part of his bus trip, there has been the usual flurry of statements, press releases, news conferences and TV ads from national Republican Party groups and their allies.
But what is unusual is that, for the first time, we are seeing signs of life from one of the GOP presidential candidates.
The presidential campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney issued a statement Monday criticizing North Carolina's economic performance since Obama took office.
"Since President Obama's visit to North Carolina last month, the state's jobless rate has climbed to 10.4 percent and another 12,000 workers became unemployed," said a news release from the Romney campaign.
The Romney campaign called the bus trip "the magical misery tour.''
Robinson leads GOP District 8 fundraising
Former Winston-Salem City Councilman Vernon Robinson reports that he leads the field in fundraising in the bid to capture the GOP nomination for the 8th congressional district.
Robinson reported raising $176,000 for his campaign and having $96,000 in cash on hand.
That was more than other Republican candidates. Dan Barry, mayor pro tem of Weddington, had raised $70,500 and had $78,000 on hand. Scott Keadle, an Iredell County commissioner, had $82,000 cash on hand and loaned his campaign $70,000.
Richard Hudson of Concord, a congressional aide to former Rep. Robin Hayes, just entered the race last week and had not filed a report.
The winner will face Democratic Rep. Larry Kissell of Biscoe in a district that now leans more Republican after redistricting.
Kissell has raised $167,000 in the third quarter and had $251,171 cash on hand.
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