The Lillington Democrat will visit gas stations in Sanford, Clayton, Selma and other places in his district during the Fourth of July break.

He'll be talking with motorists about his recent bill to crack down on oil market manipulation.

The bill, introduced last week, would beef up a federal commission charged with policing commodities futures trading and close a loophole that allows some traders to work overseas. It's unclear what effect it would have on gas prices.

McCrory: Dems are 'fishing'

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory says the N.C. Democratic Party is on a "fishing expedition."

McCrory, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, said Friday that the Democratic party has filed a public records request for correspondence between the mayor, the city manager and his staff and three Charlotte businesses for the past 12 years.

The McCrory campaign said in a news release that City Attorney Mac McCarley estimated the request would cost "more than $100,000" and take "up to a thousand hours" of work to complete.

"I am disgusted by this fishing expedition being conducted by the North Carolina Democratic Party with the blessing of Beverly Perdue," McCrory said in a statement, calling it "dirty tricks."

David Kochman, a spokesman for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Perdue, said they were aware of the records request and had no problem with it.

"One of the reasons we have campaigns is for voters to learn about candidates and the work they've done," he said. "I would hope that the mayor has nothing to hide. If that's the case, there shouldn't be any problem sharing more information about his record."

On the issue of cost, Kochman said it's standard for a government body to charge reasonable costs to comply with a records request.

In its two requests, the Democratic Party offered to pay to defray the cost of copies up to $200, for a total of $400.

McCarley, the city attorney, said this would be the biggest public records request in recent memory, topping a $100,000-plus request from an unsuccessful bidder on a city contract and a citizen who supported the unsuccessful effort to repeal the sales tax.

He said that the charge to the Democratic Party would probably be between $200 and $1,000 for the cost of copies, with the $100,000 figure referring to the cost of staff time, which can't be recouped. He said it probably will take "most of the summer" to comply.

McCrory spokeswoman Amy Auth said the request was for correspondence related to two Charlotte-based companies, Bank of America and Duke Energy -- where McCrory formerly worked -- and U.S. Airways, which has a hub in Charlotte's airport.

She said McCrory has nothing to hide.

"He will gladly compare his record to the rest of state leadership," she said.

Republicans call for probe

The N.C. Republican Party is asking the Federal Election Commission to investigate Kay Hagan, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate.

In a letter sent Thursday by executive director Chris McClure, the party charged that Hagan did not promptly report 20 contributions just before the primary, did not list the occupations of more than a fourth of her donors and improperly filed paperwork on $185,000 worth of donations.

Under federal law, candidates are required to report large donations that come in the days leading up to an election within 48 hours. They are also required to use their "best efforts" to find the full name, address, occupation and employer of all donors.

The biggest charge in the letter is that Hagan did not split up donations that were over the $2,300 federal limit. By law, candidates must break up checks over that amount into separate donations to primary and general campaign funds or refund the money.

Hagan spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan said she could not get into details without knowing exactly which donations the Republican Party had complained about, but she said the campaign filed its paperwork the same way that Republican U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole's campaign did.

"We have not done anything illegal," she said. "It's no surprise that the Republican Party would file a frivolous and just plain wrong complaint."

OVERHEARD

'I always intended to leave a portion of my estate to help secure the enhancement of North Carolina's public educational system. And while this payment comes a bit premature, I gladly give it knowing that North Carolina's children will be the beneficiaries.'

- Former House Speaker Jim Black, serving a five-year term in federal prison after being convicted of accepting illegal payments from campaign contributors, on paying half of a $1 million fine to the Wake County school system.