DURHAM -- Voters approved two new taxes in Tuesday's election.
With 61 of 62 precincts reporting, 60 percent favored a half-cent transit sales tax, and 57 percent said yes to a quarter-cent education tax.
Transit proponents hope approval of the tax in Durham will motivate Orange and Wake counties to follow next year.
"Hopefully we will set the pace for other counties to follow," Durham Mayor Bill Bell said Monday.
Transit tax revenue is expected to generate $17.3 million per year, to be used for immediate bus-service expansion and for Durham County sections of a light-rail line between downtown Durham and UNC Hospitals and a commuter-rail line from downtown to eastern Wake County by way of the Research Triangle Park.
The education sales tax is expected to produce $9 million a year. County commissioners have said revenue would replace federal stimulus money used to pay school salaries, pay down debt on school-construction projects, and fund pre-kindergarten programs and scholarships county graduates to attend Durham Tech.
The schools tax will take effect in 2012, but the commissioners have said they will not levy the transit tax unless Orange and Wake counties adopt similar measures for their parts of a planned regional bus and rail transit system.
Bo Glenn, executive coordinator of the advocacy group Durham-Orange Friends of Transit, said voters in Orange County are "very transit-oriented" and will likely follow suit.
Ballots in those counties did not include transit referendums Tuesday. Orange County commissioners were concerned it might hurt the chances of approval for its quarter-cent sales tax for schools and economic development. Wake County put off a referendum until May 2012 at the earliest.
"It's just going to be motivational for Wake citizens to know that Durham has taken the first step," said Karen Rindge, director of WakeUp Wake County, an advocacy group that supports the regional plan.
All three of the county's major political-action groups endorsed the transit tax, and contributions to the Durham Transit Tax Referendum Committee totaled $25,291.
The Durham Education Tax Referendum Committee reported only $4,000 in donations.
Get the biggest news in your email or cellphone as it's happening. Sign up for breaking news alerts.
The jury deliberating the John Edwards case broke for a long holiday weekend Friday with no verdict and no indication of how close together or far apart they are on any of the six counts. Meanwhile, courthouse observers are abuzz about alternate jurors dressing in the same colors. 
The barely 2-week-old campaign for governor has gotten off to a raucous start, with a lawsuit, threats of “evisceration” and the two national parties wading in playing hard ball. 
A campaign commercial funded by the Democratic Governors Association includes facts about Pat McCrory’s corporate ties but may lead viewers to distorted conclusions. 
Most modern U.S. presidents have played golf, but it’s touchy, since many people view it as an expensive, elite sport. President Barack Obama plays golf a lot, but he won’t let the news media see him do it. 
Activists who made the video may have broken law, a state elections official says. The activists apparently were trying to build support for efforts to require voters to present photo identification at polling places.
While GOP candidate Pat McCrory portrays the state as staggering, Walter Dalton, the state’s Democratic lieutenant governor, says North Carolina is on the rebound. 
John Edwards might be the one with the most to win or lose with the jury deliberating his fate, but the U.S. Department of Justice has a lot riding on his case, too. 
A lawyer for Republican Pat McCrory’s gubernatorial campaign is telling TV station managers to stop airing an ad that raises ethical questions about his relationship with a Charlotte-based lending and real estate company. Keep up with the latest political stories with our free daily e-mail newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox!
Subscribe to Politics - it's free!
Favoring a Public Transportation Sales and Use Tax: 60%
Favoring a County Sales and Use Tax (education): 57%
98% of precincts reporting
